TYPES AND PROPERTIES OF WATER

M. G. Khublaryan
Water Problems Institute RAS, Russia
Keywords: Water resources, rivers water, seawater, river basins, atmospheric water,
estuaries, reservoirs, lakes, swamp, wetland, soil water, groundwater, glaciers,
cover
glaciers, icebergs, ground ice, water quality.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Water types
3. Physical properties of water, including its three phases
4. Chemical properties of water
5. Biological characteristics
Glossary
Bibliography
Biographical Sketch
Summary
The total volume of the Earth�s hydrosphere is about 1.39 billion km3
. The main types
of water are atmospheric (0.001 percent of total volume), the oceans (96.4
percent),
fresh surface water, saline lakes, and land-locked seas (0.013 percent),
groundwater
(1.68 percent), and glaciers (1.86 percent).
Earth�s water can exist in three phases: liquid, solid, and gaseous. Hydrogen and
oxygen
atoms form water molecules, H2O. Atomic nuclei in the molecule form an isosceles
triangle with two protons at the base and an obtuse angle at an oxygen atom in its
vertex. The angle H-O-H and inter-nuclear H-H, O-H intervals are a function of
water
phase state.
The chemical composition of surface water is created in the process of water
circulation
on Earth, which connects the hydrosphere with the atmosphere, lithosphere, and
biosphere. Water, being a universal solvent, is enriched with a wide spectrum of
various
substances in a gaseous, solid, and liquid state, so it varies greatly in its
chemical
composition. The chemical composition of ocean water remains constant due to a
complex dynamic equilibrium between the ocean water, atmospheric gases, and hard
rock masses.
The biological properties of water systems are caused by the totality of flora and
fauna.
As the density of water is considerably higher than air, living organisms are able
to exist
both within the water column (pelagic) and on the bottom (demersal).
The most important water functions in the system are the following:
�Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)
UNESCO � EOLSS
SAMPLE CHAPTERS
TYPES AND PROPERTIES OF WATER � Vol. I � Types and Properties of Water - M. G.
Khublaryan
� supply of a self-renewable resource: fresh water, for industrial, agricultural,
and
municipal purposes
� production of organic matter, including fish
� maintenance of biodiversity in and around aquatic ecosystems
� cycling of materials in global biogeochemical cycles
� self-purification: a natural system of waste treatment.
1. Introduction
Natural water is one of the most important substances for the maintenance of life.
It was
called �a primary source of all that exists� by an ancient Greek philosopher Thales
of
Miletus 2,600 years ago. Water is one of the most astonishing compounds on Earth,
and
even now has not yet been fully deciphered. It is characterized by a complex of
anomalous properties that make it very different from other substances (e.g. high
melting, boiling, and evaporation points, and high dissolving ability).
The main part of the Earth�s water is concentrated in the hydrosphere. The
hydrosphere
(from the Greek hydro, water, and sphaira, sphere) is not a continuous water cover
of
the Earth. The hydrosphere is the totality of oceans, seas, and surface terrestrial
waters,
including oceans, lakes, streams, underground water, and all the snow and ice. This
sphere covers 70.8 percent of the Earth�s surface (the total volume is about 1.39
billion
km3
). Oceans and seas make up about 96.4 percent of the hydrosphere by volume, and
underground waters form 1.68 percent. About 2 percent is composed of snow and ice
(mainly the snow and ice of the Arctic, Antarctic, and Greenland), and 0.059
percent is
surface fresh water, saline lakes, and inland seas. The atmosphere and living
organisms
also contain water, but in insignificant quantities.
All water masses are transformed from one form to another in the course of the
hydrological cycle, a continual shift of water on the Earth (in the atmosphere,
hydrosphere and the Earth�s crust) that occurs under the influence of solar
radiation and
gravity. This planetary process includes evaporation of water from the Earth�s
surface,
its transfer with the help of air currents from the place of evaporation,
condensation of
water vapor and precipitation (transfer of water masses in water bodies onto the
Earth�s
surface and inside its crust). The quantity of precipitation annually falling on
the Earth�s
surface is equal to the quantity of water evaporated from the surface of the
landmasses
and oceans.
2. Water Types
2.1. Atmospheric Water
Atmospheric water, transforming from one state to another, participates in water
circulation in nature. Moisture is mainly in a gaseous state in the atmosphere. The
average content of water vapor decreases with height and latitude and depends on
the
season and type of underlying surface. Although it has only a relatively small
moisture
content, the atmosphere is the only source of fresh water regeneration in nature
(through
evaporation) and the main means of replenishment of water reserves (through
precipitation). The total evaporation from the ocean surface and continents amounts
to
�Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)
UNESCO � EOLSS
SAMPLE CHAPTERS
TYPES AND PROPERTIES OF WATER � Vol. I � Types and Properties of Water - M. G.
Khublaryan
577,000 km3
per year (a mean water layer of 1.13 m over the Earth); it consumes on
average 88 W/m2
of heat, which amounts to more than a third of the solar energy supply
of the Earth. Through the operation of the water circulation on the Earth, the
entire
577,000 km3
falls to the Earth each year. Meridional water vapor transfer is a significant
peculiarity of water circulation.
Water vapor (H2O) is the most variable of the atmosphere components. Its volumetric
content can change by a factor of 100,000, depending on the season and place. The
lowest water values are observed either at a considerable height in the atmosphere
or
above the Antarctic plateau, and the maximum observed in subtropical and equatorial
areas, where it often amounts to more than 3-4 percent. To determine water vapor
content in a given air volume (the part of total atmospheric pressure caused by
water
vapor), a notional water vapor pressure (partial pressure) is used.
Alternatively, specific humidity can be used. This is the ratio of water vapor mass
to the
humid air mass. Absolute humidity is the ratio of water vapor mass to the humid air
volume. The percentage ratio of water vapor partial pressure to the pressure of the
water
vapor saturated under the given temperature is called relative humidity.
Water in the atmosphere mainly comes from evaporation, from the surface of both the
ocean and the land. Transpiration and direct evaporation from the surfaces of green
plant (evapotranspiration), and evaporation from ice (sublimation) also increase
the
water content of the atmosphere. Condensation occurs when air, being saturated with
water vapor, becomes cooler, and relative humidity reaches 100 percent.
Condensation
can be in the form of dew or rime. Dew forms when the air temperature is equal to
the
temperature of condensation and is higher than the temperature of any surface. Rime
occurs if the temperature of the air and the surface is less than zero.
Condensation in the atmosphere occurs on condensation nuclei: small particles of
dust,
salt crystals, smoke, and so on, and results in cloud formation. Clouds are
classified into
types, kinds, and varieties according to their form and state (water drops or ice
crystals).
Depending on the synoptical and thermodynamical conditions of precipitation, clouds
are divided into the following main types: total, shower, and mixed. The occurence
of
total precipitation is connected to a large-scale vertical air motion caused by a
frontal or
orographic rise, or large-scale horizontal convergence. Shower precipitations are
formed
in cumulus-rainy clouds under conditions of mesoscale convection in the unstable
air of
the layer within 5�10 km. Clouds mixed as to their genesis are caused by the
simultaneous effect of regulated and convection motion, whose input differs
depending
on the precipitation type.
Fog is an accumulation of the smallest water drops or ice crystals decreasing
visibility
in and near the surface air layer. There are fogs of cooling and evaporation.
Radiation
fog can be formed when there are no clouds and the land surface is cooled by long-
wave
heat radiation at night. Advective fog can be formed by the horizontal movement of
a
relatively warm air mass over a colder air mass lying over the land surface.