Lecture 4

Earth Systems: Hydrosphere

The Hydrosphere
The Hydrosphere is composed of Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, Groundwater, Ice Caps, and Soil, Atmosphere and Biological moisture. Major reservoirs of the Hydrosphere include: Reservoirs Volume (106 km3 ) % Total Turnover rate (mixing rate) (years) 3000 8000-15000 300-5000 10 0.038-0.96 0.027 0.038

Ocean Cryosphere Groundwater Lakes Soils Atmosphere Rivers Total

1370 29 9.5 0.125 0.065 0.013 0.0017 1409

97.25 2.05 0.68 0.01 0.005 0.001 0.0001 100

Evidently, the oceans are the biggest reservoirs of the water on the Earth. The size and chemistry of the oceans are not constant but evolved with time. Four hypotheses are proposed to understand the chemical evolution of the oceans: 1) The water condensed from a primeval (early) atmosphere and the chloride has been added throughout geological time (constant volume-volcanic chloride hypothesis)

2) Both water and chloride are the result of initial condensation (constant volume-constant chloride hypothesis) 3) Both water and chloride have appeared gradually (volcanic ocean-volcanic chloride hypothesis) 4) The chloride was present as metallic chloride on the earths surface, and the water has been added throughout geological time by volcanic time by volcanic activity (volcanic ocean-constant chloride hypothesis)

Radius of the Earth ~ 6300 km Oceans ~ 360 x 106 km2 70% of the Earth is covered by the oceans Indian Ocean ~ 20% Atlantic ~ 30% Pacific ~ 50% Ave. depth ~ 3.7 km Zonal distance across the Arabian Sea along 15 N ~ 2,000 km Oceans form a rather strange tank: S. Indian ocean along 15 S ~ 10,000 km 3 4 Horizontal scale is 10 -10 times larger than the vertical scale

Sits on a rotating platform, hence experiences fictitious forces like the Coriolis force.

The tank is filled with water: 97% of the water found on the Earth is in the oceans; 1% is on land as freshwater; 2% is trapped in the glaciers and ice-caps).

Chemical/Physical properties of Oceanic waters: 1. The average ocean salinity ranges from 34 g/Kg to 36 g/Kg. 2. Seawater is pH buffered by bicarbonate/carbonate ions which constitute 0.35% of the solute components. 3. The osmotic pressure of seawater is quite high(23.07 atm at 35 g/Kg salinity and 00C) 4. Hydrostatic pressure ranges from 0 to 1,000 atm. The hydrostatic pressure is dependant upon depth and increases approx. 1 atm for every 10m. 5. Density of seawater is affected by salinity and temperature. At 0 0C seawater with a salinity of 30-37 g/Kg has a density range of 1.024-1.030 g/cc. 6. The temperature of seawater ranges from -2oC to 30oC which is contrast to the temperature range of the surface air which ranges from -65 to 65oC. 7. While oceanic temperature can vary from 30oC to 0oC, 90% of the waters of the ocean have temperatures <50C. These waters are usually found below 1000m, expect near polar areas, where they occur at the surface. 8. Average concentration of dissolve salts in the ocean is 35 parts per thousand by weight (ppt---3.5%). 9. Density of seawater depends on both temperature and salinity. It also depends on pressure. Mean density of seawater is 1.03x 103 kg/m3. 99% of seawater in within +- 2% of the mean value. Cooling of seawater increases density; increase in salinity also increases density. If the increase in density is large enough, the waters can sink to great depths and set up a circulation.

Main features of ocean geometry

The oceans cover about 70% of the earths surface with an average depth of 3.795m. Structurally an ocean consists of a basin surrounded by a continental margin. The continental margin is composed of the continental shelf, the continental slope, and the continental rise. The continental shelf: A projection off the continental shore and it encompasses about 7.5% of the ocean area. It may range from 0 to 1,290 km off the coast with an average depth of 130m. The continental slope: The zone at the edge of the continental shelf where the ocean floor drops rapidly to abyssal depths of approximately 3,000m. This zone constitutes 12% of the ocean area. The ocean basin: Takes up 80% of the ocean area and consists of an irregular topography including mountain ranges, and rift valleys formed from volcanic activity and tectonic plate movements.

The water in the ocean is not stagnant. It moves. There are three major forcing mechanisms to generate motion in the ocean: Gravitational pull exerted by the Moon and the Sun.

Tidal circulation Stress exerted by winds on the ocean surface.

Wind-driven circulation Cooling and sinking of water near the poles

Thermohaline circulation. Tidal circulation Ubiquitous, but magnitude varies; oscillatory; most prominent periods: 12.5 and 24; typical velocity ~ few cm/sec in the open sea, much larger in shallow areas. Wind-driven circulation

Found in the top 1000 m, most prominently in the top couple of hundred metres; major basins (but not North Indian Ocean) show quasi-permanent gyres; velocity ~ 10 cm/sec Thermohaline circulation

Influences waters below 1000 m; mostly waters with temperatures less than 5 C, i.e. about 90% of the total volume; typical velocity is less than cm/sec (too weak for direct measurement with available instruments).

