2. Give reasons.
(a) Salinity is low in the land-locked Baltic Sea.
Answer:
The Baltic Sea lies in the temperate region.
In temperate regions, the sunrays are slanting and therefore, the temperatures are lower.
The supply of fresh water is also more, as numerous rivers empty their waters into the Baltic sea.
Therefore, in spite of being landlocked, due to low rate of evaporation and ample supply of fresh water,
the salinity of the Baltic Sea is low.
(b) There is higher salinity in the northern Red Sea while lower in the southern.
Answer:
The Red Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, owing to high evaporation.
The salinity is 36%o in the southern part because of the effect of the Gulf of Aden.
It reaches 41 %o in the northern part, owing mainly to the Gulf of Suez and the high evaporation as well
as very little precipitation.
Hence, there is more salinity in the northern Red Sea while lesser in the south.
(c) Oceans located at the same latitude do not have same salinity.
Answer:
The salinity of the oceans depends on factors like rate of evaporation and supply of fresh water.
In Oceans where rate of evaporation is more than the supply of fresh water, the salinity is higher.
In Oceans where supply of freshwater exceeds the rate of evaporation, salinity is low.
Salinity is not affected much in areas where supply of freshwater and the evaporation of water is low.
Thus, oceans located on the same latitude do not have the same salinity.
(d) With increasing depth, the temperature of sea water decreases to a certain limit.
Answer:
With increasing depth, the temperature of sea water decreases to a certain limit because –
While most of the sunrays radiate back from the surface of the sea, some of them penetrate to certain
depths in the water.
As a result, the intensity of sunrays decreases with the increasing depth.
The temperature decreases up to 2000m depth.
After 2000m, the temperature of the seawater is uniform everywhere.
Maharashtra Board Class 9 Geography Solutions Chapter 6 Properties of Sea Water
(e) There are more salt-pans on the Western coast of India than its eastern coast.
Answer:
The Arabian Sea lies lying to the west and Bay of Bengal lies to the east of India.
Many large peninsular rivers drain their waters in the Bay of Bengal and on the contrary, only small
seasonal coastal rivers drain in the Arabian Sea.
Hence, the salinity of the eastern coast is 34%, while it is 35% in the Arabian Sea.
Thus, there are more salt-pans on the Western coast of India than its Eastern coast.
(f) Salinity increases in the mid-latitudinal zones.
Answer:
Mid-latitudinal zones lies between 25° to 35° north and south of the equator.
In this zone, the rainfall is less and the supply of fresh water from rivers is also low.
This region experiences high-temperature conditions which are marked by the presence of hot deserts of
the world. These high-temperature conditions lead to a high rate of evaporation.
Thus, the salinity of the seas is found to be higher in mid-latitudinal zones.