Salinity Of Water Essay Water: it is the driving force behind our planet. It is what makes life possible on earth. Water is what runs so many other environmental and biological systems on our planet. But to know how water drives our planet, we first need to know what is the driving force behind water. Water has the ability to absorb and release vast amounts of heat. This helps to keep the earth s surface thermostatic. This also helps regulate weather patterns. Heat currents travel from the equator to the poles and then back. This powers earth s storms, wind and ocean currents. The latent heat of fusion in water is the highest of all common liquids and most solids. The latent heat of vaporization is the heat energy in water vapor. Water is a polar...show more content...The average salinity of ocean water varies from 3.3% to 3.7% by mass. Salinity can be changed in a number of ways: one way would be the introduction of excess freshwater, whether it be from excess rainfall, freshwater bodies, or the melting of glaciers and icebergs. Another way to change salinity would be by the introduction of excess sediments. This primarily comes from erosion on a large scale. Wherever precipitation exceeds evaporation, salinity will be low; wherever evaporation exceeds precipitation , salinity will be high. These differences produce a halocline, a zone of rapid salinity increase with depth. Water has the ability to dissolve more substances in greater quantities than any other liquid. Many dissolved solids in ocean water are solids. Major solids in ocean water usually come in two forms: chloride and halogen ions. Common chloride ions dissolved in ocean water include sodium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride. Common halogen ions dissolved in seawater include sodium fluoride and potassium iodide. The measure of the total mass of halogen ions in seawater is called chlorinity. The average chlorinity in seawater is about 19.2% which is equal to 34.7% seawater salinity. There are also substances that are not accounted for when measuring the salinity of ocean water. Trace elements are elements present in ocean water that are less Get more content on HelpWriting.net