Ocean Zones Word Search
Ocean Zones, as a word search. 12 words drawn from the terms and ideas of a school subject sit hidden in a 15×15 letter grid, running in every direction. Drag across a word to claim it, and clear the board to finish.
Words to find: APHOTIC, BATHYAL, BENTHIC, DISPHOTIC, EPIPELAGIC, HADAL, INTERTIDAL, MESOPELAGIC, NERITIC, OCEAN, PLANKTON, SUNLIGHT.
Every word on the list appears exactly once. Words can run forwards or backwards, so scan both directions before you move on.
Ocean Zones word list, defined
- APHOTIC /eɪˈfəʊtɪk/ (British), /eɪˈfɑːtɪk/ (American) · adjective
- Lacking light or illumination; dark. In oceanography, the term refers specifically to depths below the zone where sunlight penetrates. Related: lightless, sunless, tenebrous, unlit.
- BATHYAL /ˈbæθiəl/ · adjective
- Relating to the oceanic zone of the deep sea lying below the continental shelf, roughly from about 1,000 to 4,000 metres in depth. In marine ecology it designates organisms and environments of that intermediate deep-water zone. Related: deep-sea, bathypelagic, abyssopelagic, pelagic.
- BENTHIC /ˈbɛnθɪk/ · adjective
- Of, relating to, or occurring in the benthos — the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. Related: deep-sea, seafloor, bottom-dwelling, abyssal.
- EPIPELAGIC /ˌɛpɪpəˈlædʒɪk/ · adjective
- Relating to the uppermost layer of the ocean, from the surface down to a depth of roughly 200 metres, where sufficient sunlight penetrates to support photosynthesis. It describes organisms, waters, or processes occurring in this sunlit zone. Related: sunlit-zone, photic, surface-dwelling, pelagic.
- HADAL /ˈhɑːdəl/ · adjective
- Relating to the hadal zone, the deepest region of the ocean, especially oceanic trenches and the waters within them, typically below 6,000 metres. Related: abyssal, deep-sea, trenchal.
- INTERTIDAL /ˌɪntərˈtaɪdəl/ · adjective
- Relating to the area of a coast or shore that is covered by seawater at high tide and exposed at low tide. The intertidal zone is regularly influenced by tidal cycles. Related: littoral, tidal, between-tide, shoreline.
- MESOPELAGIC /ˌmɛsoʊpəˈlædʒɪk/ · adjective
- Relating to the mesopelagic zone, the dim layer of the ocean between the sunlit surface waters and the much deeper bathypelagic zone. It also describes organisms that inhabit this layer. Related: midwater, twilight-zone, mesopelagic-zone.
- NERITIC /nəˈrɪtɪk/ · adjective
- Relating to the shallow-water region of the ocean extending from the low-tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf. In oceanography, the neritic zone is generally considered to extend to a depth of about 200 metres. Related: shallow-water, coastal, littoral, nearshore.
- OCEAN /ˈoʊʃən/ · noun
- A very large expanse of seawater covering much of the Earth, forming interconnected bodies of water conventionally identified as the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern oceans. The word can also refer figuratively to a vast, boundless quantity or expanse of something. Related: sea, main, deep, waters.
- PLANKTON /ˈplæŋktən/ · noun
- The collective term for organisms that drift or are carried through water, especially microscopic organisms such as phytoplankton and zooplankton. The term can also refer to such organisms collectively as a mass of biological material.
- SUNLIGHT /ˈsʌnlaɪt/ · noun
- The light that comes from the sun. It can refer to sunlight in general or to direct light falling on a particular place or object. Related: daylight, sunshine, sunbeam, solar light.
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