You might be inclined to guess about the differences between freshwater and marine water is only about there is salt in one and not in the other.
Although it is naturally sensible to think so, it’s not really the case. In marine or sea water, the salinity level, or the concentration of salt is greater, but freshwater is not totally void of it.
Salt in the marine water is much more complex than our table salt.
The water is formed of diverse elements, and when those particles are broken down, they turn into electrically loaded ions.
These elements are greater electricity conductors. So electricity passes through this water more efficiently and quickly than it could in freshwater.
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What are some major similarities and differences between freshwater and marine ecosystems?
A freshwater ecosystem consists of streams, wetlands, ponds, lakes, and rivers. These are composed of generally animals and plants that are unable to thrive in highly saline water.
Thus in freshwater, they can easily survive. Some of these sources are more diverse than others, as some might be isolated from other water sources.
Marine ecosystems are more diverse than freshwater ones. They include salt marshes, wetlands, estuaries, mangroves, and give accommodation to various different kinds of animals and water plants.
But they are much more sensitive.
And mass human pollution is causing more damage day by day in the marine life.
Marine water can actually be deadly if you drink it.
Being wrecked in the sea will bring a very high risk of getting dehydrated because drinking the salt takes more liquid from the cells to balance out saline level.
This high water reduction in cells can be fatal. Thus leading to death.
An object has less buoyancy in freshwater than it has in marine water. The buoyancy is set by two types of pressures:
- The downward force – It is same as the object weight
- The upward force – How much water the object displaces determines the upward force
These two forces work in conflict with each other. As a result of these forces, the thing will either sink, float or stay suspended down the water.
If you try to swim in any freshwater lake, you’ll realize that it takes much more hard work to stay on the water’s surface than it would in the sea instead.
In fact, the Salinity of the Dead Sea is so high that it’s hard to walk past the hip water level because of the high buoyancy.
Moreover, the environmental differences are fascinating. Amphibians, Fish, and plants of one type usually cannot survive in another type of water.
Because natural development requires them to stay in their preferred salinity level.
If you take a freshwater fish and put him in a marine tank, you can say you’re killing him! He won’t be able to persist.
But some species of fishes can live in both saltwater and freshwater.
They’re called ‘euryhaline’ and are usually found in habitats where the salinity is changed regularly, for example; in tide pools and estuaries.
The Green Crab or some alligator gars species can thrive in both the marine and freshwater.
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In Short Freshwater vs Marine Water Difference
- The difference between salinity levels of marine water and freshwater is remarkable.
- Only 1% of whole water body in earth is freshwater, the other 99% is marine water.
- Drinking sea water can be deadly.
- Easy to float in marine water, as more salt equals more buoyancy.
- Marine Ecosystems is much greater and more diverse than freshwater ecosystem.
- Marine life is in more danger now, as humans are polluting much of marine life.
The difference between Marine and Aquatic
The difference between Marine and Aquatic is that Marine refers only to salty water while aquatic refers to all kinds of water such as fresh water and salty water.
In Biology Aquatic refers to freshwater while Marine refers to the sea and ocean water.
Aquatic in Latin (agua) means water therefore Aquatic refers to all kinds of water including but not limited to Salty Water, Lakes, Oceans, Lagoons.
Marine is a subgroup of Aquatic and refers only to Salty water, such as the sea and the ocean.
In Biology we can use the term Aquatic to refer to any kind of life in the freshwater, while we use Marine to refer to the Salty Water found in the ocean and the sea.
Hope after reading my article you can now understand the Difference Between Freshwater and Marine Water, and also Aquatic VS Marine water differences.
So, that’s all I have got for now. If you want to go more thorough on a specific realm, let me know in the comment section below.
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