Salinity

Salinity (/səˈlɪnɪti/) is the saltiness or amount of salt

dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see
also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg
(grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is
dimensionless and equal to ‰).

Salinity is an important factor in determining many

aspects of the chemistry
of natural waters and of
biological processes within it, and is a thermodynamic
state variable that, along with temperature and pressure,
governs physical characteristics like the density and heat
capacity of the water. Annual mean sea surface salinity for the World
Ocean. Data from the World Ocean Atlas 2009.[1]
A contour line of constant salinity is called an isohaline,
or sometimes isohale.

Contents
Definitions
Composition
Seawater
Lakes and rivers
Classification of water bodies based upon salinity
Environmental considerations
See also
References
International Association for
Further reading the Physical Sciences of
the Oceans (IAPSO)
standard seawater.
Definitions
Salinity in rivers, lakes, and the ocean is conceptually simple, but technically challenging to define and
measure precisely. Conceptually the salinity is the quantity of dissolved salt content of the water. Salts are
compounds like sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and sodium bicarbonate which
dissolve into ions. The concentration of dissolved chloride ions is sometimes referred to as chlorinity.
Operationally, dissolved matter is defined as that which can pass through a very fine filter (historically a
filter with a pore size of 0.45 μm, but nowadays usually 0.2 μm).[2] Salinity can be expressed in the form of
a mass fraction, i.e. the mass of the dissolved material in a unit mass of solution.

Seawater typically has a mass salinity of around 35  g/kg, although lower values are typical near coasts
where rivers enter the ocean. Rivers and lakes can have a wide range of salinities, from less than
0.01 g/kg[3] to a few g/kg, although there are many places where higher salinities are found. The Dead Sea
has a salinity of more than 200  g/kg.[4] Rainwater before touching the ground typically has a TDS of
20 mg/Kg or less.[5]

Whatever pore size is used in the definition, the resulting salinity value of a given sample of natural water
will not vary by more than a few percent (%). Physical oceanographers working in the abyssal ocean,
however, are often concerned with precision and intercomparability of measurements by different
researchers, at different times, to almost five significant digits.[6] A bottled seawater product known as
IAPSO Standard Seawater is used by oceanographers to standardize their measurements with enough
precision to meet this requirement.

Composition

Measurement and definition difficulties arise because natural waters contain a complex mixture of many
different elements from different sources (not all from dissolved salts) in different molecular forms. The
chemical properties of some of these forms depend on temperature and pressure. Many of these forms are
difficult to measure with high accuracy, and in any case complete chemical analysis is not practical when
analyzing multiple samples. Different practical definitions of salinity result from different attempts to
account for these problems, to different levels of precision, while still remaining reasonably easy to use.

For practical reasons salinity is usually related to the sum of masses of a subset of these dissolved chemical
constituents (so-called solution salinity), rather than to the unknown mass of salts that gave rise to this
composition (an exception is when artificial seawater is created). For many purposes this sum can be
limited to a set of eight major ions in natural waters,[7][8] although for seawater at highest precision an
additional seven minor ions are also included.[6] The major ions dominate the inorganic composition of
most (but by no means all) natural waters. Exceptions include some pit lakes and waters from some
hydrothermal springs.

The concentrations of dissolved gases like oxygen and nitrogen are not usually included in descriptions of
salinity.[2] However, carbon dioxide gas, which when dissolved is partially converted into carbonates and
bicarbonates, is often included. Silicon in the form of silicic acid, which usually appears as a neutral
molecule in the pH range of most natural waters, may also be included for some purposes (e.g., when
salinity/density relationships are being investigated).

Seawater

The term 'salinity' is, for oceanographers, usually associated with one of a set of specific measurement
techniques. As the dominant techniques evolve, so do different descriptions of salinity. Salinities were
largely measured using titration-based techniques before the 1980s. Titration with silver nitrate could be
used to determine the concentration of halide ions (mainly chlorine and bromine) to give a chlorinity. The
chlorinity was then multiplied by a factor to account for all other constituents. The resulting 'Knudsen
salinities' are expressed in units of parts per thousand (ppt or ‰).

