1. You can find high salinity waters in areas where there is strong wind and scarce rain as it happens in the North and South Atlantic Oceans. This kind of climate causes lots of evaporation. As a result, ocean water vapour raises into the atmosphere, leaving salt behind. Therefore, water salinity increases.
2. In order to understand how the Cloriolis Effect impacts on oceans, one must understand what is such effect in the first place. The Cloriolis Effect is the name given to the process by which the global winds deflect toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, resulting in curved paths.
Earth's winds blow on the water's surface, producing motion and building the water up in the direction that the wind is blowing. Consequently, the Cloriolis effect results in the deflection of major surface ocean currents to the right in the Northern Hemisphere (in a clockwise spiral) and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere (in a counter-clockwise spiral).
3. Characteristics of ocean waters in polar regions:
- Ice exists primarily in the form of either icebergs or sea-ice.
- Artic Water Masses: There are three differents marine water masses located within the Artic Ocean: The Artic Surface Water (0-200 meters); The Atlantic Water (200-900 meters); and the Artic Deep Water (900 meters - seafloor). In turn, the Artic Surface Water is divided into three layers: the surface, the subsurface and the lower surface layers. Each of them has a different salinity level and temperature.
- Polynyas: These are large areas of open water surrounded by sea-ice. Polynias are produced by either the removal of sea ice or by the prohibition of sea-ice formation. They also play a key role in the marine ecosystem by triggering early phytoplankton production. Furthermore, polynyas function as wintering grounds for marine mammals.
4. Spring and Neap Tides are terms related to the moon phases and how they impact on tides depending on whether there is full or new moon.
A spring tide alludes to the "springing forth" of the tide during new and full moon. In such cases, the gravitational pull of the sun is "added" to the gravitational pull of the moon on Earth, making the oceans to rise more than usual.
A neap tide, which takes place seven days after spring tide, alludes to a period of moderate tides when the sun and the moon are at right angles to each other.
5. Color changes with depth in the ocean as light gets absorbed by water, and the more water light passes through, the more it gets absorbed.
