Question :- Why doesn't the ocean freeze? 

Question

Job Akshay[T] · Accepted Answer

Answer :- Ocean water does really remain liquid under considerably colder conditions than one might initially assume, even if the oceans do freeze when the temperature drops low enough. If you travel to the beach in the winter, for instance, you might be shocked to see that the water there is still liquid despite the snow and ice being frozen on the ground. According to Wingott&Laposata, there are following key reasons why the water remains liquid for a longer period of time than one may anticipate.

Reason 1

Ocean water's freezing point is lowered from 0° C to -2° C by the high concentration of salt in the water. Therefore, the ambient temperature must be lower than it must be for freshwater lakes to freeze in order to cause the ocean to ice. We sprinkle salt on snowy sidewalks in the winter for the same reason—the freezing-point depression effect. The salt causes the ice to melt by lowering the freezing point below the surrounding temperature. The ocean water would turn to ice if this impact were the only one at play if the outside temperature is below -2° C. This is not the case, so there must be further impacts.

Reason 2

Ocean currents are the result of the interaction between the earth's rotation, the moon's gravitational attraction, and thermal convection. The water molecules in the ocean are constantly moving, which prevents them from becoming somewhat fixed ice crystals. More importantly, warm water is constantly being pumped from the equatorial areas to the colder ocean regions by the ocean currents.

Reason 3

More heat must be removed from water to cause it to freeze as its volume increases. Long before a gallon jug of water, a teaspoon of water placed in the freezer will solidify entirely. The rate of heat loss and, thus, the speed of freezing are, more precisely, determined by the surface-area to volume ratio for a given external temperature. A shallow pool with a big surface area will freeze more quickly than a deep lake because the heat must be dissipated through it. Because of the enormous size and depth of the oceans, they don't freeze out too rapidly, which allows the heating processes to work more effectively.

Reason 4

The molten elements in the earth's mantle are the main source of heat that the earth generates internally. When lava flows and hot springs break through the surface, the earth's interior heat is most obvious. The majority of the earth's internal heat escapes into the oceans because the insulating crust beneath the oceans is significantly thinner than beneath the continents. A deep ocean's water temperature is substantially warmer due to internal heating even though the air at the ocean's surface may be below freezing.

These all major factors are together responsible for non- freezing of ocean.

Question :- Why doesn't the ocean freeze?

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