Ocean biome is one from many biome that exist on earth. As the biggest biome since the ocean area is bigger than land, then surely ocean biome has an important role to support the entire ecosystem both in the land and in the ocean it self. There are some biome on earth such as tundra, taiga, desert, and some other biome. To differentiate the ocean biome with another biome on earth there are some unique characteristics of the ocean biome that you need to know. And here I will give you some of the information.
See also: Threats to Marine Biome
1. The ocean water contains salt
As you all know that the ocean water taste salty because it contains salt. Every one gallon of ocean water contains about one cup of salt. The salinity level to each region is different to one another. And the marine animals or living beings also quite different to one another because of their ability to adapt.
See also: Salinity of Ocean Water – Common Uses of Salinity in Ocean
2. Habitat for the largest animal on earth
Do you know what is the biggest or largest animal on earth? It is not elephant, or buffalo. But, it is known as blue whale! Whale for sure is an animal who lives in the ocean. And the ocean has become a home for many kind of species of whales.
See also: Conservation of Blue Whales – Facts of Blue Whales
3. Exist volcanic activity
Actually, the ocean experience volcanic activity more often compare to the land. This is why there is exist tsunami that we can see by eyes even though the volcanic activity can’t be seen.
4. Divided into several zones
The other unique characteristics of the ocean biome that you can find it by your self is the existence of the ocean layer. Our ocean is divided into several zone based on its depth. The zones are included epipelagic zone, mesopelagic zone, bathypelagic zone, abyssopelagic zone, and hadalpelagic zone.
See also: Ocean Layers
5. Has another biome
Do you know that a biome can have another biome in it? Ocean biome has another biome inside of it, and one of them is the coral reef biome. Coral reef biome is a different biome because it has several different system that can support the last of the coral reef biome. If coral reef biome is classified as an ocean biome then it will be found in any depth but in fact, it is not.
See also: Ocean Coral Reef – Destruction of Coral Reefs
6. The biggest biome
Because the ocean is bigger than the land, and it covers about 70% earth surface. And this is makes ocean biome become the biggest biome on earth compare to any other biome both in land and ocean.
7. Divided into some oceans
Ocean biome has a big area. And each area has their own characteristic that make it different to one another. Because the ocean is located in a different areas on earth, ocean is divided into some parts. We have about five oceans on earth and those are Pacific Ocean as the largest, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Antarctic Ocean, and Arctic Ocean as the smallest ocean.
See also: Importance of Atlantic Ocean
8. Diversity among the living beings
The diversity among the living beings also become the unique characteristics of the ocean biome. As what I have mentioned before that the ocean is so big until it is divided into several parts, and each part has its own characteristic. This become the factor that define the living beings that live inside of it because each living being will adapt to an environment they comfort in.
See also: Animals in The Ocean Biome – Plants in The Ocean Biome
9. The temperature
Basically the ocean water temperature is stable but there are also some parts of the ocean that have a different temperature either it is hotter or colder. Just like the Arctic Ocean that has the coldest ocean water on earth. The temperature changing is caused by several factors. Even bad human act by cutting the trees also become one of the factor of the ocean water temperature changes. About the range of the ocean biome is different from one place to another but basically the range is about from -40°C to 50°C with the average of temperature about 39°C.
See also: Causes of Rising Ocean Temperatures
10. The tides phenomenon
Tides is a natural phenomenon of the rise and fall of the ocean water that you will usually see in the coast. The existence of tides is caused by some factors such as gravity. Fisherman who relies on the ocean as their source of money is being helped by the tides to sail to the open ocean.
See also: Main Causes of Ocean Tides
11. Has about 20 million tons of gold
Even though most people will only know that the ocean has natural resources such as gold and oil but actually there is something else beneath the ocean. The ocean has about 20 million tons of gold that can be use to increase our economical condition for example. It also has another resource such as copper, nickel, mineral, and many more resources.
12. Absorbing heat
If you go to the ocean or sea to dive or simply just to swim, you will feel that when the sun rises and the temperature become hotter, the ocean water will not become colder. This condition is caused by the nature of ocean water which is to absorb 30% of heat. The heat absorbed by the ocean can affect the world climate through the water cycle system and also through the impact that might be brought by the ocean currents.
See also: Climate of the Ocean
13. Bioluminescent
Bioluminescent is basically the ability of marine living being to produce the light from its body emission. This phenomenon is identic with the ocean biome. You can see this phenomenon happening when you go to the sea and sailing there in the night, and suddenly you will see the glowing ocean water . That glowing is being caused by the bioluminescent.
14. Estuaries
Estuaries also become the unique characteristics of the ocean biome. Basically, estuaries is a water body where the rivers meet the sea. In other words, estuaries also can be meant to be a place where the freshwater meet the saltwater. There is also exist a quite wide range of diversity in that place. The diversity exist because of the unite of saltwater and freshwater, which is something not so common.
See also: Ecological Uses of Oceans
15. Natural disaster
Ocean biome is also known because of its natural disaster phenomenon. There are several natural disaster that might happen in the ocean biome. The most popular one that you might also known is storm. The types of storm in the ocean biome also has so many variety and name.
See also: Types of Ocean Storms
Maybe most of the plants that live in the ocean doesn’t have the same exact size as the plants in the land. If you want to compare between the plants in the ocean and land than it will be the plants in the ocean has the smaller size. But do you know that about 70% of our oxygen is actually came from the plants in the ocean? So, by knowing this at least you know why you have to care about our ocean biome condition or at least to our environment.
17. Unexplored part
Last one, the unique characteristics of the ocean biome is its unexplored part. So, basically up to now humans are exploring only about 5% part of ocean biome. There is about 95% unexplored part that still become a mystery to solve. This is happening due to the several limitations such as technology, and the depth of the ocean as well.
So that’s all for the information that I can give you about the unique characteristics of the ocean biome. Thank you for being our loyal reader and follower, hopefully our article can help you to know more about the deep ocean facts. There will be more informative article for you to come.