Chemical composition of seawater and the variation of calcium and alkalinity

Abstract

The major constituents in seawater have been recently determined in a series of samples from the main oceans and seas. According to a resolution of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), new atomic weights based on 12C = 12·0000 are in use since I.Jan. 1962. On the basis of these two developments, an independent table for the ionic composition of seawater is calculated. The Wattenberg equation for the estimation of calcium in seawater is corrected according to the recent values of calcium/chlorinity ratio and specific alkalinity. The variation of calcium and alkalinity with depth is evaluated and their effect on the salinity values obtained either by chlorinity or conductivity is estimated. © Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer.