15
water.
The analyses reported by Goldberg and by Rankama and
Sahama place the average concentration of zinc in sea water
at 0,01 parts per million.
3.12
Physical state.
The concentration of dissolved
substances in the sea at a given time represents a condition
of equilibrium between the processes of supply of chemical
substances from the sources mentioned above,
and of the vari-
ous processes leading to their removal and sedimentation.
Materials weathered from the rocks of the land surfaces
and transported from the site of weathering by flowing water
are ultimately carried to the gea either in solution, as suspended particulate matter,
or are deposited as sediments prior
to reaching the sea.
Of the products of weathering which are delivered to the
sea, part of the chemically decomposed material goes into solution as ions,
ionic complexes,
or as colloids.
In the sea,
the
distribution of elements between solid and liquid phases is
largely regulated by the ionic properties of the elements and
by colloidal phenomena.
The formation of radioactive fallout particles in nuclear
detonations in which quantities of coral sand have been drawn
into the
fireball has been described by Adams,
Farlow and Schell