Question

The oceans are salty, cold, dark, teeming with noisy life forms and are in constant motion. Explain these characteristics (cold, dark, teeming with life, in constant motion) by selecting items (as many that are applicable) from the list below. Which of the elements below explain why the ocean is cold? dark? Explain each.

a.Water is a highly mobile liquid

b.Water is a good solvet

c.Water is a not a good conductor of heat

d.Water has a high specific heat (high heat capacity)

e.Water has high latent heats of fusion and vaporization

f.Pure waterfreezes at 0 ̊Cg

.Pure water boils at 100 ̊Ch

.The maximum density of freshwater is at approximately 4 ̊C; seawater reaches its maximum density at its freezing point (-1.2 ̊C)

i.Light can travel only a few hundred meters through water

j.Sound can travel thousands of kilometers through water

k.Water is essential to life.

Answer 1

There are a lot of missing factors (the question is still nice)

Firstly, it depends on which ocean is talked about and where are we measuring it. Oceans are huge. At what depth are we measuring this?

Second, cold is a relative term.

Third , at what time of the day is the measurement done?

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1) COLD

Assume: measurement at surface of ocean, during noon time.

It is cold because water has high specific heat. It requires a lot of sunlight over a long time to give it sufficient energy to heat up. The sand on the beaches on the other hand have lesser heat capacity and turn hot very fast. Compared to this sand,the ocean is cold.

2)DARK

Ocean is dark: assume a depth of 100 m

Light diffuses in water. The ocean is not pure H2O . It has salts and lot of organic matter. Light gets scattered. Light can thus travel less distances through water.

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3)TEEMING WITH NOISY LIFE

Sound can travel a good distance in water

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4) IN CONSTANT MOTION

Perhaps this is a description of the currents inside an ocean.

This arises because of temperature gradients.

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