Talk:Salinity

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[edit] earlier comments

Is the technical term really halinity? The halogens make up a portion of salinity. Similarily, chlorinity is not a technical term for salinity, but is a portion of the salinity. :Piyrwq 00:51, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

Actually, there is no consistency (as near as I can tell) in use of this term, in the main because there are lots more "oceanographers" out there than limnologists. The term is real, but education being what it is these days in the US, I would not be surprised if few have encountered it. Chlorinity is a technical term regularly used for "salinity", the latter having been defined to obscurity by oceanographers. - Marshman 04:24, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] salinity of sea water

I WORK IN A WATER LABORATORY IN A SEA WATER INJECTION FACILITY. THE SALINITY METER I USE SHOWS SALINITY IN PERCENTAGE. WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY MEAN? DOES 35% SALINITY MEAN THAT THERE IS 35 GRAMS OF SALT IN 100 GRAM WATER?

The measurement "parts per thousand or ppt or o/oo" is a ratio just as is percentage (or parts per hundred or %). So, the answer is yes, that is sort of what it means: 35 grams in 100 grams of the solution. Seawater has a salinity of around 3.4 or 3.5%. If your meter is reading 35% that is an awful lot of salt (imagine a container that is 1 part salt in 2 parts water!). I suspect it should be reading 3.5% or is reading 35 o/oo - Marshman 19:18, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
The meter probably measures conductivity and is calibrated using some reference solutions such that the 35 reading corresponds to 32.4356 g of KCl at 15°C in a 1 kg solution. Maybe see http://www.toptotop.org/climate/psu.php or http://www.osil.co.uk/web/osil/osil.nsf/(AllbyUnid)/28E889A530E6694A80256D2B0031C90F?opendocument 139.70.10.66 19:33, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
Yes, 1 kg being 1000 parts solution, so reading not in percent - Marshman


The ppt markings need to be made clearer. I thought it was a wacky percent sign from looking at the chart. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 15:36, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] salt water

Can anyone tell me why humans can't drink salt water?

Have a look at the seawater article. Cheers, --Plumbago 09:33, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] source of salinity

My daughter asked me why the oceans are so salty.

This page doesn't say why. Can someone add this to the page please? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.38.122.195 (talk) 21:03, 27 February 2007 (UTC).

They are saline because of freshwater run off. This brings dissolved minerals to the sea. Subduction of the seabed removes the minerals and this is why the oceans have a salinity of approximately 35. I read about this hypothesis in Bill Brysons "A short history of nearly everything". The reason I am at this article is to find out if Wikipedia has a standard unit for reporting salinity? I am used to reporting it as a unitless ratio, is this the case for wikipedia?Celticbattlepants 01:55, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] salinity has NO unit

The practical salinity scale was defined as a conductivity ratio, NOT redefined in practical salinity units. So all salinity values should be given without any physical unit. For some more in depth explanation of that, see e.g. http://www.oceanographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=902 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prieni (talk • contribs) 13:52, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hypersaline

Hypersaline redirects here but is not mentioned. Are the terms hypersaline and hyperhaline synonyms? Hypersaline gets 50 times as many hits on google as hyperhaline, so I think that it should at least get a mention as an alternative. Mikenorton (talk) 21:35, 30 March 2008 (UTC)