Properties of the Ocean

Notes for Oceanography

Solubility, Gases and Nutrients

Temperature variations with latitude. Notice the decrease in salinity at the equator which is due to increased precipitation at the equator

Canada: Department of the Environment 2014

Isopycnal Lines

http://lgmacweb.env.uea.ac.uk/adelie/ADELIEMaps.html

Density Layering at Antarctic Antarctic Drifter Experiment: Links to Isobaths and Ecosystems (ADELIE)

Salinity Levels at Antarctic (PSU) Antarctic Drifter Experiment

http://lgmacweb.env.uea.ac.uk/adelie/ADELIEMaps.html

Instrumentation to determine salinity, temperature and depth

Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD)

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler

http://lgmacweb.env.uea.ac.uk/adelie/argo_cycle.jpg

ARGO Floats for Temperature and Conductivity

Ocean Oxygen Concentrations vs Temperature

O2 (ml/L) Salinity ( ‰)

Temperature (°C)

0‰ 10‰ 20‰ 30‰ 40‰

0 10.22 9.54 8.91 8.32 7.77

5 8.93 8.36 7.83 7.33 6.86

10 7.89 7.41 6.95 6.52 6.12

15 7.05 6.63 6.24 5.84 5.52

20 6.35 5.99 5.64 5.32 5.02

25 5.77 5.45 5.15 4.86 4.59

30 5.28 4.99 4.73 4.47 4.24

35 4.85 4.60 4.36 4.14 3.93

Solubility Spectrophotometry Lab: Naranya et al. 2005

http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/climate_change/sinks.htm

Ocean pH

Carbonate Compensation Depth

• The CCD is the depth at which calcareous skeletons of marine animals accumulate at the same rate at which they dissolve. Depending on the mineral structure of CaCO3, the CCD is called calcite

• compensation depth (trigonal structure) or aragonite compensation depth (rhombic structure), respectively.

Approximately 800 meters

CCD

Controlled by…

• pH• Temperature• Pressure• Carbon Availability

Foraminiferans

Coccolithophores

Dissolved Salts and Substances

• Conservative constituents includes those that are not removed or added by living organisms (Duxbury)

• Non-conservation constituents include ions and molecules that can fluctuate through chemical and biological processes (i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus…)

• Redfield Ratio C:Si:N:P = 106:40:16:1

This diagram shows the variations of oxygen and nutrients (here represented by the phosphate ion) with depth in ocean waters.

Check out page 166 in text

Human-caused carbon dioxide

Radiative Fog

Advection Fog

Sea Smoke