PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY

Physical Water & Seawater Properties

BAT 202

5-3

Water Molecule
The water molecule is unique in structure and
properties.
H2O is the chemical formula for water.
Unique properties of water include:
Higher melting and boiling point than other
hydrogen compounds.
High heat capacity, amount of heat needed to raise
the temperature of one gram of water by 1oC.
Greater solvent power than any other substance.

Water molecules are asymmetrical in shape with

the two hydrogen molecules at one end,
separated by 105o when in the gaseous or liquid
state and 109.5o when in the solid state.

Water on Earth as
solid, liquid, and
gas."

Water Molecule
A water molecule is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen
atom. Water is a polar molecule, having a positive and a negative side."

Review the Polar Water Molecule

V-shaped molecule forms hydrogen bonds

Density
Temperature, salinity and pressure affect the density of seawater. Large
water masses of different densities are important in the layering of the ocean
water (more dense water sinks).
As temperature increases water becomes less dense.
As salinity increases water becomes more dense.
As pressure increases water becomes more dense. A cold, highly saline, deep
mass of water is very dense whereas a warm, less saline, surface water mass
is less dense.
When large water masses with different densities meet, the denser water
mass slips under the less dense mass.
These responses to density are the reason for some of the deep ocean
circulation models.

DENSITY vs. TEMPERATURE for PURE WATER

~4 deg. or 3.98 deg. C = ?

Water And Heat

Note the high heat capacity
of water."

SALINITY vs. FREEZING POINT OF WATER

-2 deg. C = ?

HIGH HEAT CAPACITY OF WATER

Water has a high heat
capacity
Heat capacity = ?
Heat capacities of some
common materials
Water must gain/lose a
lot of heat to change the
temperature a little
Affects coastal climates
(versus continental
climates) & daily winds

Water Molecule

5-3

Sea water consists of water with various

materials dissolved within it.
The solvent is the material doing the dissolving
and in sea water it is the water.
The solute is the material being dissolved.
Salinity is the total amount of salts dissolved in
the water.

It is measured in parts of salt

per thousand parts of salt
water and is expressed as
ppt (parts per thousand) or
abbreviated .
Average salinity of the ocean is about 35.

5-3
Solutes in water: Ionic salts

99% of all the salt ions in the sea are sodium

(Na+), chlorine (Cl-), sulfate (SO4-2),
Magnesium (Mg+2), calcium (Ca+2) and
potassium (K+).
Sodium and chlorine alone comprise about 86% of the salt in
the sea.
The major constituents of salinity display little variation over
time and are a conservative property of sea water.

Chemical Ion
Contributing
to Seawater
Salinity

Concentration in
o/oo
(parts per
thousand)
in average
seawater

Proportion of
Total Salinity
(no matter what
the salinity)

Chloride

19.345

55.03

Sodium

10.752

30.59

Sulfate

2.701

7.68

Magnesium

1.295

3.68

Calcium

0.416

1.18

Potassium

0.390

1.11

Bicarbonate

0.145

0.41

Bromide

0.066

0.19

Borate

0.027

0.08

Strontium

0.013

0.04

Fluoride

0.001

0.003

Other

less than 0.001

less than 0.001

Salinity

5-4

Salinity in the ocean is in a steady-state condition

because the amount of salt added to the ocean (input
from source) equals the amount removed (output into
sinks).
Salt sources include weathering of rocks on land and the reaction of
lava with sea water.
Weathering mainly involves the chemical reaction between rock and
acidic rainwater, produced by the interaction of carbon dioxide and
rainwater forming carbonic acid.

Salt sinks include the following:

Evaporation removes only water molecules.
Remaining water becomes increasingly saline, eventually producing a
salty brine.
If enough water evaporates, the brine becomes supersaturate and salt
deposits begin to precipitate forming evaporite minerals.
Wind-blown spray carries minute droplets of saltwater inland.
Adsorption of ions onto clays and some authigenic minerals.
Shell formation by organisms.

HEAT CAPACITY
OF PURE WATER
Note: high phasechange energies
also characterize
water

TYPICAL OCEAN TEMPERATURE DEPTH PROFILES

Note the
"thermocline" at
mid and low
latitudes

Development of the Pycnocline

Halocline refers to the salinity increase with depth
increase coinciding with the thermocline
Pycnocline is the density change associated with the
thermocline and halocline

LATITUDINAL VARIATION IN AVERAGE DEPTH OF

VERTICAL DENSITY ZONES

Surface zone
Pycnocline
Deep zone

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