The chemical composition of sea water from the Suez Canal region

Three water masses are identified in the Suez Canal region. The Port Said region represents Mediterranean waters influenced in late summer by the nile flood. The Bitter Lake waters have salinity 44 to 48‰ due to the effect of the salt deposits in the bottom of the Great Bitter Lake. The Suez Bay water is affected in autumn by the salty water from the Bitter Lakes. The salt deposits were found to be very poor in the sulphates and bromides. The waters of the Bitter Lakes show S04"/Cl' and Br'/Cl' ratios less than the oceanic values and that of the Suez Bay. A seasonal variation in the S04"/Cl' ratio was detected in the Great Bitter Lake. The maximum salinity together with the minimum S04''/Cl' ratio occur in September, while the minimum salinity is accompanied by the maximum S04"/Cl' ratio in March. The empirical relationship S04" 0.1118 Cl‰ +0.6469 is suggested for the highely saline water of the Suez Canal (S‰ 41.5). The S04"/Cl' ratio of Port Said waters is higher than the oceanic ratio due to dilution by the Nile waters which was found to have S04"/Cl' ratio 12 times that of the sea water. The Br'/Cl' ratio in Port Said is less than the normal ratio in sea water, since the Nile water must have a relatively low Br'/Cl' ratio. The F/Cl ratio of the three water masses is less than the accepted value for surface sea water. The lowest values are encounterd in the Bitter Lake waters