EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Marine photosynthesis is confined to the tiny fraction of the ocean where sunlight penetrates-at most, the upper 200 meters. UV light also penetrates into this region, which may have increasingly profound consequences. UV radiation can cause damage to organisms on both land and sea.

Detailed explanation-2: -Such a minuscule amount of light penetrates beyond a depth of 200 meters that photosynthesis is no longer possible. The aphotic zone exists in depths below 1, 000 meters. Sunlight does not penetrate to these depths and the zone is bathed in darkness.

Detailed explanation-3: -Planktonic aquatic organisms such as phytoplankton, are shallow water creatures; they are restricted to the photic zone in oceans because growth is totally dependent upon photosynthesis.

Detailed explanation-4: -Phytoplankton also form the base of virtually every ocean food web. In short, they make most other ocean life possible. Through photosynthesis these organisms transform inorganic carbon in the atmosphere and in seawater into organic compounds, making them an essential part of Earth’s carbon cycle.

Detailed explanation-5: -The majority of this production is from oceanic plankton-drifting plants, algae, and some bacteria that can photosynthesize. One particular species, Prochlorococcus, is the smallest photosynthetic organism on Earth.