South Aral Sea Syr Darya, would be diverted in order to irrigate cotton and food crops in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In 1986, due to an accelerated loss of water, the Aral Sea was split into northern and southern parts; the northern part is the current North Aral Sea. In 2007, the western basin had a salinity of 70 g/l and the eastern basin 100 g/l. Once the water level falls below the connecting channel (elevation 29 m), the salinities can be expected to diverge further. Under current conditions, the eastern basin may receive water from the Amu Darya in wet years, fluctuating in
Eustatic sea level molecular motion, thus water molecules will occupy a lesser space. • Thermal expansion may also be influenced by ocean salinity. As continental ice accumulates, the ocean water freezes onto land but the salt it carried will mostly remain in the ocean. Thus, as ice sheets increase, ocean salinity also increases (and vice-versa). An increase in salinity will increase the density of the ocean basin. Melting of ice sheets and a decrease of ocean salinity will effectively decrease the density of the water. Eustatic sea level The eustatic sea level is the distance from the center of the earth to the