Flashcards
Seawater Properties II
Cards in this deck (18)
- 1Components of seawaterDissolved Organic Matter (DOM)
Dissolved salts (ions) - nutrients, trace elements
Dissolved gases - O2 - 2Major Constituents
- 3Minor ConstituentsNutrients and trace element, account for <0.01%
- 4The Principle of Constant ProportionThe ratio of any 2 major salt constituents in the ocean is constant and independent of salinity
- 5How do major ions show conservative behaviour?Neither addition or removal from saltwater by chemical or biological processes
Ions have a longer residency (several Ma) than seawater (several thousand a)
Oceans in a steady state in regard to major ions - 6Exceptions to the conservative ions ruleLand-locked seas (Baltic)
Low oxygen waters
Ice formations (only part of ions dissolved are retained) - 7Define SalinityThe total amount of major ions in a sample of seawater
Reported by as a ration of grams per 1kg of seawater - 8What properties of seawater does salinity affect?Density
Freezing point - 9Modern methods to detect conductivityUses a Conductivity - Temperature - Density probe (CTD) to measure the alternating currents in seawater
- 10Latitudinal Salinity Distribution
- 11Processes that increase salinityEvaporation
Ice formation - brine rejection (major ions not accepted into ice) - 12Processes that decrease salinityPrecipitation
River discharge - local
Ice melts - 13Ocean GyreA large system of circulating ocean currents, particularly those involved in large wind movements
- 14The carbonate systemRegulates the pH of seawater - at seawater the pH is mostly HCO3-
- 15What affects the Carbonate System?Air-sea gas exchange
Photosynthesis
Respiration
Precipitation
Dissolution - 16Ocean acidification and Global warmingSeawater pH levels are expected to drop which has consequences for calcareous phytoplankton and zooplankton - therefore, may affect the carbon cycle
- 17Total Alkalinity (TA)Sum of the 'charge equivalent' concentration of all the basic alkaline ions needed to neutralise an acid (hydrogen ions H+)
- 18Distribution of pHFollows that of salinity: highest in subtropical gyre systems and lowest in areas of high freshwater run off & precipitation
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- MST1103 Flashcards on Seawater Properties II, created by Phoebe Drennan on 28/05/2017.
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- Phoebe Drennan
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