Chapter 5:
Water and
Seawater
The Basics – Water on Earth
• Presence of water on Earth makes life possible.
• Organisms are mostly water.
• Chemical structure of water gives it its unusual properties.
Atoms
• Atoms—building blocks of
all matter
• Subatomic particles
• Protons
• Neutrons
• Electrons
• Number of protons
distinguishes chemical
elements
Molecules
• Definition:
• Two or more atoms held together
by shared electrons
• Smallest form of a substance
• Water Molecule:
• Strong covalent bonds between
two hydrogen (H) and one oxygen
(O) atoms
• Both H atoms on the same side of
O atom
• Bent molecule shape gives
water its unique properties
• [Link]
Hydrogen Bonding
• Water Molecules are Dipolar
• Polarity means small negative
charge at O end
• Small positive charge at H end
• Attraction between positive and
negative ends of water
molecules to each other or
other ions
Hydrogen Bonding
contd.
• Hydrogen bonds are weaker than covalent bonds
but still strong enough to contribute to:
• Cohesion—molecules sticking together
• High water surface tension
• High solubility of chemical compounds in
water
• Unusual thermal properties of water
• Unusual density of water
The Universal Solvent
• Water molecules stick to other polar molecules.
• Electrostatic attraction produces ionic bond.
• Like dissolves like!
Thermal
Properties of
Water
• Water is solid, liquid, and gas at Earth’s surface.
• Water influences Earth’s heat budget.
Heat, Temperature and Changes of State
• Van der Waals forces
• Weak interactions when molecules are close
together due to the molecules’ uneven
distribution of a charge.
• Energy must be added for molecules to
overcome attractions.
• Freezing point = melting
point: 0°C (32°F )
elsius ahrenheit
• Boiling point = condensation
point: 100°C (212°F )
elsius ahrenheit
• Freezing and boiling points of
water unusually high
Heat Capacity and Specific Heat
• Heat Capacity—amount of heat
required to raise the temperature of
1 gram of any substance by 1°C elsius
• Water has a high heat capacity—can
take in or lose much heat without
changing temperature
• Specific Heat—heat capacity per
unit mass
Latent Heat
• Water has high latent heats • Latent Heat of Condensation
• Heat absorbed or released during change of state
• Cooled water vapor turns to liquid and releases
• Water’s latent heat related to its high heat capacity heat to the environment
• Latent Heat of Melting • Identical to latent heat of vaporization
• Energy needed to break intermolecular bonds that hold
water molecules rigidly in place in ice crystals • Latent Heat of Freezing
• 80 calories/gram
• Heat released when water freezes
• Latent Heat of Vaporization
• Amount of heat that must be added to a substance at its
• Identical to latent heat of melting
boiling point to break the intermolecular bonds and
change state from liquid to vapor
• 540 calories/gram
• All hydrogen bonds must be broken
• Latent Heat of Evaporation
• Evaporation = conversion of liquid to gas below the
boiling point
• 585 calories/gram
• Lower temperature of surface water not at boiling point
means more hydrogen bonds to break
Water and Hydrogen Bonds in the Three States
Global Thermostatic Effects
• Water’s properties moderate temperature on Earth’s surface
• The evaporation‐condensation cycle helps to make life possible on Earth.
• The Sun radiates energy to Earth and some of it is stored as heat in the
world’s oceans.
• Evaporation removes this heat from the oceans and carries it into the atmosphere. In the
cooler, upper atmosphere, water vapor condenses into clouds, which are the source of
precipitation.
• The formation of clouds causes water’s latent heat of condensation to be released back
into the atmosphere.
• As a result of this process, huge amounts of heat energy are removed from low‐latitude
oceans and heat energy is added to the heat‐deficient higher latitudes.
• Poles don’t freeze and the equator doesn’t boil!
Global Thermostatic
Effects contd.
• Marine effect
• Oceans moderate
temperature changes
from day to night and
during different seasons
• Continental effect
• Land areas have greater
range of temperatures
from day to night and
during different seasons
Water Density
• Density = mass/unit volume
• Density of water increases as temperature decreases to
4°C .
elsius
• Thermal contraction = shrinkage of most substances caused
by cold temperatures
• From 4°C to 0°C , the density of water decreases as
elsius elsius
temperature decreases.
