OCEANOGRAPHY REVIEWER

Oceanography. A branch of science that deals with the physical and biological properties and
phenomena of the sea.
FEW FACTS
 Land-29%
 Oceans -71%
-139 million miles2 or 361 million km2
-1.37 billion km3 volume of water
MAJOR OCEAN BASIN
Area (m km2) Ave. depth (m)
Pacific 166 4,282
Atlantic 87 3,926
Indian 73 3,963
Arctic 14 1,205
Southern 20 4,00

Percentage of Earth's water in various locations

Pacific 52% Atlantic 25%
Indian 20% Ice 2%
Groundwater 0.6% Atmosphere, lakes & rivers. 0.01%

FACT

 average depth of the world ocean 3800m (12,500 ft)

 4 times deeper than the average land elevation is high (840m or 2800 ft).
 Mt. Everest, the highest point on land, is 8848m (29,028 ft) high,
 while the deepest part of the ocean, the Challenger Deep of the Marianas Trench is 11,022m
(36,200ft) deep

ORIGIN OF THE OCEAN

 - Earth was formed through the accretion of various materials, and that a period of melting and
intense volcanic activity followed.
- The materials that accreted on the early Earth contained the components that would eventually
become our oceans and atmosphere.
- Under the high pressures found in the Earth’s interior, gases remain dissolved in magma.
- As these magmas rise to the surface through volcanic activity, the pressure is reduced and the
gases are released through a process called outgassing. Volcanic activity releases many different
gases, including water vapor, CO2, SO2, CO, H2S, H, N, and CH4
- As the early Earth cooled, the water vapor in the atmosphere condensed and fell as rain.
- By about 4 billion years ago, the first permanent accumulations of water were present on Earth,
forming the oceans and other bodies of water
- Water is stored in various reservoirs as it moves through this cycle
- The largest is the oceans 97% of the volume.
- The remaining 3% is fresh water
Atmosphere -0.001%
Surface water -0.03%
Ground water -0.90%
Glacial ice -2.06%

HOW OCEAN GET SALTY?

- Most of the salts and dissolved elements in the ocean were probably outgassed along with the
water vapor, so the ocean has probably always been about as salty as it is now.
- Rainfall and other processes weather rocks on the Earth’s surface, and runoff carries dissolved
substances into the ocean, contributing to its salinity.
- There are multiple pathways through which dissolved ions enter the ocean; runoff from streams
and rivers, volcanic activity, hydrothermal vents dissolution or decay of substances in the ocean,
and groundwater input
What is ocean and why it is important?

➢ Ocean is a huge body of saltwater. covers about 71% of Earth's surface.

➢ has 139 million miles (361 million km2) about 1.37 billion km3 volume of water.

➢ It serves as home to different species of fish, marine mammals, corals, and other organism

➢ Regulate the climate change,

➢ Serves as carbon sink

➢ Food, livelihood and medicines

Oceanic Zonation
Continental Margins- refer to the region of transition from the land to the deep seafloor
 Continental shelf- shallow, flooded edge of the continent (about 80km from the coast)
-The depth generally remains below about 150m -6% of the ocean’s surface area
  Shelf break- point where the angle of seafloor begins to get steeper.
-Average depth (135m) -(about 4degrees)
1. Active continental Margin – tectonically active (earthquakes common, many volcanoes)
2. Passive Continental Margin -tectonically stable (earthquake few, no volcanoes)
 Continental slope - the margin steeper portion
-extend from shelf break down to 3000- 5000m
 Continental rise- this area where continental crust meets the oceanic crust
- Consist of a thick layer of accumulative sediments from the continent.
 Abyssal Plain- Deep Ocean floor, lying between 4500- 6000m.
-Includes most of the ocean floor
– Flattest region on earth
Pelagic Zone -refers to the water column, where swimming and floating organisms live.
 Neritic province- correspond to all of the water from low tide line to the shelf break
 Oceanic province- represents all the other water in the open ocean regions
Benthic Zone -refers to the bottom, and organisms living on and in the bottom are known as the
benthos

