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The neritic zone, also called the sublittoral zone, is the part of the ocean extending from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
, with a relatively shallow depth extending to about 200 meters (100 fathoms). The neritic zone has generally well-oxygenated water, low water pressure, and relatively stable temperature and salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 levels. These, combined with presence of light and the resulting photosynthetic life, such as phytoplankton
Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek language words phyton, or "plant", and p?a??t?? , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"....
 and floating sargassum
Sargassum

Sargassum is a genus of generally planktonic macroalgae in the order Fucales. It is named for the Atlantic Ocean's Sargasso Sea, which hosts a large amount of several species of Sargassum....
, make the neritic zone the location of the majority of sea life.

Zooplankton
Zooplankton

Zooplankton are the heterotrophic type of plankton. Plankton are organisms drifting in the Pelagic zone of oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water....
, free-floating creatures ranging from microscopic foraminiferans to small fish and shrimp, live in this zone, and together with phytoplankton form the base of the food pyramid that supports most of the world's great fishing areas.

At the edge of the neritic zone the continental shelves end, rapidly descending to the deeper oceanic crust
Oceanic crust

Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or Sima ....
 and the pelagic zone
Pelagic zone

Any water in the sea that is not close to the bottom is in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Greek language p??a??? or p?lagos, which means open sea....
.








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The neritic zone, also called the sublittoral zone, is the part of the ocean extending from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
, with a relatively shallow depth extending to about 200 meters (100 fathoms). The neritic zone has generally well-oxygenated water, low water pressure, and relatively stable temperature and salinity
Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. Salinity in Australian English and North American English may also refer to the salt in soil ....
 levels. These, combined with presence of light and the resulting photosynthetic life, such as phytoplankton
Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek language words phyton, or "plant", and p?a??t?? , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter"....
 and floating sargassum
Sargassum

Sargassum is a genus of generally planktonic macroalgae in the order Fucales. It is named for the Atlantic Ocean's Sargasso Sea, which hosts a large amount of several species of Sargassum....
, make the neritic zone the location of the majority of sea life.

Zooplankton
Zooplankton

Zooplankton are the heterotrophic type of plankton. Plankton are organisms drifting in the Pelagic zone of oceans, seas, and bodies of fresh water....
, free-floating creatures ranging from microscopic foraminiferans to small fish and shrimp, live in this zone, and together with phytoplankton form the base of the food pyramid that supports most of the world's great fishing areas.

At the edge of the neritic zone the continental shelves end, rapidly descending to the deeper oceanic crust
Oceanic crust

Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or Sima ....
 and the pelagic zone
Pelagic zone

Any water in the sea that is not close to the bottom is in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Greek language p??a??? or p?lagos, which means open sea....
.

See also

  • Littoral zone