45. How salty are the oceans? Which is the saltiest? 



Salinity in the open ocean normally ranges from 3.3 to 3.7%. Ocean- 

 ographers express salinity in parts per thousand; the symbol for parts 

 per thousand is 7oo. The average is about 35 %o. The saltiest ocean is 

 the Atlantic, with 37.5 7oo in the northern subtropical region. The 

 Pacific is less salty than the Atlantic because it is affected less by dry 

 winds and resulting high evaporation rates. In the deeper waters of the 

 Pacific, the salinity ranges from 34.6 7oo to 34.7 7oo. The Arctic and 

 Antarctic waters are the least salty. 



Some areas in the world have abnormally high salinities; for example, 

 the Red Sea and Persian Gulf have salinities exceeding 42 7oo. The 

 "hot, salty hole" in the Red Sea has salinities exceeding 270 7oo (close 

 to saturation) at depths below 2,000 meters. 



Very low salinities occur where large quantities of fresh water are 

 supplied by rivers or melting ice. Salinity in the Baltic is 2 7oo-7 7oo and 

 in the Black Sea about 18 7oo. 



Deacon, G. E. R (Ed.) 



Seas, Maps, and Men, Doubleday and Company, 1962. 

 King, Cuchlaine A. M. 



Oceanography for Geographers, Edward Arnold Ltd. (London), 1962. 

 Dubach, Harold W. 



A Summary of Temperature-Salinity Characteristics in the Persian 



Gulf, Publication G-4, National Oceanographic Data Center, 1964. 



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