Why Is the Ocean Salty?

Why is the ocean salty?

The answer begins far from the shoreline.

Rainwater moves through the atmosphere, across soil, and over exposed rock. Along the way, it slowly dissolves tiny amounts of minerals. Rivers transport those dissolved materials toward the sea, where they become part of the ocean’s enormous chemical system.

Evaporation removes water from the ocean’s surface, but the dissolved minerals remain behind. Underwater volcanic activity, hydrothermal vents, chemical reactions, and the formation of new minerals also influence the ocean’s composition.

The ocean is not simply a basin where salt endlessly accumulates. It is part of a constantly changing geological and chemical cycle in which minerals enter, leave, settle, dissolve, and react over immense periods of time.

NS-003 — Why Is the Ocean Salty? examines how these processes created the sea’s distinctive salinity and why the oceans have not simply become saltier forever.

Read the complete investigation.

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Why Is the Ocean Salty?