Seawater Chemistry and Physics
Chemistry Topic outline:
- Structure of water
- Polarity
- Salinity of seawater
- Components of seawater
- Addition and removal of ocean salt
- Principle of Constant Proportions
- Processes that affect surface salinity
Physics Topic outline:
- Physical structure of ocean
- Density stratification
- Surface zone
- Thermocline,Halocline, Pycnocline
- Deep zone
- Light transmission in ocean
- Refraction, scattering, absorption
- Photic and aphotic zone
- Sound transmission in ocean
- Physical influences
- temperature & pressure
- Sofar layer
Interesting places to visit:
Why the ocean is salty - http://oceanography.palomar.edu/salty_ocean.htm
Basic seawater chemistry - http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/july/features/1/default.asp
Site on how things work: http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/water_steam_ice.html
Color data: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/OCDST/classic_scenes/00_classics_index.html
When you are finished with this topic, you should be able to answer these questions:
- Why is water a polar molecule?
- What condition of salinity makes it possible to determine the total salinity of ocean water by measuring one constituent?
- What processes can cause such the wide variations often observed in surface salinity?
- What factors affect the density of water and how?
- Why is the deep ocean blue-green in color?
- What are the three main zones of density structure in the ocean?
- What makes the Sofar layer such an efficient sound channel?