• Unique property of water
• Ice is less dense than liquid water.
• Changes in molecular packing
• Water expands as it freezes.
• Increasing pressure or adding dissolved substances
decreases the maximum density temperature.
• Dissolved solids also reduce the freezing point of water.
• Most seawater never freezes.
Salinity
• Salinity Defined:
• Total amount of dissolved solids in water including dissolved gases
• Excludes dissolved organics
• Ratio of mass of dissolved substances to mass of water sample
• Typical ocean salinity is about 3.5%, about 220 times saltier than freshwater.
Seawater with a salinity of 3.5% indicates that it also contains 96.5% pure
water.
• Salinity is usually expressed in parts per thousand (ppt).
• Because seawater is mostly pure water, it retains some of the properties of
water with some variations.
Determining Salinity
• Early methods involved evaporating a carefully weighted amount of
seawater and weighing the salts that precipitated from it. The
accuracy of this method was limited and the process was very time‐
consuming!
• The Principle of Constant Proportions states that the major dissolved
constituents responsible for the salinity of seawater occur nearly
everywhere in the ocean in exactly the same proportion.
• This means that when salinity changes, it is not due to salts leaving (or
entering) the ocean, it’s only water molecules that are added or removed.
Principle of Constant Proportions Contd.
• Because seawater has the constancy of composition, the
concentration of a single major constituent can be measured to
determine the total salinity of a given water sample.
• The constituent that occurs in the greatest abundance and is the
easiest to measure accurately is the chlorine ion ( ି ݈ܥሻ .
• By measuring only the chloride ion concentration, the total salinity of a
seawater sample can be determined using the following relationship:
Salinity (in ppt) = 1.80655 x chlorinity (ppt)
1.80655 comes from dividing 1/.5504 which is the proportion of chloride ions to
seawater.
Determining Salinity
• Salinometer
• Measures water’s electrical conductivity
• More dissolved substances increase conductivity
Desalinization ‐ Distillation
Distillation
Most common process
Water boiled and condensed
Solar distillation in arid climates
Desalination
[Link]
Desalinization contd.
• Reverse osmosis
• Salt water forced through membrane into fresh water
• Freeze separation
• Water frozen and thawed multiple times
Salinity Variations
• Open ocean salinity varies from 33‐38 ppt. In coastal areas, there is
larger variation.
• There are exceptions – ie. The Baltic Sea is only 10% due to brackish water
flows – influx of freshwater from rivers or rain lowers the salinity.
• In some inland lakes, the Dead Sea, etc. the opposite is true –
hypersaline water exists here.
• High evaporation conditions.
• Salinity may also vary with seasons (dry/rainy).
Effect on salt Effect on Salinity
How Adds or in H2O in increase or Source of freshwater from
Process accomplished removes seawater seawater decrease? the sea?
Precipitation Rain, sleet, hail, or Adds very None More H2O Decrease N/A
Processes snow falls directly
on the ocean
fresh
water
Affecting Runoff Streams carry
water to the ocean
Adds
mostly
fresh
Negligible
addition of salt
More H2O Decrease N/A
Salinity Icebergs
melting
Glacial ice calves
into the ocean and
water
Adds very
fresh
None More H2O Decrease Yes, icebergs from the
Antarctic have been towed
melts water to South America
Effect on salt Effect on Salinity
How Adds or in H2O in increase or Source of freshwater from
Process accomplished removes seawater seawater decrease? the sea?
