Why is the Ocean Salty

Can you just imagine how boring our life would have been, without a 'pinch of salt'? Practically, we can not live without salt. The dissolved chemicals present in water, even in rainwater, are called by the scientists as salts. As all oceans contain unacceptable amounts of dissolved chemicals, it is too salty for human consumption. Studying oceanography or marine science involves knowing about the amazing world under the oceans. Here are some of the important oceanography facts.

Oceans and Salt

• About 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans and from this, only 3 % is fresh water, which is mainly in the form of glaciers and icecaps.
• According to the estimates of some scientists, the oceans contain as much as 50 quadrillion tons (50 million billion tons) of dissolved solids!
• Can you just imagine the salt in the sea taken out and spread evenly over the land surface? A huge 40 storied office building of more than 500 feet height would be formed!
• Studies show that 1 cubic foot of sea water evaporates and leaves behind about 2.2 pounds of salt, but 1 cubic foot of fresh water from a lake contains only one-hundredth (0.01) of a pound of salt, or about one sixth of an ounce.

Why is the Ocean Salty but Not Lakes

A simple answer to the question, 'why are the oceans salty' is that the oceans of the world are salty because of the rocks on the land! Surprised? Let me clarify the above statement.

As the rainwater contains carbon dioxide, it turns acidic. Presence of carbonic acid makes it so. The erosion of rocks takes place because of the chemical content in the rainwater. And in this way, the chemical contents of rocks, dissolved in the water are carried along as ions, with the rainwater. As the rainwater flows into the streams and the rivers, and finally into the oceans, it carries those ions with it. Marine organisms use some of the chemical ions from the ocean water, but the remaining chemicals make the oceans salty. The concentration levels of the unused chemicals in the water, increase in the ocean over the period of time. About 35 of 1,000 (3.5%) of the weight of seawater comes from the dissolved salts. That means, for every 1 liter of sea water there are 35 grams of salts. Most of the sea's salt is sodium chloride (NaCl), made up of sodium and chloride - common table salt which is technically called halite. Almost 78% of sea water is composed of NaCl, while it also contains traces of other chemical elements such as potassium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, etc. Thus, seawater contains numerous salts which make it salty.

The oceans receive some of the salts from eruption of volcanoes, located under the deepest parts of the oceans. Ocean salts are also generated by the solid and gaseous materials, escaped from the earth's crust through volcanic vents above the oceans. This material is washed away from the land to the ocean by offshore winds and rainfall. Some of the sea's salts come from rocks and sediments dissolved from below its floor.

Fresh water does contain dissolved salts. Every source of water like rivers, ponds, most lakes and rainwater has some traces of dissolved chemical substances. The amount of salts is not detected by just tasting it, as it is too small. The salt load of the oceans is so heavy that rivers and streams, emptied into the ocean can not neutralize the salt level of the ocean making it as fresh as themselves. Every water source brings with it, salts to the ocean. An estimated 4 billion tons of dissolved salts are carried to the oceans annually, by the rivers throughout the world! I hope you have now got an answer to the question, 'why is the ocean salty'.

Whatever God has created, it's all for the benefit of mankind. The oceans are salty, but we should not forget that sea salt is beneficial in various ways. Discovering the secrets of earth is really very interesting and enjoyable.