A water column is a conceptual column of water from surface to bottom sediments.^[1] This concept is used chiefly for environmental studies evaluating the stratification or mixing (e.g. by wind induced currents) of the thermal or chemically stratified layers in a lake, stream or ocean. Some of the common parameters analyzed in the water column are: pH, turbidity, temperature, salinity, total dissolved solids, various pesticides, pathogens and a wide variety of chemicals and biota. Environmental science is the study of the interactions among the physical, chemical and biological components of the environment; with a focus on pollution and degradation of the environment related to human activities; and the impact on biodiversity and sustainability from local and global development. ... Water stratification occurs when water of high and low salinity (halocline), as well as cold and warm water (thermocline), forms layers that act as barriers to water mixing. ... The correct title of this article is . ... Turbidity standards of 5, 50, and 500 NTU Turbidity is a cloudiness or haziness of water (or other fluid) caused by individual particles (suspended solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye, thus being much like smoke in air. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Annual mean sea surface salinity for the World Ocean. ... Bottled mineral water usually contains higher TDS levels than tap water Total dissolved solids is an expression for the combined content of all inorganic and organic substances contained in a liquid which are present in a molecular, ionized or micro-granular (colloidal sol) suspended form. ... A cropduster spreading pesticide. ... A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. ... Biota can refer to several things: The plant and animal life of a region; see biota (ecology) A municipality in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain; see Biota (municipality) A superdomain in taxonomy; see Biota (taxonomy) Biota Holdings, the Australian biotech company This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists...

The concept of water column is quite important, since many aquatic phenomena are explained by the incomplete vertical mixing of chemical, physical or biological parameters. For example, when studying the metabolism of benthic organisms, it is the specific bottom layer concentration of available chemicals in the water column that is meaningful, rather than the average value of those chemicals throughout the water column. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry: A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. ...

Hydrostatic pressure can be analyzed by the height of a water column, which effectively yields the pressure at a given depth of the column. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure exerted by a fluid due to its weight. ...

See also

• Hydrological transport model
• Thermal pollution

River in Madagascar relatively free of sediment load An hydrological transport model is a mathematical model used to simulate river or stream flow and calculate water quality parameters. ... Thermal pollution is a temperature change in natural water bodies caused by human influence. ...

References

External links

• Water column ecology

This stub was added as a complement to the water column disambiguation page.