As much as seventy percent of the productivity may be from microscopic ultraplankton. C. Hydrothermal Vents 1. In the fissures between the earth's crustal plates, water becomes heated and laden with minerals as it escapes. Elaborate food webs are supported at this site. The Master Builders 1.
Coral reefs are the accumulated remains of countless corals and other organisms.
Most are located in the clear, warm waters between latitudes 25 o north and south. The countless skeletons of corals plus other organisms provide a substrate on which many species of corals and other organisms live. Coral banks are located farther north and south at the edges of the continental shelves near Japan, California, Norway, England, and New Zealand. The Once and Future Reefs 1. Dinoflagellate residents of the reefs will die when stressed, leaving the coral polyps without their helpful symbionts.