This International Standard specifies a spectrophotometric determination of the pHt of sea water on the total hydrogen ion concentration pH scale using the indicator dye m-cresol purple. The total hydrogen ion concentration, [H+]t, is expressed as moles per kilogram of sea water. The method is suitable for assaying oceanic levels of pHt 7,4 to 8,2 for normal sea water of practical salinity ranging from 20 to 40.