Unique Nature of Pure Water
This type of weak bond connects water molecules to each other.
What is a hydrogen bond?
The average salinity of seawater is about this many parts per thousand.
What is 35 ppt?
These two elements make up most of the dissolved salts in seawater.
What are sodium and chloride?
This human activity is the main cause of ocean acidification.
What is burning fossil fuels?
During photosynthesis, plants and algae take in this form of carbon.
What is carbon dioxide (CO₂)?
Water is called this type of molecule because it has one positive and one negative end.
What is a polar molecule?
As salinity increases, this happens to the density of seawater.
What is it increases?
This rule says that the proportions of major ions in seawater stay the same everywhere.
What is the Rule of Constant Proportions?
When carbon dioxide mixes with seawater, it forms this weak acid.
What is carbonic acid?
This process in animals and plants releases CO₂ back into the atmosphere.
What is respiration?
This property causes water molecules to stick together, forming droplets.
What is cohesion?
Warm water floats on cold water because of this physical property.
What is lower density?
Besides nitrogen and oxygen, this gas is also abundant in seawater.
What is carbon dioxide (CO₂)?
Ocean acidification makes it harder for these organisms to build shells.
What are shell-building organisms like corals and shellfish?
The ocean acts as this by absorbing large amounts of CO₂ from the air.
What is a carbon sink?
This is the reason ice floats instead of sinking in water.
What is ice being less dense due to its crystal structure?
This process raises salinity by removing fresh water from the ocean surface.
What is evaporation?
Marine animals use dissolved calcium and carbonate ions to form these structures.
What are shells and skeletons?
One major effect of acidification is this weakening and whitening of coral reefs.
What is coral bleaching?
When marine organisms die and sink, their carbon can eventually become this over millions of years.
What are fossil fuels or sediments?
This property allows water to absorb and release large amounts of heat, stabilizing Earth’s climate.
What is high specific heat?
These two factors control ocean layering by affecting water density.
What are temperature and salinity?
This natural balance keeps the ocean’s salinity fairly steady over time.
What is the balance between evaporation, precipitation, and runoff?
Ocean acidification threatens marine food webs by harming these base-level organisms.
What are plankton and shellfish?
Humans disrupt the carbon cycle mainly through these two actions.
What are burning fossil fuels and deforestation?