Salinity

Salinity is the saltiness or amount of <a href="/facts/Salt_(chemistry)/lsSKwGpn">salt</a> dissolved in a body of <a href="/facts/Water/0lkXnJPK">water</a>, called <a href="/facts/Saline_water/Tgw5AgL8">saline water</a> (see also <a href="/facts/Soil_salinity/P6bXhlLE">soil salinity</a>). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal to <a href="/facts/Per_mille/3xNDvE9l">‰</a>). 
Salinity is an important factor in determining many aspects of the <a href="/facts/Chemistry/SrNqkGVm">chemistry</a> of natural waters and of <a href="/facts/Biological/1M1ee3pB">biological</a> processes within it, and is a <a href="/facts/State_function/JThJasbq">thermodynamic state variable</a> that, along with <a href="/facts/Temperature/QyGe4gmj">temperature</a> and <a href="/facts/Pressure/eyc37GRG">pressure</a>, governs physical characteristics like the <a href="/facts/Density/92p6hh9I">density</a> and <a href="/facts/Heat_capacity/I63nzSyp">heat capacity</a> of the water.
A <a href="/facts/Contour_line/35Qten5r">contour line</a> of constant salinity is called an isohaline, or sometimes isohale.

Salinity open-in-new

Salinity