The use of electrical conductivity measurements to estimate the ionic content of seawater led to the
development of the scale called the practical salinity scale 1978 (PSS-78).[9][10] Salinities measured using
PSS-78 do not have units. The suffix psu or PSU (denoting practical salinity unit) is sometimes added to
PSS-78 measurement values.[11] The addition of PSU as a unit after the value is "formally incorrect and
strongly discouraged".[2]
In 2010 a new standard for the properties of seawater
called the thermodynamic equation of seawater 2010
(TEOS-10) was introduced, advocating absolute
salinity as a replacement for practical salinity, and
conservative temperature as a replacement for potential
temperature.[6] This standard includes a new scale 0:00
called the reference composition salinity scale.
Absolute salinities on this scale are expressed as a
mass fraction, in grams per kilogram of solution. Full 3 minute NASA video Feb 27,2013
(https://www.yout
Salinities on this scale are determined by combining
ube.com/watch?v=5xQP_B18vMw) The NASA
electrical conductivity measurements with other
Aquarius instrument aboard Argentina's SAC-D
information that can account for regional changes in
satellite is designed to measure global sea surface
the composition of seawater. They can also be
salinity. This movie shows salinity patterns as
determined by making direct density measurements. measured by Aquarius from December 2011
through December 2012. Red colors represent
A sample of seawater from most locations with a
areas of high salinity, while blue shades represent
chlorinity of 19.37 ppt will have a Knudsen salinity of
areas of low salinity.
35.00  ppt, a PSS-78 practical salinity of about 35.0,
and a TEOS-10 absolute salinity of about 35.2  g/kg.
The electrical conductivity of this water at a temperature of 15 °C is 42.9 mS/cm.[6][12]

On the global scale, it is extremely likely that human-caused climate change has contributed to observed
surface and subsurface salinity changes since the 1950s, and projections of surface salinity changes
throughout the 21st century indicate that fresh ocean regions will continue to get fresher and salty regions
will continue to get saltier.[13]

Lakes and rivers

Limnologists and chemists often define salinity in terms of mass of salt per unit volume, expressed in units
of mg per litre or g per litre.[7] It is implied, although often not stated, that this value applies accurately only
at some reference temperature. Values presented in this way are typically accurate to the order of 1%.
Limnologists also use electrical conductivity, or "reference conductivity", as a proxy for salinity. This
measurement may be corrected for temperature effects, and is usually expressed in units of μS/cm.

A river or lake water with a salinity of around 70 mg/L will typically have a specific conductivity at 25 °C
of between 80 and 130 μS/cm. The actual ratio depends on the ions present.[14] The actual conductivity
usually changes by about 2% per degree Celsius, so the measured conductivity at 5 °C might only be in the
range of 50–80 μS/cm.

Direct density measurements are also used to estimate salinities, particularly in highly saline lakes.[4]
Sometimes density at a specific temperature is used as a proxy for salinity. At other times an empirical
salinity/density relationship developed for a particular body of water is used to estimate the salinity of
samples from a measured density.

Water salinity
Fresh water Brackish water Saline water Brine
< 0.05% 0.05 – 3% 3 – 5% > 5%
< 0.5 ‰ 0.5 – 30 ‰ 30 – 50 ‰ > 50 ‰

Classification of water bodies based upon salinity

Marine waters are those of the ocean, another term for which is euhaline seas. The Thalassic series
salinity of euhaline seas is 30 to 35 ‰. Brackish seas or waters have salinity in the > 300 ‰
range of 0.5 to 29 ‰ and metahaline seas from 36 to 40 ‰. These waters are all hyperhaline
regarded as thalassic because their salinity is derived from the ocean and defined 60–80 ‰
as homoiohaline if salinity does not vary much over time (essentially constant).
metahaline
The table on the right, modified from Por (1972),[15][16] follows the "Venice
system" (1959).[17] 40 ‰
mixoeuhaline
In contrast to homoiohaline environments are certain poikilohaline environments 30 ‰
(which may also be thalassic) in which the salinity variation is biologically polyhaline
significant.[18] Poikilohaline water salinities may range anywhere from 0.5 to 18 ‰
greater than 300 ‰. The important characteristic is that these waters tend to vary
mesohaline
in salinity over some biologically meaningful range seasonally or on some other
roughly comparable time scale. Put simply, these are bodies of water with quite 5‰
variable salinity. oligohaline
0.5 ‰
Highly saline water, from which salts crystallize (or are about to), is referred to as
brine.

Environmental considerations
Salinity is an ecological factor of considerable importance, influencing the types of organisms that live in a
body of water. As well, salinity influences the kinds of plants that will grow either in a water body, or on
land fed by a water (or by a groundwater).[19] A plant adapted to saline conditions is called a halophyte. A
halophyte which is tolerant to residual sodium carbonate salinity are called glasswort or saltwort or barilla
plants. Organisms (mostly bacteria) that can live in very salty conditions are classified as extremophiles, or
halophiles specifically. An organism that can withstand a wide range of salinities is euryhaline.

Salt is expensive to remove from water, and salt content is an important factor in water use (such as
potability). Increases in salinity have been observed in lakes and rivers in the United States, due to common
road salt and other salt de-icers in runoff.[20]

The degree of salinity in oceans is a driver of the world's ocean circulation, where density changes due to
both salinity changes and temperature changes at the surface of the ocean produce changes in buoyancy,
which cause the sinking and rising of water masses. Changes in the salinity of the oceans are thought to
contribute to global changes in carbon dioxide as more saline waters are less soluble to carbon dioxide. In
addition, during glacial periods, the hydrography is such that a possible cause of reduced circulation is the
production of stratified oceans. In such cases, it is more difficult to subduct water through the thermohaline
circulation.

