Marine test 1 Flashcards
what is salinity?
the amount of salt in the water
how much salt per litre does oceanic water have?
35g/L
what percentage of all ocean waters contain salt concentrations of 35/L?
75%
solvent properties of water?
water has an enormous ability to dissolve substances because of its polar nature. This allows salts from the land and ocean floor to dissolve
what is heat capacity?
the ability of water to resist temperature change
heat is a measure of what?
molecular motion
water has great resistance to change, what about salt water?
same ability but less
what would happen to the molecules if the water temperature rose?
molecules would need to move faster but the hydrogen bonds resist this so it would keep seawater at a relatively constant temperature
what is the latent heat of fusion?
the heat required for either melting or forming ice
what is the latent heat of vaporization?
the heat released when water evaporates. Heat is continuously being absorbed by the oceans, but they do not get hotter.
why do oceans absorb the heat being evaporated?
This is because heat is released as the hydrogen bonds break allowing water molecules to vaporize into the atmosphere . It is much greater than that of fusion and marine animals make use of this cool down
what is density?
the mass per unit volume
what is mass measured in?
grams and volume in cubic meters (cm3) mass/volume
what happens if the density is less than 1?
it will float
what happens if the density is more than 1?
it will sink
what is the relative density of a substance?
the ratio of the density of that substance, to the density of pure water
What’s the density if the water is saltier?
the density is higher