The major oceanic zone are;

1. Epipelagic zone (“epi”=“upon”)
- the uppermost layer of the open ocean, also known as the euphotic zone
- supports a diverse range of organisms, including phytoplankton zooplankton, jellyfish,
small fish, and larger predators like tuna and sharks.
- extends from surface 200 meters (656 feet) deep.
- temperature it varies depending on location and depth, but it generally ranges from warm
at the surface to cooler as you descend

2. The mesopelagic zone, (“meso”=“middle”) also known as the twilight zone

-lies from depths of about 200 meters (656 feet) --1,000 meters (3,280 feet) below
- No photosynthetic activities
-Temperature tends to be cooler and more stable than in the epipelagic zone.
-Mesopelagic organisms use different forms of camouflage. They have photophores used
for counterillumination, which works in the same way as countershading.
-Photophores are light producing organs capable of matching the intensity and color of
the light from the surface, which help the to obscure the organism’s silhouette
- Ex.: Dragonfish, hatchet fish, snipe eel, viper fish

3. Bathypelagic zone (“bathy” = “deep”) it is often referred to as the midnight zone

- lies from depths of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) to about 4,000 meters
(13,123 feet) below the ocean surface.
- 75% of the living space in the ocean lies at these depths.
 - Also known as the aphotic zone
- Temperatures, around 2°C (36°F) to 4°C (39°F).
❖ adaptations and behaviors of organisms are influenced by dark environment. Organisms have
developed large, sensitive eyes to detect bioluminescent flashes, while others possess
specialized sensory organs to locate prey or navigate in the dark like chemoreceptors. ,,
Bristlemouths
Examples: angler fish, vampire squid, amphipods, fangtooth fish, whale fish
4. Abyssopelagic zone known as the abyssal zone
- it lies below the bathypelagic zone. It extends from depths of approximately 4,000
meters (13,123 feet) to about 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) below the ocean surface.
-characterized by complete darkness. Other animals of the abyssopelagic zone include
basket stars, sea pigs, and seaspiders

5. Hadalpelagic zone (named for Hades or “hell”)

-encompasses the ocean floor in deep ocean trenches.
- These trenches can reach depths exceeding 10,000 meters (32,808 feet).
❖ Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point, reaching around 11,000
meters (36,070 feet). Many marine organisms are found deep in the hadal and the most common
groups are polychaetas, bivalves, gastropods, amphipods and holothurian.

CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Properties of Water
The water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The electrons
responsible for the bonds between the atoms are not distributed equally throughout the molecule,
so that the hydrogen ends of water molecules have a slight positive charge, and the oxygen end has
a slight negative charge, making water a polar molecule. The negative oxygen side of the molecule
forms an attraction to the positive hydrogen end of a neighboring molecule. This rather weak force
of attraction is called a hydrogen bond. If not for hydrogen bonds, water would vaporize at -68o C,
meaning liquid water (and thus life) could not exist on Earth

CHARACHTERISTIC OF WATER
1. Water is the only substance to naturally exist in a solid, liquid, and gaseous form under the
normal range of temperatures and pressures found on Earth.
2. Water has a high heat capacity, which is the amount of heat that must be added to raise its
temperature. Specific heat is the heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of a
substance by 1o C. Water has the highest specific heat of any liquid except ammonia
*Latent heat of fusion is the heat required to go from solid to liquid; 80 cal/g in the case of
ice melting to water.
* Latent heat of vaporization - heat required to evaporate liquid water into water vapor<;
540 cal/g
-Water is therefore one of the most difficult liquids to heat or cool; it can absorb large amounts of
heat without increasing its temperature.

-The high heat capacity of water helps regulate global climate, as the oceans slowly absorb and
release heat, preventing rapid swings in temperature It also means that aquatic organisms aren’t as
subjected to the same rapid temperature changes as terrestrial organisms. A deep ocean organism may
not experience more than a 0.5 C change in temperature over its entire life, while a terrestrial species
may encounter changes of more than 20o C in a single day

3. Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid.

