How do temperatures vary in the intertidal zone?

Animals and plants that live in the intertidal zone must contend with the ocean environment at high tide and the terrestrial environment at low tide. As a result, their body temperatures may fluctuate as much as 10° to 20°C over the course of a single low tide.

What is the temperature range of the intertidal zone?

The weather in the intertidal areas can be extreme. The air and water temperature can range from extremely hot to below freezing to moderate. The average range of air temperature is from 75°f to 102°f. The intertidal zone does have seasons.

What happens to water and temperature in the intertidal zone?

Over short time scales (hours to weeks), intertidal organisms rarely experience changes in water temperature greater than 3 to 5°C, whereas temperature fluctuations of 10 to 20°C are common during tidal shifts from immersion to emersion (Helmuth, 1999; Helmuth and Hofmann, 2001; E.

What are the four zones in intertidal zone?

The intertidal zone — the area between high and low tides — is a harsh and unforgiving habitat, subject to the rigors of both the sea and the land. It has four distinct physical subdivisions based on the amount of exposure each gets — the spray zone, and the high, middle, and lower intertidal zones.

What is the temp at the bottom of the ocean?

Therefore, the deep ocean (below about 200 meters depth) is cold, with an average temperature of only 4°C (39°F). Cold water is also more dense, and as a result heavier, than warm water. Colder water sinks below the warm water at the surface, which contributes to the coldness of the deep ocean.

What are the effect of intertidal zones?

While conditions in the intertidal zone can be extreme, it is home to many living things and is also an important feeding spot for both resident and migrating birds. This ecosystem also provides protection against erosion and keeps storm waves from reaching buildings along the shore.

Which ABiOTIC factor affect intertidal zones during the climate change?

ABiOTIC FACTORS OF INTERTIDAL ZONES Abiotic factors include the water temperature, amount of sunlight, soil composition, and dominate geographical features. Water Temperature: Since intertidal zones are all around the world, their climates change drastically, thus changing the temperature of the water.

What are the 5 Intertidal zones?

Intertidal Zone Location

  • Lower Littoral Zone. The lower littoral zone is the area of the intertidal zone closest to the sea, and is submerged the majority of the time.
  • Mid-Littoral Zone. The mid-littoral zone is submerged half of the time, depending on whether it is high or low tide.
  • Upper Mid-Littoral Zone.
  • Splash Zone.

What are the 3 Intertidal zones?

The intertidal zone can be further divided into three zones: high tide, middle tide, and low tide.

What is the temperature of sea water at the sea level in the mid latitude?

Answer: At midlatitudes the mid-ocean temperatures vary about 8 °C (14.4 °F) over the year. At the polar latitudes the surface temperature remains near the freezing point of seawater, about −1.9 °C (28.6 °F).

Where is the coldest part of the ocean?

Antarctic sea ice
A “supercoolometer”, a device that sounds like it should be used to measure hipsters, has found the coldest seawater on Earth, under Antarctic sea ice.