Wednesday 14 July 2010

What is good... WATER

WATER - GEOGRAPHY RELATED TO WATER + SCIENCE

Water cycle

1. evaporation (transpiration) - sun heats up the water, turns it into vapour that then goes into the air.
2. condensation - water vapour cools creating clouds
3. percipitation - when so much water has condensed that the air cant hold it = rain
4. collection - goes back into the sea

OCEANS AnD SEAS

Oceans cover 70% of the earth. The oceans contain roughly 97% of earths water supply. The Oceans are home to an incredibly diverse web of life.
There are 5 main Oceans - Seas are broken between them, eg. The channel

Figures:

Ocean Area Av. Depth Deepest Depth
Pacific 64,186.000 15, 215 Mariana Trench, 36,200
Atlantic 33,420,000 12,881 Puer to Rico Trench, 28, 231
Indian 28,350,000 13,002 Java Trench 25, 344
Southern 7, 848,300 13,100 South Sandwich Trench 23, 736
Arctic 5,106,000 3, 953 Eurasia Basin 17, 881

SALINITY - Salt content of ocean water varies.
Oceans contain roughly 5x10 (16) tons of salt. One cubic foot of water contains 2.2 pounds of salt. The sea is salty due to the minerals it contains.

Figures:

Sea Salts Parts per thousand
Chloride 19.3 o/oo
Sodium 10.7 o/oo
Sulphate 2.7 o/oo
Magnesium 1.3 o/oo
Calcium 0.4 o/oo
Potassium 0.4 o/oo
Bicarbonate 0.15 o/oo
Bromide 0.07 o/oo
Other 0.06 o/oo

Total Salinity 35.08 o/oo

Red sea and persian gulf sea are the saltiest with 40 o/oo

Colour - why the sea is blue

- Sunlight is reflected off the water reflecting the colour of the sky. Sunlight penetrates the water and is scattered by ripples and particles in the water. Water absorbs more of the red light in the sunlight.

Winds cause waves on the surface of the oceans and lakes. Causes friction between air molecules and the water molecules. Strong winds like storm surges cause large waves. tsunamis are caused by under water disturbances - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides.

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