All About Water

Many are unsure of what is on the ocean floor. The ocean floor, also called the seabed or sea floor, is the bottom of the ocean. The ocean floor comprises seventy-one percent of the Earth’s surface.

The Geography of the Ocean

To understand what is on the ocean floor, we must first understand the geography of the rest of the ocean. The geography of the ocean is divided into several levels. Each of these levels has its own typical features based on depth, features like topography, marine life, salinity, and soil composition. The ocean’s levels begin with a continental shelf, a gently sloping area of just around 650 feet deep that surrounds continents. The continental shelf then transitions into a continental slope, a steep descent into the ocean. The continental slope then transitions into the abyssal plain, which begins the seabed.

What Is on the Ocean Floor: The Geography of the Seabed

The breadth of what is on the ocean floor includes plains, enormous undersea mountain ranges called ocean ridges, isolated mountains called seamounts, and more. The deepest parts of the ocean floor are seabed trenches, which are called hadalpelagic trenches. The deepest trench is the Mariana Trench, which measures over 36,000 feet deep—that’s deeper than Mount Everest is tall. The average depth of the ocean, however, is 12,000 feet—that’s about two miles deep.

Life on the Ocean Floor

The soil in seabeds is full of sediment. This sediment collects from rivers, sea currents, magma, and microoganisms’ activity. In recent years we have discovered a variety of marine life in the deep sea, especially around hydrothermal vents.

How We’ve Discovered What Is on the Ocean Floor

For millennia, man has been unable to explore the ocean floor, as the seabed was too deep and pressurized to reach. Because of this, man has long seen the ocean floor as a symbol for mystery and wonder. Fortunately, in recent years we have been able to reach the ocean floor. Scuba divers can now use air tanks to reach shallower parts of the ocean floor. The deepest parts of the ocean floor can be reached with submersibles. Most famously, in 1986, the DSV Alvin explored the seabed wreckage of the Titanic.

How We Monitor What Is on the Ocean Floor

The seabed is always changing. Seafloor spreading continually adds new material to the ocean floor. This is why oceanographers have always wanted to monitor what is on the ocean floor. Sailors used to measure the ocean’s depth by using a lead line, a long piece of rope marked off in fathoms (six-foot intervals) with a weight at one end. The sailors would drop the weighted end into the water, and then the sailors would measure how far the line had entered the ocean when the weight reached the sea floor. In recent years, we have used satellites to map seabed and determine what is on the ocean floor.

What Are Tide Pools?

Tide pools are little seawater-filled craters that form by oceans. Often these tide pools are indiscernible during the parts of the day when they are covered with seawater. They separate only at low tide, when they are revealed as microcosmic ecosystems. Naturalists and philosophers alike are fascinated by tide pools because of their scale. As John Steinbeck once wrote, “It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again.” Naturalists are also fascinated by the hardiness of the animals that live within tide pools. These animals must adapt to their environment, which changes daily.

Life in Tide Pools

Tide pool ecosystems are constantly changing. The saltiness, oxygen levels and temperature of the tide pool’s water changes every day. Because of this, only the hardiest organisms, like barnacles, can survive in tide pools. These inhabitants must survive the midday sun, big waves and predators. Tide pool creatures must be able to withstand these changing pressures. Ironically, however, they also rely on the tide pool’s changeability—their greatest danger—to survive. The fresh water provides tide pool inhabitants with fresh food sources.

Tide Pools: Microcosmic Ecosystems

Tide pools form small food chains unto themselves. Starfish eat mussels, which eat plants. Even within themselves, tide pools can be subdivided into smaller regions, or zones.

Tide Pools: The Spray Zone

The spray zone, the area highest up in the tide pool, is constantly bombarded with spray from tides and storms. This part of the tide pool is the most exposed to the elements, like the sun and winds.  For this reason, the spray zone is the most difficult area for creatures to survive. It is sparsely populated by only the hardiest creatures, like barnacles, whose impenetrable shells protect them from the elements.

Tide Pools: The High Tide Zone

The high tide zone is the part of the tide pool that is immersed in water only during high tide. While this area is easier to survive than the spray zone, the animals that live within it must still survive an ever-changing environment of waves and sunlight. In the high tide zone one can find crabs, anemones, and mussels. Although waves make life difficult in the high tide zone, they also bring food to its inhabitants.

Tide Pools: The Low Tide Zone

The low tide zone is submerged in water almost all day. This regularizes sunlight exposure and water’s saltiness and provides more shelter for the low tide zone’s dwellers. This easier survival allows for more biodiversity. The low tide zone is populated by more aquatic marine vegetation (seaweeds) than the other zones. Here one can find shrimp and sea cucumbers.

What Is Salt Marsh?

Salt marsh is an ecosystem that occurs between land and saltwater, an ecosystem that helps protect the coast. Salt marshes are populated by salt-tolerant plants like herbs, grasses and shrubs. These plants allow the salt marsh to trap sediment. The salt marsh then exports these nutrients to the coast. Salt marsh also creates a habitat for land-bound animals like mammals and migratory birds.

Where Do We Find Salt Marsh?

Salt marsh occurs on temperate coasts in sheltered environments like estuaries and embankments. In tropical areas, salt marsh is replaced by mangroves, marshes populated by salt-tolerant trees instead of salt-tolerant herbs. Salt marsh frequently occurs along the deltas of large rivers, like the Mississippi.

