abyssal
1
9.4
- adjective
- /əˈbɪsəl/
- Specialized
:
abisal
- The sea floor between 2.5 and 3.8 miles down is known as the abyssal plain.
- abyssal plain
- abyssal depths
Examples
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The abyssal zone is home to unique creatures that have adapted to life at extreme depths.
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The Hawaiian islands sit on the abyssal plain, directly over a hot spot - a tear in the earth's crust.
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The vast abyssal plane is on the move
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There are some efforts to do this for the abyssal warming signal.
Blog text (29) -
The abyssal areas of the world's oceans are consequently remarkably uniform: dark, salty, and cold.
Academic text (1992) -
They find that the whale's contribution to the ecology of the abyssal plain is enormous
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The Antarctic bottom water slithers far north, over the edge of the continental shelf and into the abyssal zones at the bottom of the oceans.
Academic text (1992) -
When geologists drill through the sea floor in the abyssal plains they have to drill through several hundred feet of sediment before they hit bedrock.
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At abyssal depths, Earth's weight presses out their water; heat and pressure burst their molecules, and sandstone changes into quartzite.
Academic text (1998) -
Like the Gorda Escarpment, "Baby Bare's fauna differs strikingly from that of the surrounding abyssal plain," says Voight.
Academic text (2004)
Synonyms
13
4.5
Located very far below the sea surface
4
4.9
In very deep parts of the sea
1
3.9
Water that is very deep, usually in oceans or large lakes
Compounds
- Specialized
A very deep part of the ocean below 2,000 meters with no light, very cold water, and high pressure
How Deep
3
4.7
- Specialized
1
9.4
- Specialized
1
7.4
- Specialized
4
5.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word abyssal comes from the Greek word abyssos, which means 'bottomless', and is the same root as the common word abyss, so abyssal describes the very deep parts of the ocean far below the surface.