photic zone
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of photic zone
First recorded in 1970–75
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Video footage collected by remotely operated submersibles revealed that microbial mats can form even in parts of the ocean far below the photic zone, the sunlit upper layer where photosynthesis occurs.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
Footage from remotely operated submersibles exploring seafloors far below the photic zone revealed that microbial mats can develop there as well, but they are produced by chemosynthetic bacteria.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026
The region starts about 1,000 feet down — just beneath the photic zone, which gets enough sunlight to support photosynthesis and most of the sea’s plants — and descends for miles.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2024
Zooplankton may swim in or out of the photic zone.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2018
Continental shelves are typically less than 200 m in depth; 200 m is also the limit of the photic zone, the maximum depth to which sufficient light penetrates to allow photosynthesis to take place.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
