Thin layers (oceanography)

Thin layers are congregations of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the water column which were discovered with advances in instrumentation and deployment technologies allowed samples at the temporal and spatial scales where patterns were revealed. Although they may extend for kilometers, thin layers are only a few tens of centimeters in vertical thickness. They have distinct physical, biological, chemical, optical and acoustical signatures. Thin layers of phytoplankton or zooplankton may contain densities of organisms ranging up to 1000 times those found just above, or below the structure. These extraordinary concentrations of living material must have important implications for many aspects of marine ecology (e.g., phytoplankton growth dynamics, micro- and macrozooplankton grazing, behaviour, life histories, predation, harmful algal blooms), as well as for ocean optics and acoustics. Thin layers occur in a wide variety of ocean environments, including estuaries, fjords, bays, and the open ocean, and they are often associated with some form of vertical structure in the water column, such as a pycnocline, and in zones of reduced flow.^[1]

See also

Critical Scales and Thin Layers

References

Plankton About plankton Algal bloom CLAW hypothesis High lipid content microalgae Holoplankton Meroplankton Milky seas effect Paradox of the plankton Planktology Red tide Spring bloom Thin layers More... By size Eukaryotic picoplankton Heterotrophic picoplankton Microphyte (microalgae) Nanophytoplankton Photosynthetic picoplankton Picobiliphyte Picoeukaryote Picoplankton Bacterioplankton Bacteriastrum Aeromonas salmonicida Cyanobacteria Cyanobiont Cyanotoxin Enteric redmouth disease Flavobacterium Flavobacterium columnare Pelagibacter ubique Marine bacteriophage SAR11 clade Streptococcus iniae Phytoplankton Auxospore Axodine Chaetoceros Chaetocerotaceae Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi Eustigmatophyte Frustule Heterokont Nannochloropsis Navicula Prasinophyceae Raphidophyte Thalassiosira pseudonana Diatom orders Centrales Pennales (Classes: Coscinodiscophyceae Fragilariophyceae Bacillariophyceae) Flagellates Brevetoxin Choanoflagellates Dinoflagellates Flagellum Pfiesteria piscicida Saxitoxin Symbiodinium Velvet (fish disease) Zooplankton Chaetognatha Ciguatera Ctenophora Gelatinous zooplankton Hunting copepods Ichthyoplankton Jellyfish Marine larvae Crustacean larvae Salmon louse Sea louse Copepod orders Calanoida Cyclopoida Harpacticoida Monstrilloida Poecilostomatoida Siphonostomatoida More... Related topics Aeroplankton Algaculture Algal mat Algal nutrient solutions Artificial seawater Autotrophs Biological pump Diel vertical migration Dimethylsulfoniopropionate f-ratio Fish diseases and parasites Heterotroph HNLC Macroalgae Manta trawl Marine mucilage Microbial mat Ocean acidification Primary production Stromatolite Tychoplankton Zoid C-MORE CPR AusCPR MOCNESS SCAR