Intertidal zoneThe shore that the tide covers and uncovers.
Neritic zoneThe shallow water over the continental shelf.
Oceanic zoneThe open sea beyond the continental shelf's edge.
Continental shelfThe shallow, gently sloping seabed from the shore to the shelf break.
Benthic zoneThe sea bottom; what lives on or in it is the benthos.
From the surface down 6
Epipelagic zoneThe top layer, down to 200 meters. Also called the sunlight zone.
Mesopelagic zoneFrom 200 to 1,000 meters. Also called the twilight zone.
Bathypelagic zoneFrom 1,000 to 4,000 meters, in constant darkness. Also called the midnight zone.
Abyssopelagic zoneFrom 4,000 to 6,000 meters, reaching the sea floor in most places.
Hadalpelagic zoneBelow 6,000 meters: the water inside the deep trenches.
TrenchA deep, narrow cut in the sea floor. The Mariana Trench is the deepest.
By light 2
Photic zoneThe lit top 200 meters, where there is enough light for photosynthesis.
Aphotic zoneThe dark water below 1,000 meters, which sunlight does not reach.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-01 in at least two of these; every depth on the drawing is one that the first, third and fourth give alike. (1) NOAA JetStream, Layers of the Ocean, https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/ocean/layers-of-ocean (the five layers and their depths: 200, 1,000, 4,000 and 6,000 meters; the Mariana Trench). (2) NOAA National Ocean Service, How far does light travel in the ocean?, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/light_travel.html (the euphotic or sunlight zone to 200 meters, the twilight zone to 1,000 meters, the aphotic zone below). (3) Paul Webb, Introduction to Oceanography, Roger Williams University, section 1.3, Marine Provinces, https://rwu.pressbooks.pub/webboceanography/chapter/1-3-marine-provinces/ (pelagic and benthic; the neritic province, from low tide out to the shelf break, and the oceanic province beyond it; the same five depth zones; the littoral or intertidal zone; the continental shelf). (4) Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Ocean Zones, https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/ocean-topics/how-the-ocean-works/ocean-zones/ (the five zones and the trenches). (5) Wikipedia, Neritic zone; Oceanic zone; Intertidal zone; Benthic zone; Photic zone, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neritic_zone. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-01 from plain geometry. Own original drawing; nothing is traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
An ocean zones diagram with no labels, to print and fill in. Only the clues stay: the tide marks and the shelf break on the first drawing, and four depths in meters on the second.
Read the full guide
Five names from the shore out
Four lines and one open space. The line by the sea star is for the intertidal zone, the line into the shallow water for the neritic zone, and the one from the dotted slab for the continental shelf. Oceanic zone goes across the open water under the sailboat. The line at the bottom is for the benthic zone.
Eight names from the surface down
The four bands have no lines: each name goes across its band, in the order of the prefixes epi, upon; meso, middle; bathy, deep; abysso, no bottom. Two lines end on the brackets at the right edge, photic at the top and aphotic lower down. Two end in the cut: hadalpelagic, named for Hades, on its water, and trench on its wall.
What is the difference between the pelagic and benthic zones?
The pelagic zone is the water column, home to organisms that swim or float. The benthic zone is the bottom, at any depth. That is why all five layer names end in pelagic, and why one benthic band runs under shallow water and deep.
Which ocean zone is the deepest?
The hadalpelagic zone, the water inside the deep trenches, below 6,000 meters. NOAA puts the very bottom at 10,994 meters, in the Mariana Trench. On the sheet it is the narrow strip of water between the walls of the cut.
What are the three zones of the ocean by light?
The euphotic or sunlight zone, the dysphotic or twilight zone, and the aphotic zone, which sunlight does not reach. The sheet has a bracket for the first, written photic on the key, and for the last. The band from 200 to 1,000 meters has none.
Does the ocean zones diagram come with an answer key?
Yes. It prints both drawings again with all thirteen names: eight at the ends of their lines, and five written across the open water and the four bands.