PENGANTAR OSEANOGRAFI

PROPERTIES OF
SEAWATER
 II.
*Origin of the Hydrosphere
*Properties of Seawater
Origin of the Hydrosphere
 What is hydrosphere?
 The hydrosphere is the liquid water
component of the earth
 It covers about 70 % of the earth`s surface
 Earth`s water forms:
✓ Liquid: oceans, seas, rivers, ponds, lakes,
below the ground surface
✓Solid: glaciers, snow packs, sea ice
✓Gas: water vapor in the atmosphere
 How did water originate?
 Earth was a collection of particles
 As the earth warmed and partially
melted, the components of water were
released as water vapor
 As the earth`s surface cooled, the water
vapor condensed to form the oceans
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/dynamic/session4/sess4_hydroatmo1.htm
 Properties of water
 The presence of water on the earth`s
surface is what makes life possible
 97.2 % of the water on earth is found in
the oceans
 In order to better understand the
oceans we need to better understand
the properties of water
 Water molecule
 Made up of three atoms: two hydrogen
atoms and one oxygen atom (H2O)
 The positive and negative charges allow each
water molecule to form bonds with other
water molecules

“Hydrogen bonds”
http://plantphys.info/plant_physiology/watermove.shtml
 Changes of state

 Because of the bonding between water

molecules, it needs energy to separate
between the physical states of water
 The energy is in the form of heat
 Water changes its state by the addition or
loss of heat and the breaking and forming of
bonds between molecules
 Physical properties of water
Temperature
Salinity
Density
Pressure
Light
Sound
 Temperature
 Probably the most important and best
studied environmental factor affecting
marine organisms
 Is measured in degrees
 Different scales used for temperatures
 Celsius oC (more useful in science)

 Fahrenheit oF

 Kelvin K
 Temperature
 Changes in temperature can have a
great affect on other properties of
seawater and can effect life in the sea
 Ocean has a wide range of temperature
from almost 38 oC to -2 oC
 Temperature varies in the oceans of the
world horizontally with changes of
latitude
Ocean temperature profile
• Mixed layer
(easily influenced
with solar energy,
wind and rain)
• Thermocline
(rapid change in
temperature with
depth)
• Deep water layer
(temperature
decreases slowly as
depth increase)
Source: The deep-sea floor: an overview in Ecosystems of the deep oceans pp. 17
How to measure temperature?
 Thermometer
 CTD (Conductivity Temperature
Depth)
 Satellite

http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2009/01/

http://www.mar-eco.no/Shiptoshore/g._o._sars/cruise_journal_gosars/17July
 Salinity
 Is total quantity of dissolved salt in seawater
 The unit is part per thousand (ppt or o/oo) or
in Practical Salinity Unit (psu)
 Open ocean salinity generally range in 32-37
ppt with the average of 35 ppt (restricted to
upper 100 m)
 Vertical distribution showed less variation of
salinity
 Salinity
 The salts of the oceans come from:
Chemical reactions of seawater with
sediments
Gases produced by volcanoes

Spreading centers of the mid-ocean

ridge and rise systems
 Major constituents
 Most seawater
constituents
are ions
 Concentrations
of the major
constituents
determine the
salinity of
seawater
 Determining salinity
 Principal of constant proportions:
“despite of small variations in seawater salinity,
the relative proportions of the major constituents
are constant”
• Only need to measure the concentration of one
major constituent
• Generally Cl- is used to determine salinity
(Chlorinity)
salinity o/oo = 1.8 x Cl o/oo
Halocline
(rapid
change in
salinity
with depth)
 Density
 Mass per unit volume of substances
 Usually measured in grams per cubic centimeter
(g/cm3)
 Water density is very sensitive to temperature and
salinity changes
density of warm water is less than that of
cold water
when salts are dissolved in water, density of
water increases
Pycnocline
(rapid change
in density
with depth)
High densities
are associated
with cold salty
water
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/density.html
Density causes mixing of water vertically
 Determining density
 Nowadays are using CTD
 CTD measures conductivity, temperature
and pressure directly
 Salinity can be calculated once conductivity
was known
 Temperature, salinity and pressure can be
used to calculate density using the equation
of state of sea water
TS diagram
 Pressure
 Of all the environmental factors acting on the
oceans, pressure is the most predictable and shows
the greater range
 Atmospheric pressure is the pressure exerted by
the weight of the atmosphere on the earth`s
surface
 At sea level it is 14.7 pounds of force for every square inch
(14.7 psi)
 This amount of pressure is referred to as 1 atmosphere (1
atm)
 1 atm = 10 m (means every 10 m is 1 atm)
 Pressure
 Marine organisms are subject to
varying pressures from the
constant weight of the water
column above them
 Pressure problems are more
important for the deeper regions of
the ocean
 Light
 Seawater transmits only the visible
wavelengths of sunlight
 About 60 % of the entering light energy is
absorbed in the first meter, and about 80 %
is gone after 10 m
 Only 1 % of the total light available at the
surface is left in the clearest water below 150
m
 No sunlight penetrates below 1000 m
 Light
 The light undergoes absorption and
scattering by suspended particles, including
silt, single-celled organisms, and the water
and salt molecules.
 The decrease in the intensity of light over
distance is known as attenuation
 The clearer the water, the greater the light
penetration and the smaller the attenuation
The Nature and Measurement of the Light
Environment in the Ocean
Solar Radiation on the Ocean

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/ael/personals/pjpb/lecture/lecture.html
 Solar Radiation on the Ocean Surface

Marine Biology (Nybakken&Bertness 2005)

 Sound
 Sound travels farther and faster in
seawater than in air
 The speed of sound in seawater
increases with increasing temperature,
pressure and salt content
 Sound can travel much greater distance
than light underwater
Any questions?