Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
The ocean takes up roughly 70% of the world, and produces about 70% of the world’s oxygen.
While it still remains largely mysterious to us, there have been some recent discoveries
that made it seem just a bit smaller.
For years we had no idea just how deep it was, but nowadays we’ve explored the many
layers of the ocean, and know much more about them.
So let’s talk about some of what we’ve learned about this impressive and terrifying
place.
If you want more Science videos, check out our “Biggest Science Questions” playlist
on the channel.
But first, get ready; it’s time to ask the question: How deep is the ocean?
As we’ve learned through deep sea exploration in recent centuries, the ocean is made up
of five different layers, each with different characteristics, and different species of
animals.
The Epipelagic Zone, otherwise known as the Sunlight Zone, is the highest layer of the
ocean, going from the surface to 656 feet down.
In this layer, there tends to be a good amount of both light and heat.
Of course, the deeper you go in the zone, the darker and colder it will become.
This is where most aquatic life and coral reefs are found, both due to the easier living
conditions, and the prevalent plant life, since the light in this zone allows for photosynthesis.
This allows phytoplankton to thrive, which acts as a base food source for ocean life.
Here is where you’ll find sharks, sea turtles, jellyfish, and most other animals with which
we’re familiar.
The Mesopelagic Zone, otherwise known as the Twilight Zone, no not THAT Twilight Zone,
goes from 656 feet down to 3,281 feet.
This is where you start to see bioluminescent fish, who create their own light since the
sun has much less effect at these depths.
It’s also where you can find most whales, sponges, and octopuses.
No, not octopi, as it WOULD have been if the word was of Latin origin, but octopuses, since
it actually originates from Greek.
If you remember nothing else from this video, remember that.
It really opens up a lot of opportunities to look like a know-it-all.
The Bathypelagic Zone, aka the Midnight Zone, is from 3,291 feet to 12,124 feet.
At this depth, where there is no sunlight, even at the height of the sun, bioluminescence
is more common.
The lack of sunlight means that plants are more or less nonexistent.
Whales sometimes dive to this depth in order to find food.
This is also where the fish start to get suuuuper weird.
Creatures such as the gulper eel, angler fish, and cookiecutter shark can be found moving
their creepy little bodies through the water like disgusting water goblins.
Don’t get me wrong; they’re very cool.
But they’re also deeply unsettling.
Puns very much intended.
Moving onto the Abyssopelagic Zone, ominously known as the Abyss, which lies from 13,124
feet to 19,686 feet.
Due to the extreme cold and high pressure in this zone, life is rather scarce, limited
mostly to invertebrates like squid and basket stars.
Three quarters of the ocean floor lies within this zone, with most other areas of the floor
being found in the Midnight or Twilight Zones.
However, a small portion of the ocean floor is found in the 5th zone, known as the Hadalpelagic
Zone.
The Hadalpelagic Zone, otherwise known as the Trenches, is from 19,686 feet to the deepest
levels of the ocean.
Here, life is pretty difficult to come by, largely due to the intense pressure at 3000
to 9000 pounds per square inch.
The Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean, can have pressure as high as 8 tons
per square inch, which would be like having 48 jumbo jets pressing down on you.
With no sunlight at all, and not a ton of bioluminescent light, this is the darkest
zone of them all, inhabited by only the most hardy creatures.
Well that’s pretty cool, eh?
Just a few hundred years ago, all of this was almost completely unknown.
Now, as technology improves, we’ll be able to explore more and more of the ocean!
Scientists believe there may be thousands of undiscovered species found deep in the
ocean.
Considering how enormous the ocean is, there are plenty of areas that have yet to be explored.
In fact, we’ve only explored 5-10% of the ocean.
This is pretty inspiring; not only could there be new species out there, but it could be
that one of these unexplored areas holds the secrets of an ancient civilization, like Atlantis.
Although that might just be the nerd in me poking through.
However, as fun as it is to learn about the layers of the ocean and all the amazing creatures
found there, we still haven’t quite gotten to the crux of the question: Just how deep
is the ocean?
Well, this depends on what part of the ocean you’re in.
While all the oceans in the world are technically connected, different areas reach rather different
depths.
For example, the Arctic Ocean, which is the shallowest of the major oceans, reaches only
5,450 metres in depth.
On the other hand, the deepest of the oceans is the Pacific Ocean.
This is home to the Challenger Deep, which reaches depths of roughly 10,994 metres, or
36,070 feet.
So, if you’re looking for an answer to go home with from this video, the deepest part
of the ocean is about 36,070 feet down.
Done and done.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know your favourite sea creature.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.