The Ocean Has Layers of Saltiness
by Anonymous · ⭐ 1 · 🍴 0
💧 If Earth’s water were split into 10,000 parts, the ocean would take 9,720. Spread out the rest, and most is frozen in glaciers; rivers and lakes we can scoop up and use make up just 10 parts. 🌡️ The ocean is layered, too. Sunlight warms the surface, while wind mixes the water and thickens the mixed layer. The fun part? These are independent—you can thicken only the mixed layer without changing the surface temperature. 🧂 Last comes salinity. Evaporation makes water saltier, while rain freshens it—but try making an ocean get saltier even as river water flows in. No matter how salinity changes, the ratios between dissolved salts stay the same. Tap to discover why. This app was made with code, too · Remix it to add ocean currents!.
Ready to remix — hit the 🍴 Remix button below. You'll sign up first, then this app is copied into your workspace.
About this app
The Sea Is Salty in Layers is an interactive middle school science app about Earth’s water, ocean layering, and salinity. Explore a 10,000-square representation of global water, adjust sunlight and wind to see how surface temperature and the mixed layer change, and model how evaporation, rain, and river inflow affect salinity. The app also illustrates that the relative proportions of dissolved salts remain constant as salinity changes.
Use cases
- Middle school students studying the hydrosphere and seawater
- Teachers introducing global water distribution
- Learners exploring ocean temperature layers and mixing
- Students investigating evaporation, rainfall, river inflow, and salinity
- Families looking for a guided ocean science activity
Features
- Compares seawater, glaciers, groundwater, and rivers and lakes using a 10,000-square model
- Provides interactive challenges about water distribution and immediately usable freshwater
- Adjusts sunlight and wind levels to visualize surface temperature and mixed-layer thickness
- Displays mixed layer, thermocline, and deep layer information with depths and temperature differences
- Simulates salinity changes from evaporation, rain, and river water
- Shows sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, and other salts as a constant composition bar