In the deep ocean,
marine snow is a continuous shower of mostly organic
detritus falling from the upper layers of the
water column. It is a significant means of exporting
energy from the
light-rich
photic zone to the
aphotic zone below. The term was first coined by the explorer
William Beebe as he observed it from his
bathysphere. As the origin of marine snow lies in activities within the productive photic zone, the prevalence of marine snow changes with seasonal fluctuations in
photosynthetic activity and
ocean currents. Marine snow can be an important food source for organisms living in the aphotic zone, particularly for organisms which live very deep in the water column.