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.
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
The majority of the ocean includes the photic zone.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Below the photic zone is the dark aphotic zone, where photosynthesis cannot occur.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018
Photosynthesis can occur in the sunlit region near the surface called the photic zone.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018
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.
