Reef Chemistry Question of the Day #144 What makes the oceany smell?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Reef Chemistry Question of the Day [HASHTAG]#144[/HASHTAG]

When you smell the ocean or a reef tank and you notice a pleasant "oceany" smell, which of the following are you most likely detecting with your nose?

A. Sodium
B. Chloride
C. Organic compounds
D. Sulfate
E. Magnesium
F. Bacteria

Pick all that you think are correct.

Good luck!





















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[happyhourhero]

Im going with bacteria and organic compounds. Only because I live near the sea and when algae or other life is abundant nearshore the smell is stronger.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I'm going with C because I don't notice the smell with recently mixed water...but wouldn't F fall under C? I mean aren't bacteria organic?

 

[143MPCo]

why not... I also think it's C. Organic compounds

 

[4FordFamily]

B, C, F.

 

[reefbeard]

I will guess C, D and F.

 

[spspirate]

D, C, F

 

[IronVulture]

I will say A for the unmistakable smell of salt in the air as soon as you start getting close to the ocean (can't believe no one else has said this yet) and C because waves crashing is like natures skimmer forcing air bubbles down which pull organic compounds to the surface much like our skimmers do.

 

[CountrySideCoral]

I would guess all are correct. The sodium, magnesium, chloride could enter our nostrils in fine droplet form due to the waves crashing and creating a fine mist, the organic compounds could potentially give off sulfate odor as well as the bacteria as a byproduct of their energy production.

 

[Cameron]

All of the above!

 

[beaslbob]

All of the above!

dern beat me to it.

just to be different all but sulfate

 

[Marquiseo]

C, D, F

 

[Aquaph8]

I'm going ABCD

 

[JimWelsh]

I'm going with C because I read Randy's articles .

 

[ksed]

Jim you crack me up lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

And the answer is...C Organic compounds. Good job folks!

One of the interesting things you learn in organic chemistry are the chemical structures associated with many of the common odors (like bananas, baking bread, etc.). Nearly all are organic molecules, with a few exceptions (see inorganics below).

None of the ions listed (sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate) will have any significant smell in a normal situation because none of them will evaporate into the air to be able to be smelled. FOr example, totally pure sodium chloride and magnesium sulfate have no detectable odor because none of these ions enter the air. If you are near to some big breaking waves, there will be salt spray in the air and that will get into your nose, but you likely will still not detect these by smell because most of them are already present in and around the cells that express the olfactory receptors. So your nose is not really designed to detect these common ions anyway.

Bacteria also won't get airborne unless launched in water (like a breaking wave or a sneeze), and are generally not going to cause a small detection. They certainly will, however, release lots of individual molecules that will be detectable by odor.

There are some inorganic chemicals that smell strongly since they have a gas phase form at room temperature. Most of these are also toxic, some very toxic. Ammonia, hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs), bromine, chlorine, hydrazine, phosphine, etc.,

 

[roadrashpaul]

Very interesting write up Randy thanks for sharing.

What gives coral a smell? I have noticed when fragging or moving coral some of them have a strong odor and some do not.