Dissolved Salt Ions

• chemistry varies with both depth and latitude
• every naturally occurring element found in ocean
• plutonium found in ocean is not naturally occurring but is from nuclear bombs
• main salts in the ocean

  sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfate
• in 1km3 of seawater, 80 million tonnes is salt
• chloride and sodium are most abundant
• chloride and sodium make up 90% of the mass of all dissolved ions
• evaporation increases salinity
• precipitation reduced salinity
• freezing increases salinity
• ratio of major ion in the ocean always remains the same
• constancy of composition


  ratio is always the same through the ocean
• no selective evaporation of salt
• concentration of sodium co-varies with that of salinity
• conservative behavior


  constitute whose concentration is not effects by chemical and biological processes
• all major ions behave conservatively
• conservative constituents are only effected by physical processes
• non-major constitutes are important
• iron is very low in oceans but is important in controlling phytoplankton
• minor ions behave non-conservatively
• minor ions are effected by biological processes
• hypersaline bodies found at deep sea can have salinity about 250
• salt ions are termed inorganic
• organic components are that produced by organisms
• filters with pore sizes of 0.2-0.45 um can be use to separate between dissolved and particulate fractions
• DOM is dissolved organic matter
• DOC is dissolved organic carbon
• river water has a slightly higher concentration of HCO3 then rainwater
• rainwater is 5000 times more dilute than seawater
• river water is 300 times more dilute then seawater
• chemical weathering from rocks helps increase the salinity in riverwater
• pH of rainwater is 5.7
• rain can be neutralised by the rocks
• convergent weathering


  region in the atmosphere where two prevailing flows meet and interact, usually resulting in distinctive weather conditions
• weathering can lead to a solution of biocarbonates and calcium silicates and produce dissolved Ca2+ ions
• cyclic salts


  seawater being blown up into the atmosphere from the seaspray leading to a higher salt concentration in the air
• most major ions in seawater are abundant in crystal rocks
• volatiles are a source of other elements found in seawater
• mass balance calculation


  compare the amount of an element added by weathering with the amount in the seawater
• if there is less on the element in the seawater compared to the weathering there must of been a removal process