Gravity and the properties of Sea Water
Pytkowicz, R.M. (1963). Gravity and the properties of Sea Water. Limnol. Oceanogr. 8(2): 286-287
In: Limnology and Oceanography. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography: Waco, Tex., etc. ISSN 0024-3590; e-ISSN 1939-5590, more
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| Keywords |
Environmental effects > Gravity effects
Gradients > Salinity gradients
Properties > Chemical properties > Salinity
Properties > Water properties
Water > Sea water
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract |
In general, the concentrations of salts in the oceans are not at equilibrium with respect to gravity because molecular diffusion, the mechanism for equilibration, is slow compared to advection and eddy diffusion (Pytkowicz 1962). At equilibrium the concentration of sodium chloride would increase 18% per kilometer of depth and the contribution of gravity to the activity would be constant with depth. In actual systems, equilibrium is not achieved and the activity of solutes, equilibrium constants, and the colligative properties change with depth. Such effects were observed in the experiments of Des Coudres (reviewed by MacInnes 1939), who showed that the EMF generated between identical electrodes, placed at different heights, is accounted for by the gravity effect. |
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