Ocean Water

Water in the ocean is?

Tasteless, odorless, and colorless

Scientists describe ocean water by..?

Presence of dissolved gasses and dissolved solids
salinity and temperature
density and color

The two principal gasses in the atmosphere are..

Nitrogen and Oxygen

Ocean water contains a large amount of dissolved?

Carbon dioxide

Most oxygen in the ocean..

enters as dissolved gas from streams and rivers

Gases dissolve most readily in what kind of water?

cold water

When ocean temperature rises

excess gas is released into the atmosphere

How many time more carbon is in the oceans that in the atmosphere?

60 times

For how long might dissolved carbon dioxide be trapped in the ocean?

from hundreds to thousands of years

Carbon sink

Oceans(because they contain a large amount of carbon dioxide)

Ocean water is made up of what % of dissolved solids?

3.5%

The dissolved solids that give the ocean its salty taste are commonly called…

Sea salts

Solids dissolved in ocean water are composed of about how many chemical elements?

75

The most common salt, halite, which makes up more that 85% of the oceans solids, is made up of

sodium and chloride ions

Trace Elements

Elements that exist in very small amounts

Three examples pf trace elements

gold, zinc, phosphorus

3 main sources of the elements that form sea salts

volcanic eruptions, chemical weathering of rock on land and, chemical reactions between sea water and formed sea floor rocks

Salinity/How is it measured/average of fresh water

a measure of the amount of dissolved salts and other solids in a given amount of liquid/Measured by the # of grams of dissolved solids in 1000 grams of ocean water/less than 0.1% salt or has a salinity of 1%

What happens when evaporation and freezing remove water from particles from the ocean?

Only water molecules are removed from the ocean, dissolved salts and other solids remain.

Ocean temperature varies on

Depth of water and location on the surface of the oceans

Pack ice

A floating layer of sea ice that completely covers an area of the ocean surface.

Thermocline

A layer in a body of water in which water temperatures drop with increased depth faster than it does in other layers.

Density

The ratio of the mass of a substance to the volume of the substance

commonly expressed as grams per cubic centimeter for solids and liquids and as grams per liter for gases.

To factors that affect the density of ocean water

salinity and the temperature of the water

How is the color ocean water determined?

by the way it absorbs or reflects sublight

Why does ocean water appear blue?

Water absorbs most of the wavelenghts, or colors, of visible light. Only the blue wavelengths tend to be reflected.

Phytoplankton

Microscopic plants in the ocean, that provide food to many of the oceans organisms.

Key Points

-Cold water dissolves gases more readily than warm ocean water does.
-The color of ocean water is affected by the presence of phytoplankton.