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Properties of the seawater‐air interface. Dynamic surface tension studies 1
Author(s) -
Dragcevic Dj.,
Vukovic M.,
Cukman D.,
Pravdic V.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1979.24.6.1022
Subject(s) - seawater , surface tension , wilhelmy plate , oleic acid , chemistry , materials science , geology , thermodynamics , oceanography , physics , biochemistry
The properties of the seawater‐air interface were studied by laboratory measurement of the dynamic surface tension of seawater and of samples of artificial seawater on which films of oleic and stearic acid were spread. A commercially available, automatic recording apparatus was used, consisting of a modified Langmuir trough with motor‐driven surface wiper blades, a Wilhelmy plate surface tension electric microbalance, and a recorder. Comparison of the shape of the dynamic surface tension‐surface area curves of original seawater samples with those of artificial ones showed that the “expanded‐” type surface film, produced by surface spreading of oleic acid, serves as an adequate model of conditions at the real seawater‐air interface. This model and its surface tension dynamics could be used, in addition to chemical analytical data, as a quantitative measure of the state of the seawater‐air interface and its role in controlling the transport of gases and other soluble materials between the atmosphere and the oceans.