Why Is The Ocean Blue But Water Clear?

If you ever visit the beach you can see the water of the ocean blue. It is also possible for you to always come across the questions why is ocean blue and why is ocean salty. There are a lot of phenomena and theories that many people believe in about the color of the ocean.

There are also phenomena about seawater in different colors. We will discuss some of the theoretical information to answer the questions of why is Ocean blue and why is ocean salty.

You will also get an idea about seawater's different colors phenomena after going through the textual content.

Reasons we see the ocean water blue while it is clear:

Let's discuss some of the basic reasons which can make the ocean appear blue whenever you visit the beach or seaside.

• Absorption and scattering of the light

You must have heard about the absorption of light through different mediums. Well, water is one of the largest mediums that absorb light. Each wavelength of the light has its color which makes it different from the other. Water absorbs light of different wavelengths which appears to be red, green, and yellow.

However, it does not reflect these three colors. it scatters blue light which makes the ocean appear to be blue. If you take the water in your hand it will appear colorless and clear. But if you look at it from a distance it will appear blue most of the time this is the scattering of blue light from the surface of the water.

• Why the Oceans scatters blue light

You must have found the answer to why Ocean is blue but here another question arises. Why the ocean always tends to scatter blue light there are a lot of other options. This is because Blue light has a shorter wavelength which can travel faster when light scatters through it.

You must have observed that Sky also appears to be blue. This is because of the same reason which is why it is ocean blue. When light falls through the surface of the sky or the ocean it travels faster than other colors. It also has a shorter wavelength making it easier to scatter and reflect.

• Reason for smaller bodies of the water appearing to be clear

If you take a small amount of water as mentioned above it will look clear and colorless which is the basic characteristic of the water. The reason water looks clear when it is in a smaller quantity is because there is not enough light to be absorbed and scattered.

To reflect the blue color you need a large amount of water at the same place. The ocean is the greatest example of a large body of water present at the same place. This is the reason the Ocean appears to be blue while the small bodies of the water look clear and colorless.

What gives rise to the color blue?

There is a phenomenon of seawater in different colors which we will discuss in detail in the upcoming text. However, you must know the reason behind the scattering of blue light.

One of the reasons is discussed earlier which is the shorter wavelength of blue light as compared to other colors. Red color has the longest wavelength still it is the reason behind the color blue. The color that has the longest wavelength gives rise to the color having the shortest wavelength that is blue.

Factors affecting the color of the ocean:

You hear the question why Ocean is blue because Ocean in most of the cases looks blue. However, certain factors can affect the blueness of the ocean and other large bodies of water. We will have a look at some of the most common factors.

• The water is not pure
• there is a lot of chemical and other toxic substances present in the water
• there is a lot of environmental pollution which makes it difficult for the light to reach the ocean
• the water of the ocean is becoming toxic because of various human and environmental activities
• Water pollution is the biggest reason

What makes the ocean salty?

Why is Ocean salty is another question that you will come across quite frequently. There are various reasons which can make the ocean salty. We will discuss some of the most common reasons why the ocean is salty.

• Water from the lakes and rivers

Most of the streams, lakes and rivers fall in the ocean which makes the ocean water taste salty. This is because the river water has the largest deposition of salty rocks which gets dissolved in the water and eventually the salt dissolved waterfall into the ocean, rivers, and streams themselves do not taste salty because the water keeps on flowing and they also get direct water from the rainfalls making them taste fresh.

• Composition of minerals and rocks

The ocean contains a lot of minerals; salt is just one of them. You can taste salt because it is used commonly in daily life. Ocean water is not just salty but it also has a greater composition of other types of minerals.

This is because of the deposition of mineral rocks that can be present at the depth of the ocean. It can also contain a lot of Mountain rocks as a result of land sliding from the mountains.

• Why seawater reflects different colors sometimes

Sea water different colors is a common phenomenon which is due to the reflection of light at different angles. Most of the time, the sea and oceans reflect blue color because of their shorter wavelength. However, you can also see other colors like orange, red, green, etc.

This depends on the reflection of light at a certain wavelength. Sometimes due to certain reasons water can reflect the wavelength of other colors which are relatively longer than blue light. At every wavelength, a different color can be seen in the sea or ocean. It can also be the objects that are blocking the way of the natural blue light scattering from the surface of the water.

Final Thoughts:

The most common reasons ocean water appears blue while it is clear are described above. You can get the answer to why is Ocean blue and why is Ocean salty by going through the above text.