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Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply [1] [2] and 90% of habitable space on Earth. [3] Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. [4]
Salinity (/ s ə ˈ l ɪ n ɪ t i /) is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal to ‰ ).
Water is the medium of the oceans, the medium which carries all the substances and elements involved in the marine biogeochemical cycles. Water as found in nature almost always includes dissolved substances, so water has been described as the "universal solvent" for its ability to dissolve so many substances.
Evaporation and precipitation cycles in salt ponds create variable environments with wide ranges of salinity and depth. [1] Due to depth and temperature fluctuation salt pond could be classified as hyposaline 3-20 ppt, mesosaline 20-50 ppt, or hypersaline with ppt greater than 50. [1] Another important aspect of salt ponds is their permanence. [2]
The salinity is associated with the difference between evaporation and precipitation. [1] Ocean currents are important in moving fresh and saline waters around and in keeping a balance. Evaporation causes the water to become more saline, and hence denser. Precipitation has the opposite effect, since it decreases the density of the surface water.
Generally, vertical profiles are made of temperature, salinity, chemical parameters at a defined point along the water column. [1] The water column is the largest, yet one of the most under-explored, habitats on the planet; it is explored to better understand the ocean as a whole, including the huge biomass that lives there and its importance ...
Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, plants, algae, fungi, protists, single-celled microorganisms and associated viruses living in the saline water of marine habitats, either the sea water of marginal seas and oceans, or the brackish water of coastal wetlands, lagoons ...
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. These resources can be either freshwater from natural sources, or water produced artificially from other sources, such as from reclaimed water or desalinated water (). 97% of the water on Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh ...