DENSITY OF SEAWATER AND THERMOHALINE

CIRCULATION LAB
Marine Biology

Variationsinsalinityandtemperaturearethetwomostimportantfactorsincreatingdensitydifferences
intheoceans.Thesedensitydifferencesareveryimportantindeepoceancirculation.
Thermohalinecirculationisatermusedtodescribethemovementofwaterintheoceanbasedontemperature
(=thermos)andsalinity(=haline).Thesetwofactorsincombinationaffectthedensityofseawater.Moredense
seawatersinksbelowlessdenseseawaterandthustheoceanscirculatepartiallybasedupontheirtemperature
andsalinity.
Salinityistheamountofdissolvedmaterialinwater,andisexpressedaspartsperthousand.Variationsin
salinityareinfluencedprimarilybychangesinthewatercontentofseawater.Forinstance,inregionswhere
evaporationratesarehigh,removingthewaterandleavingbehindthesaltsincreasestheconcentrationof
dissolvedmaterialinseawater(increasessalinity).Alternatively,inregionsofhighprecipitationorrunofffrom
rivers,theadditionalwaterdilutestheseawaterandlowerssalinity.Becausethefactorsthatinfluencethe
concentrationsofsaltsinseawatervary,thesalinityofseawateralsovarieswithlatitudeanddepth.
Likesalinity,oceantemperaturesvarywithlatitudeanddepth.Temperaturealsoaffectsdensityofseawater,but
seawaterismoresensitivetotemperaturefluctuationsthansalinity.Forexample,coolsurfacewater,whichhas
agreaterdensitythanwarmwater,formsinthePolarRegions,sinks,andflowstowardsthetropics.

PART 1.TEMPERATURE,SALINITYANDDENSITYEXPERIMENTS
Materials:
o Two1literbottles
o Tornadotube
o Foodcoloring
o Hotandcoldtapwater
o Salt
Procedure
1.Fillonebottlefullofhottapwater.AddTHREEoffoodcoloring.Fastenthetornadotubeon.
2.Filltheotherbottlewithicewater.AddTHREEdropsoffoodcoloring(anycolornotthesameasthehot)to
theicewater.
3.Quicklyconnectthetwobottlesoverthesink.
4.Laythebottlesgentlyontheirsideandthendonotdisturbthem.Tightenthetornadotubeifyouseeany
leakage.
5.Observethebottleateyelevel.Watchthemovementforatleastfiveminutes.
Q1.Makeasketchofyourobservationsinyournotebook.
Q2.Basedontheseresults,whichtemperatureofseawaterhasthegreatestdensity,hotorcold?Explainhow
youknowthisinyoursciencenotebook.
6.Filltwobottleswithroomtemperaturetapwater.Fillonebottletothetopandleaveaboutthreeinchesof
spaceatthetopofthesecondbottle.

7.AddTHREEleveltablespoonsofsaltandTHREEdropsoffoodcoloringtothebottlewiththespaceatthe
top.ThisistheSALTYbottle.Fastenthetornadotubeonthisbottle.
8.Mixthesaltwaterinthebottlewell,thenfinishfillingthesaltywaterbottletothetopofthetornadotubewith
tapwater.
9.Quicklyconnectthetwobottlesoverasink.
10.Laythebottlesgentlyontheirsideandthendonotdisturbthem.Tightenthetornadotubeifyouseeany
leakage.
11.Observethebottleateyelevel.Watchthemovementforatleastfiveminutes.
Q3.Recordtheobservationsofyourexperimentandmakeasketchinyournotebook.
Q4.Withequaltemperaturesofwater,whichsampleofwaterhasthegreatestdensity?Explainhowyouknow
this.
PART 2.MIXINGOFHOTANDCOLDWATERS
Materials:
2Styrofoamtypecups,eachwithapushpin
Plastictub/container
Smallweights
Foodcoloring
Hot,cold,androomtemperaturetapwater
Procedure.
1.PlaceweightinStyrofoamcupstokeepthemfromfloatingortipping.Insertapushpinintoeachcupabout
halfwaybetweenthetopandbottomofthecup.Makeonlyoneholeineachcup.
2.Setyourcupsintothecontainer.Fillthecontainerwithroomtemperaturetapwatertoaheightofabout1.5
cmbelowtherimoftheStyrofoamcups.
3.Removethecups.AddicewatertooneofthecupsandaddTHREEdropsofbluefoodcoloring,stirringitin.
Addhottapwaterintheothercup,andaddTHREEdropsofredfoodcoloring,stirringitin.
4.Carefullyplacethecupsinthecontainerofwater.Makesurethepushpinsarefacing

towards

eachother.
5.Pulloutthepushpinineachcup.Begintoobserve,makingsureyouareateyelevelwiththesetup.(Placea
pieceofblankwhitepaperbehindthesetuptohelpyouobserveifneeded).
6.Continuetoaddhotandcoldwaterintotheappropriatecontainerstokeepthewaterlevelineachcup
approximatelyatthetop.
Q5.Recordyourobservationsofthisexperimentinyournotebook.
Q6.Whenhotandcoldwatermix,whathappenstothecoldwater?Explainhowyouknowthisfromthe
experimentyoujustconducted.
Q7.Predictwhatyouthinkwouldhappentothetemperatureanddensityofapoolofequatorialseawaterasan
oceancurrentcarriesittothehigherlatitudepolarregions.
Q8.Inyourownwords(andwithoutconsultingthetextbook)explainwhatyouthinkupwellingmeansbasedon
yourobservationsfromthisexperiment.
PART 3.MIXINGOFFRESHANDSALTWATER
Materials:

TwoStyrofoamcups:onefilledwithfreshwater,onefilledwithsaltwater
Foodcoloring
Icecubes

Q9.Listtwowaysyoucoulddeterminewhichofthecontainershassaltwater.(TASTINGISNEVERA
SAFESCIENTIFICPROCEDURE).

1.Filltwocupswithroomtemperaturetapwater.Mixonespoonfulofsaltintooneofthecupsandlabelitas
saltwater(Usetape.Pleasedontwriteoncups).Place15icecubesineachcontainer.
Q10.Beforeproceeding,predictwhethericewillmeltfasterinfreshwaterorsaltwater.Explainyour
reasoning.
2.Afteraoneminute,placetwodropsoffoodcoloringontopoftheiceineachcontainer.
Q11.Recordyourobservations.
Q12.Doyourobservationsmatchyourprediction?Explainwhy/whynot.
Q13.Doicecubesmeltfasterinfreshwaterorsaltwater?Explainwhy.
Q14.Explainwhytheicywatersanktothebottomofthefreshwatercup.
Q15.Wouldyouexpectthesurface,coloredlayertobefreshorsaltwater?
Q16.DoesyourexperimentsupportorrefutetheresultsofyoursalinityexperimentinPart1?Explainwhy/why
not.
PART 4.SALINITY,TEMERPERATURE,DENSITYANDTHERMOHALINECIRCULATION.
1. Openupallofthefollowing3links(canbefoundonmywebsite):
Link#1:http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/research/cmb/sst_analysis/images/monsstv2.png
Link#2:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Wiki_plot_04.png
Link#3:http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8q_1.html
Q17.Examineeachoftheseimagesandlookforanyrelationshipsbetweenseasurfacetemperaturesfromthe
firstimage,seasurfacesalinityfromthesecondimage,andthelocationsofwarmandcoldcurrentsinthethird
image.Recordtheserelationships.Thenbasedonyourobservations;writeahypothesisthatexplainsthese
relationships.
Gotothefollowingtwolinks(foundonmywebsite)andusetheinformationtoanswerthefollowingquestions:
http://www.pikpotsdam.de/~stefan/thc_fact_sheet.html
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/circulation1.html&edu=mid
Q18.Basedontheinformationinthesewebsitesandwhatyouhavelearnedfromtheexperiments,explainwhat
combinationoftemperatureandsalinityfavorsthesinkingofoceanwater.
Q19.Scientistsrefertotheglobalconveyorbeltasthermohalinecirculation.Whatdotheymeanbythis?
Q20.Howaredeepwatercirculationandsurfacecirculationrelated?

Q21.Whatthingsspecificallycausesalinitychangesorfreshwaterfluxes?Whichofthesecausessalinityto
increaseandwhichonescauseittodecrease?
Q22.Inwhatareasdoesdeepwaterformationorthebeginningoftheoceanconveyorcurrentoccur?
Q23.Howcouldfreshwaterfromanearbylandmassaffectsalinityofthecoastalocean?
Q24.Thepolaricecapsarefrozenfreshwater.Howcouldglobalwarmingandassociatedmeltingofthepolar
icecapsaffecttheglobalconveyorbelt?
Makesureyourareaiscleanbeforeyouleave.