Why is it that the deeper you travel in the ocean the less light there is?

Answer 1

Because you in the depths of hell. Except, unlike hell, it's also freezing cold down there below the thermocline.

Answer 2

Because water absorbs light and the deeper you go the more water there is for the light to pass through.

Answer 3

The molecules in water scatter and absorb light.

So for example, if you were to look at a rainbow... that is caused by the same thing. The light is scattered in water droplets falling from the sky and that refraction passes light through, but also creates the colours you see. But the ocean isn't a thin layer of water for light to shine through, the ocean is deeper. The light is scattering through deeper water, bouncing all over the place, and it just can't travel in a straight line down because of thick layers of water molicules in its way. So that is why light can only penetrate approx 100m before it can't go further.

Answer 4

The deeper you go, the less light is able to penetrate.

Answer 5

Each layer of water (a) reflects some of the incoming light back out, (b) absorbs some of the incoming light in the form of heat, and (c) allows some of the incoming light to pass through to a lower layer. Obviously, then, each layer receives only part of the light that shone on the layer immediately above it. The most transparent ocean water will remove about 40% of the red light and a few percent of the blue-green light in just a single meter of water thickness. Coastal water is murkier, removing about 75% of red light and 30% of blue-green light in a single meter of water thickness. And then each subsequent meter removes a similar percentage of the remaining light.

Answer 6

Water is only partially translucent.

It's like a sheet of paper if you shine a bright light on one side of a piece of paper you can still see some light on the other side but if you pile up enough pieces of paper you can't.

Answer 7

Water absorbs light.