10/14/2014 Salinity - Dissolved Salts, Measuring Salinity - Windows to the Universe

Brought to you by the National Earth Science Teachers Association

A student from the HIGH TIDE

project turns on the CTD
instrument. High school students
use the CTD recorder to measure
salinity, temperature and depth of
the water in the Lafayette River
which is a part of Chesapeake Bay.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of the HIGH TIDE
project

Related links:

The HIGH TIDE project involving

lower Chesapeake Bay

Salinity Versus Depth Profile for

Ocean Water

The Oceans and Seas

Estuaries

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10/14/2014 Salinity - Dissolved Salts, Measuring Salinity - Windows to the Universe

A look at Chesapeake Bay

George E. Brown Jr. Salinity

Laboratory - exploring soil-plant-
water systems

The Salt Institute

Salinity - Dissolved Salts, Measuring Salinity Suka 12

When we measure the salinity of water, we look at how much dissolved salt is in the water, or the
concentration of salt in the water. Concentration is the amount (by weight) of salt in water and can
be expressed in parts per million (ppm). Here are the classes of water:

Fresh water - less than 1,000 ppm

Slightly saline water - From 1,000 ppm to 3,000 ppm
Moderately saline water - From 3,000 ppm to 10,000 ppm
Highly saline water - From 10,000 ppm to 35,000 ppm

Ocean water has a salinity that is approximately 35,000 ppm. That's the same as saying ocean water
is about 3.5% salt. Sometimes, salinity is measured in different units. Another common unit is the
psu (practical salinity units). Ocean water has a salinity of approximately 35 psu. Scientists measure
salinity using a CTD instrument (CTD = conductivity, temperature, depth).

Ocean water is about 3.5% salt. That means that if the oceans dried up completely, enough salt
would be left behind to build a 180-mile-tall, one- mile-thick wall around the equator. About 90
percent of that salt would be sodium chloride, or ordinary table salt. Chlorine, sodium and the other
major dissolved salts of the ocean are listed in this table:

Dissolved salts in
sea water (atoms):

55.3 % Chlorine

30.8 % Sodium

3.7 % Magnesium

2.6 % Sulfur

1.2 % Calcium

1.1 % Potassium

Last modified August 30, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.

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