shallow sea
Light-penetrated marine zone
A shallow sea is a body of ocean water covering continental shelf areas, typically less than 200 meters deep.
These waters receive more sunlight and support richer ecosystems than the deep ocean: The shallow seas of the Paleozoic teemed with trilobites.
In geology and paleontology, shallow sea environments are significant because most marine fossils formed there.
- lagoonSheltered coastal shallows
- coral reefCalcium carbonate marine ecosystem
- reefUnderwater rock or coral formation
- tideOcean's cyclical swell
- tide poolWave-stranded water hollow
low tide · sandbar · coral · estuary · coastal · bay · inlet · turquoise · crystal clear · warm · warm current · sunlit · wading · wading in · clear · sandy · sandy bottom · shoal
- ancient habitatsancient forest
- ancient landformsglacial valley, ancient forest
- ecosystemsrainforest, forest, desert, jungle, ocean
- Ancient EarthPangaea, Gondwana, supercontinent, continental drift, ice age
- paleoclimatepaleoclimate, ice age, ice ages, ice cores, ice core
shallow seadeep ocean
Sea's lowest regions
deep sea · ocean depths · the deep · deep water · Mariana Trench
shallow, sea, shallows, shallower, shallowest, shallowness, seas, seaward, seawards