OCEAN SALINITY, TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY

USE YOUR NOTES AND RAISE YOUR HANDS PLEASE.  Review Questions  Ocean floor features

SALINITY  Calculated as mass of salt/mass water  Most sea water is 3.5%

PRACTICE  What mass of salt would make a concentration of 10% salinity in 500g of water?

WHERE DOES THE SALT COME FROM?  Chemical weathering of rocks on the continents.  volcanic eruptions

PROCESSES THAT AFFECT SALINITY  Addition of freshwater- how does this happen?  Reduction of freshwater- what causes this?

WOULD SALINITY BE GREATER OR LESS THAN 3.5% HERE?

OCEAN TEMPERATURE  Primarily a function of latitude

TEMPERATURE ALSO VARIES WITH DEPTH.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT GRAPH MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN THE POLAR REGIONS? SKETCH IT IN YOUR NOTES.

SEA WATER DENSITY  Influenced by temperature and salinity  Temperature is the most important variable here.

QUESTIONS  What is the effect of increasing temperature?  What is the effect of increasing salinity?

OCEAN LAYERING  surface zone-warmest -solar radiation-300m 2% water  transition zone-temp goes down following the thermocline18% water  deep zone-no sun, cold 80% of ocean