COMPOSITION–PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS IN HIGH-SALINITY ARTIFICIAL SEAWATER: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PH, CONDUCTIVITY, OSMOLALITY AND ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION

Abstract

High-salinity artificial seawater provides a controlled medium for examining how increasing dissolved salt concentrations alter chemical composition and potentially influence physicochemical behaviour. This study characterized compositional changes across artificial seawater formulations spanning 36,032–80,000 ppm total dissolved solids (TDS). Ten chemical constituents were evaluated, including NaCl, MgCl₂, Na₂SO₄, CaCl₂, KCl, NaHCO₃, KBr, B(OH)₃, SrCl₂, and NaF. Data were processed in Python using descriptive statistics, percentage composition, concentration differences, fold changes, and linear trend analysis. NaCl was consistently the dominant constituent, accounting for approximately 68% of total composition, followed by MgCl₂ and Na₂SO₄. The five major salts collectively represented approximately 99% of the formulation. Major constituent concentrations increased approximately 2.22-fold between the lowest and highest TDS conditions, while their relative proportions remained largely stable. The findings demonstrate controlled proportional enrichment across the salinity gradient and provide a compositional foundation for future evaluation of pH, conductivity, and osmolality. Direct physicochemical measurements will be necessary to establish these composition–property relationships experimentally.