Plantlet The Blogging Platform of Department of Botany, University of Dhaka
Marine Botany is the study of aquatic plants and algae that live in oceans, seas, intertidal zones and even in brackish water (more saline than freshwater but less saline than true marine environments) of estuarine zones. It is a combined branch of marine biology and botany.
According to Wikipedia, Marine botany is the study of flowering vascular plant species and marine algae that live in shallow seawater of the open ocean and the littoral zone, along shorelines of the intertidal zone and coastal wetlands, even in low-salinity brackish water of estuaries.1
Regarding the oceans, the Earth is a unique planet within our solar system for a number of reasons,
- The Earth has water which is essential for the survival of all living beings and so far it is the only planet with life.
- The ocean covers a large portion of biosphere, over 71% (360 million km2 ) of Earth’s surface with an average depth of 4 km.
- 99% of the water in the universe is either marine or frozen, less than 1% (0.4%) being fresh water.
Marine environment is highly diverse. Because,
- Marine ecosystems are hot spots for the diversity of flora and fauna.
- It has a greater role in the biogeochemical cycle and maintenance of atmospheric balance is played by the oceans.
Now, let’s know about the seven continents and how much area they cover in the global surface.
| Continent | Area (km2) |
| Asia | 4,38,20,000 |
| Africa | 3,03,70,000 |
| Antarctica | 1,37,20,000 |
| Australia | 86,00000 |
| Europe | 1,0 1,80,000 |
| North America | 2,47,09,000 |
| South America | 1,78,40,000 |
| Total | 14,92,39,000 km2 |
Oceans of the Earth
| Name | Surface Area | Avg. Depth | Max. Depth | Water Volume | Covered surface | |
| Pacific Ocean | Pacific Ocean
(Deepest and Largest Ocean) |
16,52,50, 000 km2 | 4280 m | 10911 m | 71,0000,000km3 | covers about 30 percent of the Earth’s surface and 46% of Earth’s water surface and its total surface area, making it larger than all of Earth’s land area combined. |
| Atlantic Ocean | The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world’s oceans | 10, 64, 60, 000 sq kilometers | 3646 m | 8486 m | 31,04,10,900 km3 | It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth’s surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. |
| Indian Ocean | Indian Ocean is the third largest of world oceans | 7,05,60, 000 km2 | 3741 m | 7258 m | 26,40,00000 km3 | Its area represents about 14 percent of the Earth’s surface and 19.5% of the Earth’s water surface. |
| Southern Ocean | The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean or the Austral Ocean | 2,03,27,000 sq km | 3,270 m | 7,236 m | 7,18,00000 cubic kilometers. | Its area makes up 4% of the Earth’s total surface. |
| The Arctic Ocean | Located mostly in the Arctic north polar region | 1,55,58,000 square kilometers | 1,038 m | The deepest point is Litke Deep in the Eurasian Basin, at 5,450 m (17,880 ft). | 1,87,50,000 km3 | It covers about 2.8 percent of Earth’s surface. |
The Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern arm of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and the Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between Sangaman Kanda, Sri Lanka and the north westernmost point of Sumatra (Indonesia). It is located between latitudes 5°N and 22°N and longitudes 80°E and 100°E.
The Bay of Bengal is the Indian Ocean’s second-largest subdivision after the Arabian Sea.
- It is the largest water region called a bay in the world.
- It is one of the global 64 largest marine ecoregions.
- It occupies an area of 21,72,000 square kilometers.
- Average depth 2,600 m.
- Max. depth 4,694 m.
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(via World Atlas)
The occurrence of marine species – both plants and animals – in the Bay of Bengal has largely been controlled by the physico-chemical properties of ocean water. Water discharges from the surrounding river catchments carry huge influx of sediments full of nutrients to the Bay, particularly along the near shore region. This has turned the Bay into a fertile marine fishing ground of the region. The near-shore up-welling zone not only has a high yield of nutrients, but also is a high primary production area for the phytoplankton and related zooplankton zones.2
Nevertheless, total biodiversity including micro and macro algae are still unknown.
Causes of loss of biodiversity in Bay of Bengal area
Damage is caused due to coral bleaching and several anthropogenic activities like fishing, pollution, habitat alteration, introduction of exotic species and climate change.
The environment of these areas are drastically undergoing degradation. So inhabiting organisms and even micro and macro algae could possibly become extinct in the near future.
Marine Ecology
Marine Ecology is the scientific study of marine-life habitat, populations, and interactions among organisms and the surrounding environment including physical and chemical factors that affect the ability of organisms to survive and reproduce.
Biodiversity is an unique feature of our biosphere, sustainability of which is directly related to the existence of human civilization.
References
- Bay of Bengal by Banglapedia.
- Bay of Bengal by World Atlas.
Revised By
- Abulais Shomrat on 21 June, 2021.