Distribution of temperature and salinity in the oceans

While oceanic temperature can vary from 30 C to 0 C, 90% of the waters of the ocean have temperatures < 5 oC. These waters are usually found below 1000 m, except near polar areas, where they occur at the surface. Distribution of surface temperature is determined by heat flux across the ocean surface.

Sea surface salinity in the oceans is closely linked to the rate of evaporation minus precipitation

The most important dissolved ions in the ocean water are:

The concentration of the major dissolved ions can vary from place to place in the oceans, but their relative proportions remains virtually constant

Most of these elements have come from chemical weathering of minerals in the Earths crust. Others from volcanic gases that were dissolved in rainwater. Density of seawater depends on both temperature and salinity. It also depends on pressure. Mean density of seawater is 1.03 x 103 kg/m3. 99% of seawater is within 2% of the mean value. Cooling of seawater increases density; increase in salinity also increases density. If the increase in density is large enough, the waters can sink to great depths and set up a circulation.

Freshwater Lakes Lakes account only for small proportion of total water on Earth (0.009%). Lakes are formed by: 1. Through glacial action 2. Plugging of valleys by landslides 3. Crustal folding from tectonic plate movement resulting in undulations on land topography 4. Dissolution of underlying rock through weathering 5. Water collection in the craters of extinct volcanoes Physical and Chemical properties of lakes: Salinity in Lake waters tend to range from very low to very high (320 g/kg for the Dead sea in Jordan) Lake waters can be thermally stratified depending on the geographic location of the lake and the climate of the region, the season of the year and the lake depth and size

Rivers Rivers account for only 0.0001% of the total water on Earth and are part of the lotic environment i. e., the movement of water in channels on the land surface Rivers are dynamic and are always changing due to the active abrasion of the river channel by sand and stones carried in the waters. The cross-sectional flow of river water is not uniform. The differences in flow rate are due to frictional interferences and density differences Temperatures of river waters tend to be fairly constant due to rapid and continuous mixing. pH of river water substantially vary from very acidic (pH < 3) to very alkaline (pH > 8-9) Oxygenation- unless heavily polluted rivers tend to be well aerated due to the good mixing of the water body. Hydrological Cycle

Evaporation-Transpiration-Precipitation- Infiltration-Run-off constitute the Hydrological Cycle. The annual evaporation of water from the ocean of 3.5 x 105

km3 and land area of 7 x 104 km3 is returned as precipitation of 3.2 x 105 km3 to the oceans and 1.0 x 105 km3 to the land areas. About 68% of the land area is drained to the Atlantic Ocean but the constancy of ocean composition indicates that seawater mixing erases all but local variations in its chemical composition. Flow paths between the reservoirs include precipitation/evapotranspiration/recharge/discharge/runoff. The entire hydrosphere system is in a state of dynamic equilibrium local net gains or lossess should be offset by equivalent net losses or gains elsewhere. Hydrological cycle results in a net transfer of water from the oceanic realm to terrestrial realm. Human sustenance depends on how long we keep this water on land especially as groundwater.

Precipitation 107000000 km3 Evapotranspiration 71000000 km3

Atmosphere (0.001%) 15500 km3

Land (~3%) Ice + Snow = 43000 km

Lakes + Rivers = 360 km3 Groundwater = 15300 km3

Oceans (97%) 1400000000 km3

The hydrological cycle not only supplies fresh water to land, it also helps in rock weathering, release and transport of plant nutrients and maintaining the salinity of sea water, planetary climate and life.

Rate of movement of water Vary greatly in each component; atmospheric water 100s kms/day; stream water travels only a few tens of kilometers/day; water in glaciers crawls cm-meters/day; underground water-meters or less/year. MRT (Mean Residence Time) amount of time an average water molecule spends within any one reservoir before moving to another reservoir. Atmospheric water ~ 10 days. Oceans Shallow water few days to weeks Deepwater - 100s -1000s years Oceans- >3000years Ground water - 10,000 years (Shallow aquifers 1-5 years; Deep aquifers 10,000 100,000 years).

Biological Management of water: 1. Water is needed for life on earth and life is also needed for storing water on land. This is natural water harvesting by lower forms of life for all higher forms of life on land. 2. Plants take the soil water for photosynthesis to fix the shortwave radiation of the sun, and atmospheric CO2, factors reducing the greenhouse effect and therefore the surface temperature. 3. Plant transpiration also takes a large quantity of soil water and evaporates into the atmosphere to keep the leaves cool. 4. Plants bring pumped water back to the ground by changing the climate and inducing precipitation locally. 5. This processes has been operating on land since plant life appeared on land (~450 Ma) to make and sustain an integrated soil, water and life system. 6. Managing the lower forms of life (microbes and plants) on lands simultaneously manage land, soil, groundwater (and therefore river) and even climate and biodiversity, because of their strong symbiosis. 7. This is biological management of landwater resources. This requires increasing the forest cover everywhere in the landscape, especially in river catchments, floodplains and deltas.