Quantum Oceanography - 10

Fig. 1 Antarctica Sectors / Areas

In this series we are considering basic photon physics, and exploring it as it applies to the Oceanography that has not yet advanced into Quantum Oceanography:

"In physics, absorption of electromagnetic radiation is how matter (typically electrons bound in atoms) takes up a photon's energy — and so transforms electromagnetic energy into internal energy of the absorber (for example, thermal energy)".

(Wikipedia photon absorption, cf. Beer-Lambert law). Things will move along once researchers grasp the ghost photons and ghost plumes that heretofore, in grandfather's oceanography (for the most-part) evaded discovery (The Ghost Plumes, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15; The Ghost Photons, 2, 3).

The oceans vary in quantity and type of quanta of their seawater, but for the most part (other than H₂O), here is what they are made of:

The six most abundant ions of seawater are chloride (Cl⁻), sodium (Na⁺), sulfate (SO²₄⁻), magnesium (Mg²⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺), and potassium (K⁺). By weight these ions make up about 99 percent of all sea salts. The amount of these salts in a volume of seawater varies because of the addition or removal of water locally (e.g., through precipitation and evaporation). The salt content in seawater is indicated by salinity (S), which is defined as the amount of salt in grams dissolved in one kilogram of seawater and expressed in parts per thousand. Salinities in the open ocean have been observed to range from about 34 to 37 parts per thousand (0/00 or ppt), which may also be expressed as 34 to 37 practical salinity units (psu).

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Chlorine (Cl), chemical element, the second lightest member of the halogen elements, or Group 17 (Group VIIa) of the periodic table. Chlorine is a toxic, corrosive, greenish yellow gas that is irritating to the eyes and to the respiratory system.

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sodium (Na), chemical element of the alkali metal group (Group 1 [Ia]) of the periodic table. Sodium is a very soft silvery-white metal. Sodium is the most common alkali metal and the sixth most abundant element on Earth, comprising 2.8 percent of Earth’s crust. It occurs abundantly in nature in compounds, especially common salt—sodium chloride (NaCl)—which forms the mineral halite and constitutes about 80 percent of the dissolved constituents of seawater. [emphasis added]

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Sulfate, also spelled Sulphate, any of numerous chemical compounds related to sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄. One group of these derivatives is composed of salts containing the sulfate ion, SO₄^2-, and positively charged ions such as those of sodium, magnesium, or ammonium; a second group is composed of esters, in which the hydrogen atoms of sulfuric acid have been replaced by carbon-containing combining groups such as methyl (CH₃) or ethyl (C₂H₅).

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Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray solid which bears a close physical resemblance to the other five elements in the second column (group 2, or alkaline earth metals) of the periodic table: all group 2 elements have the same electron configuration in the outer electron shell and a similar crystal structure.

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Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust, and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium. The most common calcium compound on Earth is calcium carbonate, found in limestone and the fossilised remnants of early sea life; gypsum, anhydrite, fluorite, and apatite are also sources of calcium. The name derives from Latin calx "lime", which was obtained from heating limestone.

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Potassium is a chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin kalium) and atomic number 19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force.^[5] Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to form flaky white potassium peroxide in only seconds of exposure. It was first isolated from potash, the ashes of plants, from which its name derives. In the periodic table, potassium is one of the alkali metals, all of which have a single valence electron in the outer electron shell, that is easily removed to create an ion with a positive charge – a cation, that combines with anions to form salts. Potassium in nature occurs only in ionic salts. Elemental potassium reacts vigorously with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite hydrogen emitted in the reaction, and burning with a lilac-colored flame. It is found dissolved in sea water (which is 0.04% potassium by weight^[6][7]), and occurs in many minerals such as orthoclase, a common constituent of granites and other igneous rocks.^[8]

(Seawater, Britannica). This raises the question, do the 'salinity' elements in seawater emit the infrared photons that melt glacial ice, or do the H₂O molecules in seawater do it alone?

Fig. 2 'Heat' is infrared photons

Today's graphs are in appendices: Sector A, Sector B, Sector C, Sector D, Sector E, and Sector F (they may help answer the question).

These graphs concern different areas of Antarctica's glacial grounding lines (Fig. 1, Antarctica 2.0 - 11).

They indicate 'maybe both' (i.e. both the h₂o molecules and the other 'salinity' molecules in seawater may all emit infrared photons which enter the glacial ice's h₂o molecules and cause a heat increase until melting takes place, Fig. 2).

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.