Ocean Chemistry Flashcards
What is salinity?
the dissolved salt content of a body of water
What adds solids and gasses to the ocean water?
outgassing and water dissolving crustal material
What is outgassing?
the release of a gas that was dissolved, trapped, frozen, or absorbed in some material
Why is water so good at dissolving things?
Highly polar molecule
Why doesn’t oil dissolve in water?
its not a polar molecule
What is diffusion?
random movement of material through a solution (high to low concentration)
What is saturation?
the point where there the maximum amount of substance is dissolved and the rest is still solid
Why are there different areas of salinity and where are the areas with the highest amounts?
Salinity levels are affected by the major deserts and rainforests (evaporation levels)
highest is in the mediterranean because there ins’t much mixing and also 30 degrees north and south of equator
How does higher levels of salinity affect heat capacity, freezing point and evaporation rate?
all levels go down
What are sources of sea salts?
erosion, mantle convection, outgassing
What is Forchhammer’s Principle/Principle of Constant Proportions?
the ratio of major salts in seawater is constant,
regardless of location
How is the ocean in chemical equilibrium? (steady state ocean)
As stuff comes in, other organisms in the ocean take the minerals/gasses out of the water and use them
What is residence time of an atom and how does it correlate with biology?
average length of time an atom of an element spends in the ocean
the more it is used by living things, the less time it will spend in the ocean
Why are gas levels different in the ocean than the atomosphere?
Solubility levels in water
CO2 is polar, N2 is not
As the water gets cooler, it is ____ for gasses to dissolve
easier
