Does sea water freeze?

Answer 1

Yes

The freezing point of seawater depends upon it's salinity,which is the amount of salt that it contains. Open ocean seawater has a salinity of about 35. Fresh water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and 35 water freezes at about -2 degrees C. The decrease is linear so that water with a salinity of 17 freezes at about -1 degree C.

[salinity is no longer given units such as parts per thousand]

In the winter large tracts of polar seawater freeze to a considerable thickness and even around the UK I remember as a boy that the sea froze along some stretches of beach in the hard winter of (I think) 1963.

[incidentally jane_c, Nikke and others below are wrong - the Titanic sank because it struck an iceberg - an iceberg is NOT frozen seawater but a chunk of a glacier - which is frozen snow (i.e. frozen fresh water)]

Answer 2

Can Ocean Water Freeze

Answer 3

Seawater freezes at a temperature that is slightly colder than fresh water (0.0° Celsius). The freezing temperature of seawater also varies with the concentration of salts. The more salt, the lower the initial freezing temperature. At a salinity of 35 parts per thousand, seawater freezes at a temperature of -1.9° Celsius.

Sea ice normally contains considerably less salt than seawater. Most of the salts found in liquid seawater are forced out it when freezing occurs. The reason for the exclusion is because the molecules of the various salts do not fit well in the highly orderly molecular structure of frozen water. Because of the density difference between ice and seawater, ice floats on the surface of the ocean.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Does sea water freeze?

Answer 5

Not at zero C or 32 degrees which is the normal point of freezing.

This is for the 'uninformed' ones here....

For the most part icebergs are fresh water. The reason is that when ice freezes slowly enough to not trap salt water inclusions, the complex crystal structure of ice does not provide any space for the salt to become incorporated into the crystal structure.

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

yes , it freezes but at a temperature lower than pure water depending on the content of salt of the see. The more you have salt in the see, the more important is the freezing point

Answer 8

Yes, I've seen the bay freeze over (Long Island), not the ocean though but, I'm sure it does in some very cold places, thats why ships need "Icebreakers" ahead of them in some places.

Answer 9

Yes. Think North Pole.

Answer 10

Yeah