Chapter 5: Water and Seawater

These flashcards focus on key vocabulary and concepts related to water and seawater, their properties, and their importance in the Earth's system.

Anomalous Properties of Water

Unique characteristics of water such as high heat capacity, high latent heat of fusion and vaporization, and surface tension that are essential for climate moderation.

Salinity

The concentration of dissolved salts in seawater, commonly measured in practical salinity units (PSU).

Hydrogen Bond

A weak bond between water molecules that occurs when the positively charged hydrogen atoms attract to the negatively charged oxygen atoms of nearby water molecules.

Residence Time

The average time an element spends in the ocean before being removed, indicating how efficiently it is removed from the seawater.

Dissolved Constituents

Chemical elements found in seawater in the form of compound ions, which includes both naturally occurring and human-made substances.

Latent Heat of Vaporization

The amount of heat required to convert water from a liquid to gas without changing its temperature.

Evaporation

The process by which water changes from liquid to gas, occurring below its boiling point.

pH

A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of water on a scale from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most alkaline), with 7 being neutral.

Thermal Expansion

The increase in volume of water as its temperature rises; pure water has a density maximum at 4°C.

Photosynthesis

The process by which aquatic plants and phytoplankton consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen, primarily in the upper layers of the ocean where light is available.