Seawater: Its Composition, Properties and Behaviour

Seawater: Its Composition, Properties and Behaviour provides a comprehensive introduction to marine science. This book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 summarizes the special properties of water and the role of the oceans in the hydrological cycle. The distribution of temperature and salinity in the oceans and their combined influence on density, stability, and vertical water movements are discussed in Chapters 2 to 4. The fifth chapter describes the behavior of light and sound in seawater and provides examples of the application of acoustics to oceanography. Chapter 6 examines the composition and behavior of the dissolved constituents of seawater, covering minor and trace constituents and major ions, as well as dissolved gases and biologically important nutrients. Residence times, speciation, and carbonate equilibria are also deliberated. The last chapter provides a short review of ideas about the history of seawater, involvement of the oceans in global cycles, and their relationship to climatic change. This publication is beneficial to oceanographers and marine biologists, including students that are interested in marine science.