Re: Density of water.

[Rick Tarara <rtarara@SAINTMARYS.EDU>]

I'm talking about fresh water lakes--even the Great Lakes--, ponds, etc.  It
would require very extreme temperatures to cool the entire Oceans down below
their freezing point--more difficult because of the geothermal heating.
That's why life itself would not be endangered--just fresh-water temperate
and artic aquatic life.  However, since water _does_ reach its minimum
density at around 4C, there isn't much point to the speculation.

Rick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Britton" <britton@NCSSM.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: Density of water.


> but what about the substantial geothermal energy.
> I suspect that it is QUITE enough to keep things 'stirred up' and not
> totally freezing.
> Perhaps have NO ocean ice at ALL!
>
>
>
> At  8:06 AM -0500  on  12/3/01,  Rick Tarara   wrote
> > But once the whole body of water has cooled and mixed to a nice uniform
0.1
> > degree C and then cools a little more----one big ice cube!  Somewhat
> > devastating to temperate (and artic) zone aquatic life and therefore to
the
> > diversity of aquatic life, but unless one can cite evidence of sustained
sub
> > zero global temperatures during the past 2 billion years, then life
itself
> > is not necessarily threatened.
> >
> > Rick
> >
> > **********************************************
> > Richard W. Tarara
> > Professor of Physics
> > Saint Mary's College
> > Notre Dame, IN 46556
> > rtarara@saintmarys.edu
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> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Brian Whatcott" <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>
> > To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
> > Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2001 9:18 PM
> > Subject: Re: Density of water.
> >
> >
> > >  At 12:25 PM 12/2/01, Jim Green wrote:
> > >  >At 23:51 01 12 2001 , Bernard C wrote:
> > >  > >Right, Hewitt plots (ordinate) the volume of one gram of water
instead
> > >  > of the
> > >  > >inverse.  No matter, he's plotting water not ice.  Ice (normal near
> > zero C
> > >  > >[ice I]) 917 kg / m^3 or sg ~ .92  Water @ 100 C is 1.04 mL / g or
sg
> > >  > 0.96 So
> > >  > >ice floats as per your experience (and mine).
> > >  >
> > >  >Bernard, you seem  to be missing the essential point -- the fact
> > >  >that  makes life possible!  Water at freezing is less dense than
water at
> > >  >4C therefore water freezes on the _surface_ of the body of water.
> > >  >
> > >  >Jim Green
> > >  >mailto:JMGreen@sisna.com
> > >  >http://users.sisna.com/jmgreen
> > >
> > >
> > >  This gee whiz item is a favorite of the divine design folks.
> > >
> > >  If water density uniformly decreased above freezing point,
> > >  it would cool at the surface of cooler air as usual  - and becoming
denser
> > >  when cooler then sink, until it reached it reached its density level.
> > >    Relatively warmer water at the bottom would rise, and so I suppose,
> > >  there might be a vigorous circulation while a temperature gradient
exists.
> > >  And quite possibly on significant bodies of water, there would always
be a
> > >  gradient, and a circulation, so that icing would be postponed perhaps
> > >  banished from significant bodies of water....
> > >
> > >  This does not seem specially lethal to life, when I consider the life
that
> > >  thrives
> > >  in sulphide springs at great depths.
> > >
> > >
> > >  Brian Whatcott
> > >     Altus OK                      Eureka!
>
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