4. The solid phase is less dense than the liquid phase. fresh water is 1.0 g/cm3 ice is 0.92
g/cm3
5. Water has a very high surface tension, the highest of any liquid except mercury

Specific Heat (calories/g/C) Surface Tension of Various Liquid

Liquid Surface Tension (millinewton/meter) Temperature ° C
Ammonia 1.13 Mercury 487.00 15
Water 1.00 Water 71.97 25
Acetone 0.51 Glycerol 63.00 20
Grain alcohol 0.23 Acetone 23.70 20
Aluminum 0.22 Ethanol 22.27 20
Copper 0.09
Silver 0.06
SALINITY PATTERN
All of the salts and ions that dissolve in seawater contribute to its overall salinity. Salinity of seawater is
usually expressed as the grams of salt per kilogram (1000 g) of seawater. On average, about 35 g of salt is
present in each 1 kg of seawater, so we say that the average salinity of the ocean salinity is 35 parts per
thousand (ppt). Many different substances are dissolved in the ocean, but six ions comprise about 99.4%
of all the dissolved ions in seawater. These six major ions are:
g/kg in Seawater % of ions by weight
Chloride (Cl) 19.35 55.07%
Sodium (Na+) 10.76 30.6%
Sulfate (SO42-) 2.71 7.72%
Magnesium (Mg2+) 1.29 3.68%
Calcium (Ca2+) 0.41 1.17%
Potassium (K+) 0.39 1.1%
99.36%

Variation in Salinity
- Total salinity in the open ocean averages 33-37 ppt, but it can vary significantly in different
locations. But since the major ion proportions are constant, the regional salinity differences must
be due more to water input and removal rather than the addition or removal of ions.
 - Fresh water input comes through processes like precipitation, runoff from land, and melting ice.
Fresh water removal primarily comes from evaporation and freezing (when seawater freezes, the
resulting ice is mostly fresh water and the salts are excluded, making the remaining water even
saltier).
- So, differences in rates of precipitation, evaporation, river discharge, and ice formation play a
significant role in regional salinity variations. For example, the Baltic Sea has a very low surface
salinity of around 10 ppt, because it is a mostly enclosed body of water with lots of river input.
Conversely, the Red Sea is very salty (around 40 ppt), due to the lack of precipitation and the
hot environment which leads to high levels of evaporation.
- One of the saltiest large bodies of water on Earth is the Dead Sea, between Israel and Jordan.
Salinity in the Dead Sea is around 330 ppt, which is almost ten times saltier than the ocean. This
extremely high salinity is a result of the hot, arid conditions in the Middle East that lead to high
rates of evaporation

Latitudinal Variations
- Temperature is highest at the equator, and lowest near the poles.
- Higher salinities are found at subtropical, warm latitudes with high evaporation and less
precipitation
- Lower salinities, such as those around southeast Asia

Vertical Variation
- Mixed layer
- salinity is relatively uniform (top of 200m) Halocline
- area where rapid change in salinity occur
- it represents a transition between the mixed layer and the deep ocean

Dissolved Gases
- Ions are not the only materials that are dissolved in seawater. The oceans also contain dissolved
gases that are very important to living organisms, particularly oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide
(CO2), and nitrogen (N2).
- Oxygen is required for respiration in marine plants, algae, and phytoplankton (the primary
producers) and animals.
- Carbon dioxide is utilized by the primary producers to power photosynthesis, a byproduct of
which is oxygen.
- Nitrogen gas dissolved in the ocean is fixed by bacteria and converted into the forms required
for primary production, such as nitrate and nitrite.
- All of these gases are found in the atmosphere, and can enter the ocean by dissolving into the
water at the ocean’s surface. But the amount of each gas in air is very different f rom the
amount found in the ocean.
- The amount of each gas that can dissolve in the ocean depends on the solubility and saturation
of the gas in water.
  Solubility refers to the amount of a dissolved gas that the water can hold under a
particular set of conditions, which are usually defined as 0o C and 1 atmosphere of
pressure.
 Saturation refers to the amount of gas currently dissolved in the water, relative to
the maximum possible content.

