Properties of seawater
Learning Objective:
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Identify the three most important properties of seawater, as well as
some of the more common and lesser known properties.
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Temperature, pressure,
and salinity are the three most important properties
of seawater, and they determine the other physical properties associated with
seawater. This differs from pure water, where only pressure and temperature
determine the physical properties. Wave motion and the presence of small
suspended particles in seawater are also important variables that affect the
properties of seawater. Wave motion causes a change in the processes of chemical
diffusion, heat conduction, and transfer of momentum from one layer to another.
The suspended particles increase the scattering of radiation, thereby absorbing
more radiation than a similar layer (thickness) of pure water. The variables of
wave motion and suspended particles, although important, cannot be measured.
In addition to temperature, pressure,
and salinity, other common physical properties of
seawater are water color, transparency, ice (which we’ve already covered in
our discussion of the surface), and sound velocity.
Some of the lesser known properties include specific
heat, compressibility, osmotic pressure,
eddy viscosity, electrical conductivity, radioactivity, and surface tension.
Many of the lesser known properties can only be determined using complex
mathematical calculation and formulation that incorporates data on one or more
of the common physical properties, especially temperature,
pressure, and/or salinity.
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