Meanings
- uncountablemarine biologySinking organic detritus in the ocean.
As long as there has been marine life, there has been marine snow—a ceaseless drizzle of death and waste sinking from the surface into the depths of the sea. […] Although the term may suggest wintry whites, marine snow is mostly brownish or grayish, comprising mostly dead things.
2022 April 3, Sabrina Imbler, “In the ocean, it's snowing microplastics”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Apr 20221 more example
Marine snow contains sufficient energy and nutrients to sustain large numbers of marine organisms in the aphotic zone. Unconsumed marine snow eventually sinks to the bottom where it becomes incorporated into the layer of muddy ooze that forms a thick blanket over much of the seafloor.
2022, Michael Kent, The Marine Environment and Biodiversity, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 24Synonyms: ocean dandruff, snow
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSinking organic detritus in the ocean.
Origin
Coined by American naturalist William Beebe.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan neu marina
- neu marinasinking organic detritus in the ocean
French neige marine
- neige marinesinking organic detritus in the ocean
German Meeresschnee
- Meeresschneesinking organic detritus in the ocean
Portuguese neve marinha
- neve marinhasinking organic detritus in the ocean
Spanish nieve marina
- nieve marinasinking organic detritus in the ocean
Cite this entry
marine snow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marine%20snow
“marine snow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marine%20snow. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “marine snow,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/marine%20snow.
Source: marine snow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.