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May I ask, what are the main components of seawater, and what are their respective concentrations?

2009-03-12View Original

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Excuse me, Haiyou – what are the main components of seawater? What are the specific contents of various components?
Reply #22009-03-12
Does it even need to be asked? The main component of seawater is, of course, water. Contains salts (NaCl) and minerals.
Reply #32009-03-12
What is needed is the content, quantitative analysis, how much of each component is present, and are there any authoritative data?
Reply #42009-03-12
The composition of seawater is very complex. The concentrations of chemical elements in seawater vary greatly. Apart from hydrogen and oxygen, there are 11 elements in seawater—Cl, Na, Mg, S, Ca, K, Br, C, Sr, B, and F—that have a concentration of 1 milligram or more per liter; these are generally referred to as “major elements”. Elements with a concentration of less than 1 milligram per liter in seawater are called “trace elements” or “minor elements”. The concentrations of several major inorganic salts in seawater are as follows: Cl- 19.10 g/kg, Na+ 10.62 g/kg, SO4-- 2.66 g/kg, Mg+ 1.28 g/kg, Ca+ 0.40 g/kg, K+ 0.38 g/kg, and trace elements 0.25 g/kg. Reference: Marine Handbook, edited by Guo Qian, Ocean Press, 1984. Furthermore, seawater is a complex mixture with various chemical components, including water, as well as various chemical elements and gases dissolved in it. To date, over 80 chemical elements have been discovered, which can be classified into three categories based on their abundance: major elements, trace elements, and ultra-trace elements. Sometimes, the latter two categories are also collectively referred to as trace elements. Elements with a concentration of over 100 milligrams per liter in seawater are known as major elements. The most important major elements are oxygen, sodium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, potassium, bromine, carbon, phosphorus, boron, and fluorine – a total of 11 elements that account for 99.8–99.9% of the total content of chemical elements. The concentrations of other chemical elements are extremely low; in seawater, there are 1–100 milligrams of such elements per liter. These are known as trace elements. Such as iron, molybdenum, potassium, uranium, iodine, etc. Elements present in less than 1 milligram per liter of seawater are known as trace elements. Such as gold, silver, cadmium, etc. The vast majority of chemical elements dissolved in seawater exist in the form of salt ions, among which sodium chloride is the most abundant, accounting for 88.6%, while sulfates account for 10.8%. The concentration ratios of the major elements in seawater remain almost constant, which is of great significance for studying seawater concentrations. The main salts in seawater and their components are as follows: grams per kilogram of seawater, along with the corresponding percentages – Sodium chloride: 27.2, 77.7%; Magnesium chloride: 3.8, 10.9%; Magnesium sulfate: 1.7, 4.9%; Calcium sulfate: 1.2, 3.6%; Potassium sulfate: 0.9, 2.5%; Calcium carbonate: 0.1, 0.3%; Magnesium bromide and others: 0.1, 0.3. The total amount is 35.0, or 100.0%. The gases present in seawater are mainly nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Nitrogen accounts for 64%, while carbon monoxide makes up about 2%. Oxygen is soluble in water, and its concentration decreases as the water temperature rises; at 0°C, it constitutes about 40%
Reply #52009-03-12
Thank you:handshake

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