Question

Scientists report (1) that creatures living in the deep sea are in danger of starving to death. Millions of undiscovered species live, in the deep sea. Creatures in the seabed are suffering from growing food shortages. Which may be a result of rising sea temperatures. Scientists believe that some species will die out, those that can survive on a low food supply will continue living. Not much is known about the creatures that live in the deep sea, not much is known about the changes in their diets. Scientists estimate that up to 10 million species live in the depths of the sea. Most animals of the deep rely on food chains that begin. In the lighted realms of the sea. Microscopic plants called phytoplankton. Capture the sun and start the food cycle. (2) Wherever there are animal droppings, there is a constant rain of organic matter (3) that feeds the bottom dwellers.

The underlined part of sentence 3 is what kind of clause?
adverbial clause
adjectival clause
noun clause

Answer 1

The kind of clause in sentence three is noun clause. A noun clause can take the place of the noun, and is considered a direct object. It tends to contain important and relevant information about a topic. In the excerpt provided, the phrase is dependant on the constant rain of organic matter and the clause indicates what it feeds on to provide additional details.

Answer 2

The underlined part of sentence 3 that feeds the bottom dwellers is used as a noun clause, because it is a part of the noun phrase constant rain of organic matter.