Why is the Ocean Salty?

Factual Questions
1

My wife, step-son, and I were wondering about this last night at dinner.

Over the millenia, wouldn’t the freshwater from the rivers flowing into the sea have turned the salt water into fresh water?

2

This might be WAY off and if it is please someone correct me. I think it is because the amount of water flowing into the ocean is close to the amount that evaborates off. But, isn’t the ocean getting saltier? I heard that somewhere.

3

look here:

http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/whyoceansalty.html

4

or here:

http://www.utdallas.edu/~pujana/oceans/why.html
[I fixed the link. -manhattan]
[Edited by manhattan on 07-09-2000 at 01:06 PM]

5

Salt is one of the most common minerals on earth and it is easily soluble. Every river that flows into the ocean brings salt with it. Evaporation does not carry away salt. Therefore, any “end-point” body of water that is not drained will become increasingly salty. This is true of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, Israel’s Dead Sea, and the oceans.

(The nature of rivers carrying salts is one of the problems with heavy use of river-based irrigation. Mesopotamia used to be much more fertile than it is now, before 4,000+ years of irrigation increased the salinity in the soil to the point where many crops would not grow. The Salinas Valley in California is already facing the same problem after fewer than 150 years of heavy river-based irrigation. The Ohio and Mississippi valleys are protected somewhat by their very high rainfall levels. The Nile valley was a “natural” irrigation region–annual floods–and the crops that developed, there are more salt-tolerant.)

6

Thanks to all of you.

7

From what I understand, the amount of salt in the ocean has stayed fairly constant over the eons. While salt is not removed by evaporation, some ends up in sediments on the ocean floor. This roughly balances the amount that flows in from rivers.

8

<Sigh>

9

I guess it’s been covered, but surely someone has to point out the answer on the site you’re already on…

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a880401.html

10

The Ocean is not a big swimming pool that many people think it is. It’s a medium where trillions and trillions of creatures live. Everytime you take a mouthful in, you’re taking in a mouthful of animals, piss and sh*t from trillions of animals, bacteria, etc. You don’t think that’s gonna be salty?