Dissolved Gases: Oxygen

- Oxygen content is highest at the surface for two main reasons; this is where oxygen dissolves
into the ocean from the atmosphere, and the surface water is where oxygen is produced by
phytoplankton through photosynthesis.
- As depth increases, dissolved oxygen declines, reaching a minimum between a few hundred
meters and 1000 m deep, the aptly-named oxygen minimum layer
- Below the oxygen minimum layer there is often an increase in dissolved oxygen at the greatest
depths.
HOW CAN IT BE?
1. Bottom water is usually colder than the surface water and is under enormous pressure; lower
temperatures and higher pressure increase the solubility of dissolved gases.
2. In polar regions, the cold surface water absorbs lots of oxygen. This cold, oxygen-rich water
sinks to the bottom due to its high density, taking the oxygen with it. The oxygen-rich bottom
water will then spend the next thousand years or so moving over the seafloor throughout the
major ocean basins

❖Areas where dissolved oxygen levels are too low to support most life are referred to as hypoxic zones.
Hypoxia is usually defined as oxygen levels below 2 mg/

❖Anoxic zones (anoxia = without oxygen) show more severe forms of hypoxia, with oxygen below 0.5
mg/L

Dissolved Gases: Carbon Dioxide, pH, and Ocean Acidification

- Oxygen and carbon dioxide are involved in the same biological processes in the ocean, but in
opposite ways; photosynthesis consumes CO2 and produces O2, while respiration and
decomposition consume O2 and produce CO2

CO2 and pH
- The pH scale runs from 0-14, with 0 indicating a very strong acid, and 14 representing highly
basic conditions.
- A solution with a pH of 7 is considered neutral, as is the case for pure water.
- a high concentration of H+ ions leads to a low pH and acidic condition, while a low H+
concentration indicates a high pH and basic conditions a pH of 7

CO2 and Ocean Acidification

- In recent years there has been rising concern about the phenomenon of ocean acidification. As
described in the processes, the addition of CO2 to seawater lowers the pH of the water. As
anthropogenic sources of atmospheric CO2 have increased since the Industrial Revolution, the
 oceans have been absorbing an increasing amount of CO2, and researchers have documented a
decline in ocean pH from about 8.2 to 8.1 in the last century.

Why is this important?

- Declining pH can impact many biological systems. Of particular concern are organisms that
secrete calcium carbonate shells or skeletons, such as corals, shellfish, and may planktonic
organisms.

Dissolved Gases: Nitrogen and Nutrients

- Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere, and like the other atmospheric gases it
dissolves into the surface layers of the ocean

Classifying Elements in Seawater

- Conservative Elements are those whose concentration is relatively constant across the ocean,
both vertically and horizontally.
- major ions in seawater (such as sodium or chloride)
 Nutrient-like Elements - concentrations of these substances are low at the surface,
as they are rapidly used up by biological processes.
 Scavenged Elements are those that react with other particles and are adsorbed to
the particle surface. When the particles sink, those elements are removed to the
sediment.
 Stable Gases dissolve into the ocean from the atmosphere. Because these
substances are not very reactive, the ocean water becomes saturated with these
gases. Since solubility of a gas increases in colder water, these gases are often found
in greater concentrations in deep, cold water, and in lower concentrations in
warmer surface water

Hydrothermal Vents
- A whole new ecosystem reliant on the processes of plate tectonics was discovered on the deep
seafloor of the Galapagos Rift in 1977
- deep sea submersible Alvin- discovered jets of superheated water coming from out of the
seafloor at temperatures up to 350o C (the normal temperature for water at this depth would
be 2-4 o C).
- The water poured out of cracks in the crust, as well as through tall chimneys up to 20 m high
and 1 m wide, and as it emerged it took on the appearance of thick black smoke, these fissures
were named hydrothermal vents, and the chimneys
“black smokers”

HOW ARE THIS VENT CREATED?

- To create these vents, water percolates into the crust where there are plumes of magma close
to the surface. The water gets superheated by the magma, then moves back to the surface
through convection and is released through the vents.