Input of salts from rivers ( X tons per year), and the total salt in the ocean ( Y tons), you couldĬalculate how many years it took to accumulate the salts now found. Halley's comet) in 1715, who reasoned by mass balance that if you measured the rate of One of the very first scientific attempts toĮstimate the age of the Earth was proposed by Sir Edmund Halley (of Or volcanic vents (these topics were covered in earlier lectures in this class). Transport to the sea in rivers, plus inputs of salts from hydrothermal The supply of salts comes from weathering of rocks on land, and then How did the ocean get so salty? The answer is that There are two important points here: (1) these differences in chemical composition contribute to the diversity of ecosystems and the diversity of life that has adapted to different water bodies, and (2) the amounts of salt contribute to the weight or density of the water which is important for how water bodies are structured or layered, as discussed more fully below. The nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus important for plant growth, andĭissolved gases like CO2 and methane (CH4). Many dissolved elements in smaller quantities such as calcium (Ca), Sulfate (SO4), and magnesium (Mg), seawater also contains Is made up mostly of major elements like sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), As mentioned the average salinity is 35 ppt, but The oceans cover ~71% of the globe and have an average depth ![]() The largest and most dramatic bodies of water are our Types of water are found in many different environments on Earth. Saltier than the ocean, and they are often called "brines" Is equal to 1 gram of salt dissolved into 1000 grams of water, or a Reported, and this value equals 35,000 parts per million (ppm) - a ppt Thousand (ppt) which is the typical unit for which salinity is Is much more salty and has on average ~3.5% salt content, also While fresh spring water and most lakes and rivers contain more dissolved salts (~0.02-0.4 Rain is essentially pure water (consisting only of H 2O with trace amounts of elements and other compounds picked up from atmospheric dust), This water comes in many forms, each with it's own special properties. ![]() Liquid water covers most of the surface of our planet. And only on such planets could life as we know it Only a planet of the right mass, chemical composition, and Nor has a drop of water been observed yet in interstellar No liquid water has been confirmed in our solar system, but it is likely that Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus have liquid oceans under a frozen crust. However, liquid water is a rare commodity in our solar system. Water for granted after all, our bodies are mostly made of water. Planet Earth has been called the "Blue Planet"ĭue to the abundant water on its surface. What role does the ocean play in climate change? What is the composition and structure of the ocean?
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