The Aquatic Environment

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The Aquatic Environment

Water is the essential substance of

life
75 to 95 percent of the weight of all
living cells is water
Water covers 75 percent of the
planet's surface and is the dominant
environment on Earth
Saltwater (marine)
Freshwater
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Water Cycles between Earth and the Atmosphere

The water (or hydrologic) cycle is

the process by which water travels in
a sequence from the air to Earth and
returns to the atmosphere
Solar radiation is the driving
force behind the water cycle
because it provides energy for the
evaporation of water
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The Water Cycle

Precipitation
Evaporation
Evapotranspiration
Industrial use

Interception

Transpiration

River

Surface
runof

Infiltration
Domestic use

Groundwater
Deep seepage
Deep storage

Figure
3.1 Pearson
2012

 Water vapor in the atmosphere

eventually falls in some form of
precipitation
Interception occurs when
precipitation falls onto vegetation,
dead organic matter, and urban
structures or streets. This water
evaporates directly back to the
atmosphere
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 Precipitation that reaches the soil

moves into the ground by
infiltration
Surface runof occurs when the soil is
saturated
The water that seeps down to an
impervious layer of rock collects as
groundwater

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 Evapotranspiration is the total

amount of evaporating water from
ground and vegetation
(surface evaporation +
transpiration)
water in terrestrial and aquatic
environments.
Transpiration is the evaporation of
water from the internal surfaces of
plants
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Which of these is the largest reservoir of

freshwater on Earth?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

the atmosphere
groundwater
lakes
oceans
polar ice caps and glaciers

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he Global Water Cycle

Vapor transport
40,000
Precipitation
111,000

Atmosphere
13

Evaporation Transpiration and Evaporation

425,000
71,000
Precipitation
385,000

Soil moisture
67

Lake
229

River
40,000

Ocean
1.37 109 km3

7% of water resides in the ocean

% resides in polar ice and glaaciers
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Polar ice
and Glaciers
25,000 x 103

Groundwater
4,000

What is Water?
In water (H2O), the atoms
are asymmetrically bound to
one another

Hydrogen
Oxygen

The hydrogen atoms share

an electron with the oxygen
atom through a covalent
bond

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(a)

Water is a
Figure
Polar Molecule

Hydrogen
3.3b

Because electrons are

unequally shared and
spend more time around
oxygen, water is
considered a polar
molecule

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Oxygen

+
(b)

Hydrogen
Oxygen

cause of this Polarity,

attracts other water
molecules

Hydrogen bonding
between water
molecules
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(c)

Hydrogen
Oxygen

The Structure of Liquid Wa

Hydrogen bonds
break and reform
easily

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(d)

What happens when water freezes?

Water molecules in solid form (ice)
are spaced farther apart (have more
space) than water molecules in liquid
Water becomes less dense as it
converts from liquid to solid
This allows for insulation of water bodies
so that they do not freeze solid

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Hydrogen
Oxyge
n

Ice is less
dense than
liquid water

(e)

1.0004

Density (g/cm3)

ensity of Water
1.0000
as a function
0.9996
of Temperature
0.9992

Maximum density at 4C

Water

Melting
or
freezing

0.9988

0.9984

4 C = ~ 39 F
o

0.9178

0.9174

0.9170
8
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Ice

4
8
12
Temperature (C)

16

20

The Specific Heat of Water

Specific heat of water = 1
Specific heat is the energy
(measured in calories) required to
raise 1 gram of water 1C
Water must absorb (or lose) great
quantities of heat to change its
temperature
This helps to bufer aquatic habitats and is
important for thermal regulation within
living
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Latent Heat
Heat needed to change physical state of water

Figure 3.6

Ice floats on top of lakes because it is

denser than water
Hydrogen bond

Liquid water:
Hydrogen bonds
break and re-form

Ice:
Hydrogen bonds
are stable

How does this protect the organisms living below the ice?

What would happen to organisms

on Earth if water did not have a
high specific heat or Latent heat?

