# Sea/Ocean water Salinity - questions
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-ocean-water-salinity-questions/173108
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 5, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-ocean-water-salinity-questions/173108 "2003-05-05T02:14:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@andy\_fl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andy_fl)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-ocean-water-salinity-questions/173108/1 "2003-05-05T02:14:00Z")
Were the Oceans/Seas during the time of dinosaurs, saline ?
Also, how does the salinity vary among oceans and is there a scientific explation for the variations ?
What is the rate of increase of salinity in the oceans ?
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-ocean-water-salinity-questions/173108/2 "2003-05-05T02:37:31Z")
Looks like there’s some argument about this:
> [@](#):
>
> It is commonly thought that the oceans are becoming saltier with time as sodium and chlorine are weathered out of continental rocks and transported to the sea. Here we argue that the salinity of the early ocean was 1.5 to 2 times the modern value, and that it did not decline significantly until surprisingly late in the Earth’s history. If correct, this theory could help explain why the evolution of higher life took so long.
[Salinity history of the Earth’s early ocean](http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:kkdAnZXoMMUC:www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf%3Ffile%3D/nature/journal/v395/n6702/full/395554a0_r.html+%22salinity+history%22+ocean&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) Nature, **395** , 554-555 (1998)