Sea Water
Elemental composition of seawater in parts per million
See table below for Major components and Salinity of the Seas
ppm= parts per million = mg/litre = 0.001g/kg.
Source: Karl K Turekian: Oceans. 1968. Prentice-Hall
Hydrogen H2O
Oxygen H2O
Sodium NaCl
Chlorine NaCl
Magnesium Mg
Sulfur S
Potassium K
Calcium Ca
Bromine Br
|
110,000
883,000
10,800
19,400
1,290
904
392
411
67.3
|
Molybdenum Mo
Ruthenium Ru
Rhodium Rh
Palladium Pd
Argentum (silver) Ag
Cadmium Cd
Indium In
Stannum (tin) Sn
Antimony Sb
|
0.01
0.0000007
.
.
0.00028
0.00011
.
0.00081
0.0
|
Helium He
Lithium Li
Beryllium Be
Boron B
Carbon C
Nitrogen ion
Fluorine F
Neon Ne
Aluminium Al
Silicon Si
Phosphorus P
Argon Ar
Scandium Sc
Titanium Ti
Vanadium V
Chromium Cr
Manganese Mn
Ferrum Fe
Cobalt Co
Nickel Ni
|
0.0000072
0.170
0.0000006
4.450
28.0
15.5
13
0.00012
0.001
2.9
0.088
0.450
<0.000004
0.001
0.0019
0.0002
0.0004
0.0034
0.00039
0.0066
|
Tellurium Te
Iodine I
Xenon Xe
Cesium Cs
Barium Ba
Lanthanum La
Cerium Ce
Praesodymium Pr
Neodymium Nd
Samarium Sm
Europium Eu
Gadolinium Gd
Terbium Tb
Dysprosium Dy
Holmium Ho
Erbium Er
Thulium Tm
Ytterbium Yb
Lutetium Lu
Hafnium Hf
|
.
0.064
0.000047
0.0003
0.021
0.0000029
0.0000012
0.00000064
0.0000028
0.00000045
0.0000013
0.0000007
0.00000014
0.00000091
0.00000022
0.00000087
0.00000017
0.00000082
0.00000015
<0.000008
|
Copper Cu
Zinc Zn
Gallium Ga
Germanium Ge
Arsenic As
Selenium Se
Krypton Kr
Rubidium Rb
Strontium Sr
Yttrium Y
Zirconium Zr
|
0.0009
0.005
0.00003
0.00006
0.0026
0.0009
0.00021
0.120
8.1
0.000013
0.000026
|
Tantalum Ta
Tungsten W
Rhenium Re
Osmium Os
Iridium Ir
Platinum Pt
Aurum (gold) Au
Mercury Hg
Thallium Tl
Lead Pb
Bismuth Bi
|
<0.0000025
<0.000001
0.0000084
.
.
.
0.000011
0.00015
.
0.00003
0.00002
|
Niobium Nb
|
0.000015
|
Thorium Th
Uranium U
Plutonimu Pu
|
0.0000004
0.0033
.
|
Sea Water
Concentrations of the Major Components
Component
Chloride
Sodium
Sulphate
Magnesium
Calcium
Potassium
Bicarbonate
Bromide
Strontium
Boron
Fluoride
|
g/kg
19.53
10.76
02.72
01.294
00.413
00.387
00.142
00.067
00.008
00.004
00.001
|
Concentrations may change due to depth,
temperature, location, and a host of other factors. (From Turekian, in Oceans,1968)
Salinity of Sea Water in various seas
The ocean salinity varies slightly from about 3.2% to 4%, at an average of 3.5%. The removal
and supply
of salt ions into sea water is so small and the resevoir so large that these ions
have little effect on the salinity,
and this saltiness has been so for at least a billion
years ¹.
However, salinity in isolated bodies of sea water is higher than in the open sea
².
| Sea | % Salinity |
| Red Sea | 4% |
| Dead Sea | 24 - 33% |
| Mediterranian Sea | 3.8% |
Baltic Sea
(Least saline) | 0.5% |
| Caspian Sea | 1.2% |
| Caribbean Sea | 3.6% |
| Coastal Sea | 2.6 - 3% |
