Table 2. Atlantic Ocean pelagic habitat volume based on hypsometry, as presented by Menard and Smith (1966). The ocean pelagic habitat has been divided vertically into five zones: epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic, abyssopelagic, and hadopelagic (Hedgepeth, 1957). The latter zone occupies a small fraction of the ocean volume and is present in the Atlantic Ocean’s Puerto Rico Trench (8400 m).

Habitat Zone Volume 106 km3 Percent volume in depth zones
epipelagic (0-200 m) 17311.6 4.8
mesopelagic (200-1000 m) 64382.4 17.7
bathypelagic (1000 - 4000 m) 213140.0 58.6
abyssopelagic (4000 - 7000 m) 68859 18.9
hadopelagic (>7000 m) 10.0 0.003