Understanding why is the ocean salty requires examining multiple perspectives and considerations. Why is the ocean salty? - NOAA's National Ocean Service. Credit: Sea Research Foundation and the Ocean Exploration Trust Salt in the ocean comes from two sources: runoff from the land and openings in the seafloor. Rocks on land are the major source of salts dissolved in seawater.
Rainwater that falls on land is slightly acidic, so it erodes rocks. Why Is the Ocean Salty but Lakes and Rivers Are Not?. The short answer to the question “Why is the ocean salty?” is that water containing salts enters the ocean and has nowhere else to go. The water evaporates, leaving sodium chloride (table salt) and a variety of other dissolved minerals behind. Eventually, though, most rainwater finds its way to the ocean. Once it gets there, some of the dissolved minerals—such as calcium—are removed from the water by biological processes, but salt tends to remain.
In this context, additional salt is contributed by underwater hydrothermal and volcanic activity. But have you ever wondered where all that salt comes from—and why seawater is salty while rivers and lakes remain fresh? The answer lies in a long and complex story involving Earth’s geology, chemistry, and hydrology —playing out over hundreds of millions of years.
Geological Survey - USGS.gov. The oceans cover about 70 percent of the Earth's surface, and that about 97 percent of all water on and in the Earth is saline—there's a lot of salty water on our planet. Find out here how the water in the seas became salty.
Additionally, our oceans are salty due to vulcanism and erosion, but are rivers and lakes aren't due to being refreshed by the rain and draining into the ocean. - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. If you go swimming in a lake, the water is fresh; when you dive into the ocean, it tastes salty. The water flowing into the ocean comes from freshwater streams and rivers.
Building on this, these bodies of water do contain salt. It dissolves from rocks on land. That's because rain is slightly acidic. - National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. From another angle, the ocean’s high salinity comes from two main sources: runoff from the land and openings in the seafloor.
It's important to note that, as far removed as rocks on land may seem from the ocean, they influence the ocean’s chemical composition, which includes its saltiness. - The Institute for Environmental Research .... The ocean’s saltiness, or salinity, is primarily due to the continuous weathering and erosion of rocks on land, coupled with the dissolving of minerals released from hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
(Explanation & Examples) - Ocean Info. Ocean water’s density is directly linked to its salt content: saltier water is denser and sinks below less salty, warmer water.
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