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T-S diagram of a station in the North Pacific. In oceanography, temperature-salinity diagrams, sometimes called T-S diagrams, are used to identify water masses.In a T-S diagram, rather than plotting each water property as a separate "profile," with pressure or depth as the vertical coordinate, potential temperature (on the vertical axis) is plotted versus salinity (on the horizontal axis).
Salinity is an important factor in determining many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and of biological processes within it, and is a thermodynamic state variable that, along with temperature and pressure, governs physical characteristics like the density and heat capacity of the water.
In the 1920s, Sandström's framework was expanded by accounting for the role of salinity in ocean layer formation. [1] Salinity is important because like temperature, it affects water density. Water becomes less dense as its temperature increases and the distance between its molecules expands, but more dense as the salinity increases, since ...
Graph showing ocean temperature versus depth on the vertical axis. The graph shows several thermoclines (or thermal layers) based on seasons and latitude. The temperature at zero depth is the sea surface temperature. The ocean temperature plays a crucial role in the global climate system, ocean currents and for marine habitats.
The density of surface seawater ranges from about 1020 to 1029 kg/m 3, depending on the temperature and salinity. At a temperature of 25 °C, the salinity of 35 g/kg and 1 atm pressure, the density of seawater is 1023.6 kg/m 3. [7] [8] Deep in the ocean, under high pressure, seawater can reach a density of 1050 kg/m 3 or higher. The density of ...
Plot of temperature and salinity in the Arctic Ocean at 85,18 north and 117,28 east dated Jan. 1st 2010. [6] In the graphical representation, three layers can be discerned: About 50 m (160 ft) of low salinity water "swimming" on top of the ocean. The temperature is −1.8 °C (28.8 °F), which is very near to the freezing point. This layer ...
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 ...
Because the vast majority of the world ocean's volume is deep water, the mean temperature of seawater is low; roughly 75% of the ocean's volume has a temperature from 0° – 5 °C (Pinet 1996). The same percentage falls in a salinity range between 34 and 35 ppt (3.4–3.5%) (Pinet 1996). There is still quite a bit of variation, however.