Salt Marsh is Unique

Unlike land-bound habitats, coastal salt marsh ecosystems are flooded by tidal flow every day. This tidal flow helps deliver sediments to salt marsh. The nutrients that collect in salt marshes make them highly productive environments that enable a broad food chain of organisms. In salt marshes we can find everything from bacteria to mammals. However, to survive, salt marsh organisms must be tolerant of salinity and flooding. Flora further inland are less exposed to salinity and flooding, and therefore don’t usually need to be as hardy, allowing inland salt marsh flora more diversity.

How Humans Have Harmed Salt Marsh

People flock to salt marshes for their beauty and coastal location. In 2002, over half of the world’s population lived within thirty-five miles of the coast. However, our population density along coasts means that we greatly impact salt marshes, often in negative ways. In the past people perceived marshlands as near-wasteland, and we used “land reclamation” to convert these areas into upland for agricultural purposes. After that, this upland was sometimes again converted into urban or industrial land, as in the cities of Boston and Tokyo. We have polluted salt marsh with runoff and nitrogen loading, introducing new species while killing off old ones. However, by altering marshlands, we have altered the salt marsh ecosystem. We’ve devastated salt marshes’ biodiversity and natural water flow.

Salt Marsh Perception and Restoration

Nowadays people are trying to restore salt marsh and reverse land reclamation. People no longer perceive salt marshes as “coastal wastelands,” and now see how biologically productive these areas are. In terms of biodiversity, people now perceive salt marshes as similar to tropical rainforests. Legislation such as the United States’ Clean Water Act now protects salt marsh habitats.

A body of water (or “water body”) is a pool of water that covers the Earth. The term “body of water” usually refers to large pools of water like seas, lakes and oceans, but it can also refer to smaller pools, like ponds, tide pools, and even puddles.

Various Bodies of Water

There are many, many different types of bodies of water. Some bodies of water occur naturally. Others, like reservoirs and harbors, are man-made. Although water formations that move around, like rivers and streams, aren’t always considered bodies of water, there is no other English term for moving bodies of water, so they are typically grouped with other bodies of water. Some bodies of water are less well-known and culturally and geographically limited in scope. For instance, the Spanish have named the “arroyo,” a creek that temporarily fills with water after a heavy rain or a rainy season. The Australians have named the “billabong,” a pool of water that forms when a river changes its course. Some major bodies of water include oceans, seas, and rivers.

Major Bodies of Water: Oceans

The largest bodies of water are oceans, enormous pools of saltwater. Oceans are continuous bodies of water that divide into smaller seas. Although interconnected, we typically describe oceans as separate. Earth’s oceans run about two miles deep. They are home to about 230,000 known marine species, and perhaps ten times that number of unknown marine species. Although interconnected into one global saltwater body that oceanographers sometimes call the “World Ocean,” Earth’s oceans are usually described as five separate bodies of water. This allows us to specify which part of the World Ocean we’re talking about. These five oceans are the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean.

Major Bodies of Water: Seas

Seas are large bodies of water that are usually connected with oceans. The term “sea” is sometimes incorrectly used as a synonym for the term “ocean.” However, oceanographers see seas and oceans as two different kinds of bodies of water. Seas are smaller saltwater bodies that are usually interconnected with oceans, but can sometimes be disconnected from oceans. For instance, the Caspian Sea is in fact a saltwater lake.

Major Bodies of Water: Rivers

Rivers are moving, usually freshwater bodies of water. They typically flow into other bodies of water, like oceans, seas, lakes, and other rivers. However, they can sometimes flow into the ground or dry up before reaching other bodies of water.

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Ideally drinking water is pure, but because water dissolves minerals it’s not uncommon for iron to get in drinking water. Iron in water gives the water a strange, metallic taste and causes rust-colored stains on household items. The presence of iron in water is not necessarily a bad thing, as iron has many health benefits, but it does come with a few health risks, as well. Various systems are available to remove iron from drinking water if necessary.

How Iron In Water Collects

Iron, one of the planet’s most abundant resources, makes up at least five percent of the soil. As water seeps through the soil it dissolves the iron, carrying it to wells, reservoirs and aquifers.

How Do You Know If There Is Iron In Water?

Iron makes water taste metallic, and if present in a high enough concentration turns it a reddish-brown color. Households with iron in their water supply may notice rusty stains in their sinks, tainting their ceramics in the dishwasher, or even staining clothes in the washing machine.

Is Iron in Water Always Bad?

No, iron is not always bad. In fact, it’s a necessary mineral for maintaining health. Iron aids the formation of hemoglobin, which distributes oxygen through the body to the cells. Iron deficiency can lead to anemia, chronic fatigue and compromise your immune system. For this reason a certain amount of iron in drinking water can actually be a good thing, although it doesn’t usually have a large positive impact overall.

How Will Iron In Water Hurt Us?

Getting too much iron is not associated with serious health risks. However, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA warns that where iron is present in water there may also be other impurities, such as iron bacteria. Iron bacteria builds up and forms an ugly brown sludge in pipes and wells. A small number of people have a genetic mutation that makes them susceptible to “iron overload,” although even they don’t often get it from drinking iron in water. Iron overload eventually leads to hemochromatosis, which seriously damages the body’s organs and can develop into heart disease, diabetes and liver issues.

How Can I Remove the Iron in Water?

There are many different types of iron contamination that determine the method of removal. Nanofiltration removes dissolved solids from water, and whole-house filtration systems are available that purify the water used in appliances as well as the drinking water.

The presence of iron in water is not necessarily a bad thing and does not generally cause health problems, but it can be a nuisance. Having water tested to determine what kind of contamination is present is the first step in the process of removing it.