Not only is salinity a driver of ocean circulation, but changes in ocean circulation also affect salinity,
particularly in the subpolar North Atlantic where from 1990 to 2010 increased contributions of Greenland
meltwater were counteracted by increased northward transport of salty Atlantic waters.[13][21][22][23]
However, North Atlantic waters have become fresher since the mid-2010s due to increased Greenland
meltwater flux.[13][24]

See also
Desalination for economic purposes
Desalination of water
 Desalination of soil: soil salinity control
Sodium adsorption ratio
Measuring salinity
Salinometer
Salinity by biologic context
In organisms generally, with particular emphasis on human health
Electrolytes
Fluid balance
Hypernatremia
Hyponatremia
Salt poisoning
In plants
Arabidopsis thaliana responses to salinity
In fish
Stenohaline fish
Euryhaline fish
Salinity by geologic context
Fresh water
Seawater
Soil salinity
Thermohaline circulation
Paleosalinity
CORA dataset data on salinity of global oceans
General cases of solute concentration
Osmotic concentration
Tonicity

References
1. World Ocean Atlas 2009 (http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOA09/pr_woa09.html).
nodc.noaa.gov
2. Pawlowicz, R. (2013). "Key Physical Variables in the Ocean: Temperature, Salinity, and
Density" (http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/key-physical-variables-in-the-oc
ean-temperature-102805293). Nature Education Knowledge. 4 (4): 13.
3. Eilers, J. M.; Sullivan, T. J.; Hurley, K. C. (1990). "The most dilute lake in the world?".
Hydrobiologia. 199: 1–6. doi:10.1007/BF00007827 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF0000782
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4. Anati, D. A. (1999). "The salinity of hypersaline brines: concepts and misconceptions". Int. J.
Salt Lake. Res. 8: 55–70. doi:10.1007/bf02442137 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fbf02442137).
5. "Learn about salinity and water quality" (http://www.salinitymanagement.org/Salinity%20Ma
nagement%20Guide/ls/ls_3d.html). Retrieved 21 July 2018.
 6. IOC, SCOR, and IAPSO (2010). The international thermodynamic equation of seawater –
2010: Calculation and use of thermodynamic properties (http://www.TEOS-10.org).
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, UNESCO (English). pp. 196pp.
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Equation of Seawater 2010 (TEOS-10)". Limnology and Oceanography: Methods. 10 (11):
853–867. doi:10.4319/lom.2012.10.853 (https://doi.org/10.4319%2Flom.2012.10.853).
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Seawater 1980. Tech. Pap. Mar. Sci., 36
10. Unesco (1981). Background papers and supporting data on the Practical Salinity Scale
1978 (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000479/047932eb.pdf). Tech. Pap. Mar. Sci.,
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11. Millero, F. J. (1993). "What is PSU?". Oceanography. 6 (3): 67.
12. Culkin, F.; Smith, N. D. (1980). "Determination of the Concentration of Potassium Chloride
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0373210). S2CID 86601297 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:86601297).
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19. Kalcic, Maria, Turowski, Mark; Hall, Callie (2010-12-22). "Stennis Space Center Salinity
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a.gov/search.jsp?R=20110008620). Stennis Space Center Salinity Drifter Project. NTRS.
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20. "Hopes To Hold The Salt, And Instead Break Out Beet Juice And Beer To Keep Roads
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21. Dukhovskoy, D.S.; Myers, P.G.; Platov, G.; Timmermans, M.L.; Curry, B.; Proshutinsky, A.;
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Further reading
Mantyla, A.W. (1987). "Standard Seawater Comparisons updated" (https://doi.org/10.1175%
2F1520-0485%281987%29017%3C0543%3Asscu%3E2.0.co%3B2). J. Phys. Oceanogr. 17
(4): 543–548. Bibcode:1987JPO....17..543M (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1987JPO....1
7..543M). doi:10.1175/1520-0485(1987)017<0543:sscu>2.0.co;2 (https://doi.org/10.1175%2
F1520-0485%281987%29017%3C0543%3Asscu%3E2.0.co%3B2).
MIT page of seawater properties, with Matlab, EES and Excel VBA library routines (http://we
b.mit.edu/seawater/)
Equations and algorithms to calculate fundamental properties of sea water. (http://www.code
10.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=54&Itemid=79)
History of the salinity determination (http://salinometry.com/early-determination-of-salinity-fro
m-ancient-concepts-to-challenger-results)
Practical Salinity Scale 1978. (http://www.salinometry.com/pss-78)
Salinity calculator (http://salinometry.com/ctd-salinity-calculator/)
Lewis, E. L. 1982. The practical salinity scale of 1978 and its antecedents. Marine Geodesy.
5(4):350–357. (https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15210608209379432)
Equations and algorithms to calculate salinity of inland waters (http://www.eos.ubc.ca/~rich/#
LIM)

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