Health Editor’s Note: Of course we know that the oceans are salty. It takes a small amount of sea water that gets into your mouth to know this fact. What I did not know is that the Great Lakes could be considered salty. While the Great Lakes have minerals they do not have sodium so they do not taste salty they are filled with minerals. The term “fresh water” must just mean no sodium but there are lots of other minerals involved. Also, an ion in water in the Great Lakes takes about 200 years before it is gone, but ions in the oceans are there for 100-200 million years. Whew! That is a long time!…..Carol
Why Is the Ocean Salty?
By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D./ThoughtCo
Have you ever wondered why the ocean is salty? Have you wondered why lakes might not be salty? Here’s a look at what makes the ocean salty and why other bodies of water have a different chemical composition.
- The oceans of the world have a fairly stable salinity of about 35 parts per thousand. The main salts include dissolved sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and sodium bicarbonate. In water, these are sodium, magnesium, and potassium cations, and chloride, sulfate, nitrate, and carbonate anions.
- The reason the sea is salty is because it is very old. Gases from volcanoes dissolved in the water, making it acidic. The acids dissolved minerals from lava, producing ions. More recently, ions from eroded rocks entered the ocean as rivers drained into the sea.
- While some lakes are very salty (high salinity), some do not taste salty because they contain low amounts of sodium and chloride (table salt) ions. Others are more dilute simply because the water drains toward the sea and is replaced by fresh rainwater or other precipitation.
Why the Sea Is Salty
Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.
She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.
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John, are not all elements equally old? Formations are dated, water is now to be treated as a formation?
“Earth’s Missing Geothermal Flux” > FauxScienceSlayer(.)com
Virtually ALL groundwater is “elemental” by byproduct of mantle fission. Ocean evaporation creates near pure water vapor, forming rain and snow runoff, the combined effects gradual create fresh water lakes, also see >
“Volcanic CO2” by Timothy Casey > Geologist-1011(.)net
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