Chapter 18 The Oceans And Their Margins.ppt

Chapter 18: The Oceans And Their Margins Introduction: The World’s Oceans Seawater covers 70.8 percent of Earth’s surface, in three huge interconnected basins: The Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean. The Indian Ocean. The Oceans’ Characteristics The greatest ocean depth yet measured (11,035 m) lies in the Mariana Trench. The average depth of the oceans, is about 3.8 km. The present volume of seawater is about 1.35 billion cubic kilometers. More than half this volume resides in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean Salinity (1) Salinity is the measure of the sea’s saltiness, expressed in parts per mil (‰ = parts per thousand). The salinity of seawater normally ranges between 33 and 37‰. The principal elements that contribute to this salinity are sodium and chlorine. Ocean Salinity (2) More than 99.9 percent of the ocean’s salinity reflects the presence of only eight ions: Chloride. Sodium. Sulfate. Magnesium. Calcium. Potassium. Bicarbonate. Bromine. Ocean Salinity (3) Cations are released by chemical weathering processes on land. Each year streams carry 2.5 billion tons of dissolved substances to the sea. The principal anions found in seawater are believed to have come from the mantle. Chemical analyses of gases released during volcanic eruptions show that the most important volatiles are water vapor (steam), carbon dioxide (CO2), and the chloride (CI1-) and sulfate (SO42-) anions. Ocean Salinity (4) Chloride and sulfate anions dissolve in atmospheric water vapor and return to Earth in precipitation, much of which falls directly into the ocean. Another source of ions is dust eroded from desert regions and blown out to sea. Temperature And Heat Capacity of the Ocean (1) Global summer sea-surface temperature is displayed with isotherms that lie approximately parallel to the equator. The warmest waters during August (280C) occur in a discontinuous belt between about 300 N and 100 S latitude. In winter, the belt of warm water moves south until it is largely below the equator. T