Sea ice melting Sea ice melts in Adds Adds a small More H2O Decrease Yes, sea ice can be melted
the ocean mostly amount of salt and is better than drinking
fresh seawater
water and
some salt
Sea ice Seawater freezes Removes 30% of salts in Less H2O Increase Yes, through multiple
forming in mostly seawater are freezings, called freeze
cold ocean areas freshwater retained in ice separation
Evaporation Seawater Removes None Less H2O Increase Yes, through evaporation
evaporates very pure (essentially of seawater and
in hot climates water all salts are condensation of water
left behind) vapor, called distillation
Hydrologic Cycle – Processes Impact Salinity
• Recycles water among
ocean, atmosphere, and
continents
• Water in continual motion
between water reservoirs
Residence Time:
Where is the Water? • Average length of time a
substance remains dissolved
• 97.2% in the world ocean in seawater
• 2.15% frozen in glaciers and ice • Ions with long residence
caps time are in high
concentration in seawater.
• 0.62% in groundwater and soil
moisture • Ions with short residence
time are in low
• 0.02% in streams and lakes concentration in seawater.
• 0.001% as water vapor in the • Steady state condition—
atmosphere average amounts of various
elements remains constant
Surface Salinity
Variation
• High latitudes
• Low salinity
• Abundant sea ice melting,
precipitation, and runoff
• Low latitudes near equator
• Low salinity
• High precipitation and runoff
• Mid latitudes
• High salinity
• Warm, dry, descending air
increases evaporation
Salinity Variations with Depth
• Low latitudes—salinity decreases
with depth
• High latitudes—salinity increases
with depth
• Deep ocean salinity fairly
consistent globally
• Halocline—abrupt change in
salinity with depth
Seawater Density
• Freshwater Density = 1.000 g/cm3
• Ocean Surface Water = 1.022 to 1.030 g/cm3
• Ocean layered according to density!
• Density increases with decreasing temperature
• Greatest influence on density
• Density increases with increasing salinity
• Density increases with increasing pressure
• Does not affect surface waters
• [Link]
• Pycnocline—
abrupt change of
density with
depth
• Thermocline—
abrupt change of
temperature
with depth
Ocean Layers
• Based on density, ocean water is layered into three distinct water masses.
• Mixed surface layer—above thermocline
• The water is uniform because it is well‐mixed by surface currents, waves and tides.
• Upper water—thermocline and pycnocline
• Low density, well developed throughout the low and middle latitudes.
• Deep water—below thermocline to ocean floor
• Denser and colder water.
• In HIGH Latitudes..
• Usually no thermocline or corresponding pycnocline develop due to the
constantly cool surface temperatures.
• Said to be isothermal – no temperature variation in the water column and isopycnal
– no density variation in the water column.
Is the Ocean Acidic or Basic?
• Acid releases a hydrogen ion
(H+) when dissolved in water.
• Alkaline (or base) releases a
hydroxide ion (OH−) in water.
• pH Scale: Measures hydrogen
ion concentration
• pH value less than 7 = acid
• pH value greater than 7 = base
(alkaline)
• pH 7 = neutral
• Pure water
Ocean pH
• Seawater is slightly alkaline (above 7).
• Surface water averages a pH of about 8.1.
• Ocean water pH decreases with depth.
• Why? Marine organisms produce carbon dioxide during respiration. Plants and animals
do not use the carbon dioxide for photosynthesis where there is an absence of sunlight.
Dissolved carbon dioxide combines with water to form a weak acid – carbonic acid.
• The Carbon Buffering System keeps the ocean from becoming to acidic or too
basic.
• Precipitation or dissolution of calcium carbonate, CaCO3, buffers ocean pH.
• Oceans can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere without much change in pH.
Distribution of Carbon Dioxide
• CO2 dissolves in seawater at the surface
• Reacts with water to form carbonic acid
• Contributes to the formation of calcium
carbonate shells
• Taken up by marine plants and algae
during photosynthesis
• CO2 increases with depth
• Respiration of marine organisms
• Solubility of CO2 increases
Distribution of Oxygen
• Near surface dissolved oxygen higher in high latitudes due to increased
solubility in cold water
• Dissolved oxygen is highest near surface due to photosynthetic phytoplankton.
• Below 1000m , concentration is fairly constant.
eter
Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen and the Climate
• More than a quarter of excess CO2 from burning fossil fuels ends up in
the ocean.
• Ocean is a carbon sink.
• With increasing global temperatures, solubility of CO2 and oxygen will
decrease.
• Hypoxia—low oxygen
