Air and sea gas exchange in coastal zones - Research Paper Example

There are inherent challenges in obtaining homogeneous data for coastal waters making the data available to be fully conclusive since it is difficult to accurately quantify the gas transfer velocity as, it is influenced by a wide range of environmental variables, most of which are strongly interlinked. Formal mathematical descriptions are being developed but they are not yet definitive. Gases are present in our atmosphere as well as in oceans. These gases get mixed with one another as an exchange takes place between the two mediums regarding the gases present in them.

Our atmosphere contains a number of gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and many other gases (Tokoro, et al 2007). Likewise, the oceans also contain a number of different gases that get emitted into the air. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that is naturally created as well as fabricated because of man’s effort enters the seawaters and the oceans pay no hindrance in accepting the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (Tokoro, et al 2007). Just as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere enters the water of the oceans, similarly, the gases from oceans such as methyl iodide and dimethyl sulphide enter the atmosphere and affects the earth’s atmosphere (Tokoro, et al 2007).

There are many factors that affect the exchange the gases between seawater and atmosphere such as wind speed and temperature (ABE, et al 2010). Speed and temperature play a crucial role in affecting the exchange of gases as it is due to these factors that the process of gas exchange between seawater and air gets started and even gets faster or lower. Coastal zones are important sites to notice the exchange of gases between atmosphere and seawater. A descriptive account of air and sea gas exchange in the coastal zones can be found in this paper, as the purpose of this paper is to inform about this exchange.

Chemical oceanography encompasses both inorganic and organic chemistry and it involves the