The density of Red Sea brines

The densities of artificial and real Red Sea brines have been measured at 25°C with a vibrating tube densimeter. Measurements were also made on mixtures of Red Sea brines with seawater and pure water. The results have been used to characterize the density-composition relations of waters across the interface of brine and average Red Sea waters. The results for the real and artificial brines are in reasonable agreement. The composition of the brines and mixtures with seawater have been characterized by conductivity measurements of weight diluted samples. The conductivity salinities were found to be conservative to within ±0.07‰ for the mixtures. The densities of brines and mixtures of brines and seawater were estimated from apparent molal volume data using Young's rule. The calculated densities for all of the solutions were found to be in good agreement with the measured values, demonstrating the applicability of Young's rule to concentrated natural waters.