User blog comment:Unownshipper/Flora and Fauna of Rapture/@comment-1592487-20131106045727/@comment-188.31.211.143-20131106074118

Is Rapture located in the deep sea?

It is often suggested that Rapture is located in the deep sea, below the continental shelf and below the sunlight level.

The Euphotic Zone (the upper layer of the sea where photosynthesis can take place) reaches down to approximately 200 meters (660 feet) depending on things like clarity of sea water and location on the planet (e.g. sunlight penetrates deeper at the equator). Coincidentally most of the edge of continental shelf around the world is at the 200 meter base of the Euphotic Zone.

Depending on various factors, total darkness in the sea can occur between approximately 200 to 1000 meters below the surface.

At the start of BioShock when Jack uses the bathysphere in the lighthouse, the bathysphere travels down 18 fathoms (c. 32 meters) to reach Rapture. This would put Rapture well within the upper sunlight Euphotic Zone.

But there is a problem here; in the 1950s New York had many skyscrapers from c. 200 to 300 meters tall, the bathysphere seems to have travelled down to near the upper part of Rapture. So the upper parts of the skyscrapers would have been almost at the surface of the sea.

If it is assumed that the tallest buildings were c. 200 to 300 meters tall, then ground level would be below the sunlight Euphotic Zone, with little or no sea farming possible in or near Rapture. Therefore any local farming in Rapture would probably have to use artificial light.

That does not mean that Rapture did not have farming or harvesting in shallower waters.

The above comments seem to indicate that Rapture was probably situated on the edge of the continental shelf and not in the deep dark sea, below the continental shelf.