Question

Explain the factors affecting the salinity of ocean water.

Answer 1

Instructions:

• It is a straight forward question.

Solution:
Factors affecting the salinity of ocean water:

• Evaporation and precipitation: Evaporation has a direct relationship with salinity. Higher the evaporation higher the salinity. Whereas precipitation is inversely related to the salinity of ocean water. Higher the precipitation, lower the salinity.
• Fresh water from rivers and ice caps: Ice cap formation in the high latitude areas reduces salinity as the freshwater from melting ice caps reduces the salinity of the ocean water. Similarly, rivers bring lots of fresh water which decreases the salinity at their mouth.
• Winds: Winds by transferring water to the other regions lead to redistribution of water across the region and thereby affecting the salinity as well.
• Ocean currents: They affect the salinity by mixing seawater from one region to another region such as currents traveling from the equator towards the poles driving away water from one region to another affecting the salinity of the ocean water.