solubility of gases (1 Viewer)

[Marina89]

I realise that the solubility of gases increases with ocean depth due to increased pressure and decreased temperature, but what about at the light zone and in between?

 

[mitochondria]

I realise that the solubility of gases increases with ocean depth due to increased pressure and decreased temperature, but what about at the light zone and in between?

I think you have answered the question there yourself. Suppose temperature and pressure are the only factors that we care about in terms of gas solubility:

• Temperature variation with depth is mainly due absorption of the energy from sunlight, and this decreases with increasing depth.
• Pressure clearly increases with increasing depth!

So therefore you would expect a monotonic increase of gas solubility with increasing ocean depth.


Hope that helps!



P.S. Now, what they don't want you to know (they probably don't want you to think at all) is that the ocean is dynamic and that when you consider solubility the type of gas is also relevant as they vary in their thermodynamical behaviuors. The ecology (as well as dynamics) at different depths may also cause an unexpected shift in equilibrium. So, basically another poorly written point in the HSC syllabus simply due to the fact that they are trying to make it more "friendly" and "relevant".

 

[fullonoob]

In the light zone, there is enough light for photosynthesis to take place, so many plants and other photosynthetic organisms live in this zone and food is abundant. Photosynthesis is a process in which sunlight and carbon dioxide gas are converted into food (chemical energy contained in carbohydrates) and oxygen gas. gases are progressively soluble with depth