Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: steelrat1 on 02/02/2012 16:53:23
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if you had a sealed fish tank with a small brick of carbon dioxide at the bottom and let it Sublimate at room temp of say 21 c and at average ground level, would the gas stay at the bottom of the tank with air above it for all time or would it eventually mix with the the rest of the air (gas) in the tank?
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"if you had a sealed fish tank with a small brick of carbon dioxide at the bottom and let it Sublimate at room temp of say 21 c and at average ground level"
There's a really good chance you would burst the tank.
If, rather than sealing the tank, you just put a bit of cardboard or something on it the gases would all mix.
The process is called diffusion.
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Diffusion, of course, is not instantaneous.
It would be relatively quick in your fishtank.
However, the diffusion of various gasses is relatively slow in the ocean that is a few km deep, especially when the gas concentrations are modified by various organisms in the sea.
The diffusion of gases is aided by churning of waves on the surface, and the underwater currents of polar water.
The Black Sea, for example, receives less polar currents, and has significant layering of gases including essentially an anoxic layer.