Other properties of Water help

sustain life
Cohesion is the linkage between
and among water molecules due to
hydrogen bonding
Surface tension of water is the
result of diferences in attraction
among water molecules between the
surface of the water and air
The surface of water is able to support
small organisms
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Hydrogen bonding of water

molecules provides surface
tension

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 Viscosity is the property that measures the

force necessary to separate the molecules.
Aquatic organisms must cope with the frictional
resistance of water and overcome viscosity
The frictional resistance of water is 100 times greater
than air!

Water has a high viscosity due largely to its

greater density (860 times that of air!)
Aquatic organisms experience buoyancy in water
because of the upward force of water acting on the
less dense object
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Streamlined bodies ofer the least

resistance to the viscosity of water

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Not all light penetrates water Equally

Electromagnetic Spectrum

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Light Varies with Depth in Aquatic

Environments
Water reflects light depending upon the
angle in which light strikes it
The pattern of light absorption in water
gives rise to unique adaptations in aquatic
organisms
Body color or lack of pigmentation
Large eyes
Bioluminescence

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Attenuation of Light with Water

Depth
Why is water blue?
0

20

80

100

10

10

20

20

30

30

40

40

50
60
70

Depth (m)

Depth (m)

Light (% surface)
40
60

20

Transmittance (%)
40
60

80

100

Red
Orange

Yellow
Green

50

Blue

60
70

80
400

90
100
(a)

(b)

500
600
Wavelength (nanometers)

700

mperature Profile of Water

The thermocline is the
region of the vertical
depth profile where
water temperature
declines most rapidly
The thermocline
depth depends on
solar radiation input
and level of mixing
The thermocline is
located between the
epilimnion (warm,
lighter water above)
and the hypolimnion
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(cold, denser water
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Density
Changes with
Water Depth

The hypolimnion has the

higher density

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Water temperature (C)

5
15
20
10

Seasonal
Changes in Water
Epilimnion
Temperature

Water depth

Warm, low-density,
surface waters

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Where is prime
Thermocline
real-estate
Zone of rapid
during winter
temperature change
months?
Hypolimnion
Cold, high-density,
deep waters

Why?

Summer
Fall
Winter

*Temperate region profile

 Would the vertical profile be seen

in moving water?
Why or why not?

Water Functions as a
Solvent
Water can dissolve more substances
than any other liquid. This is crucial to
biological systems
Water's dissolving "power" is a result
of its polarity
Every water molecule has a positive
and negative side so it is attracted to
other charged atoms and molecules
(ions)
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The Polarity of Water accounts for its Solvent

Nature

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Oxygen Difuses from the Atmosphere to the

Surface Waters

Difusion is the general tendency of

molecules to move from a region of
high concentration to one of lower
concentration
Oxygen and carbon dioxide difuse
from the atmosphere into the surface
waters of aquatic environments
The rate of difusion is dependent on the
solubility of oxygen (greater in cold
water) and the difusion gradient
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Oxygen Stratification
Summer
Winter
Fall
overturn

Cold water increases

oxygen solubility,
however, Surface ice
reduces the difusion
of oxygen from
atmosphere into
surface
waters

Decline in oxygen reflects

the demand and uptake
by decomposer organisms
inhabiting the bottom zone
0

4
6 8 10 12
Oxygen (ppm)

 What types of organisms have

evolved to survive life in deep
waters?

Acidity Has a Widespread Influence on

Aquatic Environments

The pH of aquatic environments

influences distribution and
abundance of organisms
What changes the pH of aquatic
environments?
Physiological processes
Concentration of toxic metals
Aluminum dissolves as pH decreases and
becomes more concentrated in aquatic
environments
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What is pH?
pH = -log[H+]

H] and [OH] must always add to 14

[H] highest

Acid

[H] and [OH] equal

[H] lowest

Base

The Carbonic Acid Bufer System

Removes Excess CO2

This system generally acts as a bufer

and keeps the pH of water within a
narrow range

CO2 + H2O

HCO3 2012 Pearson

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H2CO3

HCO3- + H+

H+ + CO32-

Predominate forms of CO2 in water in

relation to pH
Percent of total CO2

100
2

CO3

HCO3

Free CO2
50

8
pH

10

11

12