Why Seawater is Salty
Seawater has a much higher concentration of salt than freshwater. It has an average concentration of around 3.5%. However, it varies depending on the region and temperature. The highest concentration of salinity is in the mid latitudes. Also, the evaporation rate of water affects the amount of salt in seawater.
Seawater is primarily composed of two types of minerals: sodium and chloride. The sodium-chloride mix makes up about 85 percent of all the ions in the ocean. Other ions, such as magnesium and sulfate, are present in very small concentrations. Most of the salt in the sea comes from land. Another source of salt is in hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
As the rain falls, it picks up salt from the soil and brings it to the rivers, where it flows into the ocean. Some rivers carry four billion tons of dissolved salts to the sea each year. This is a very important source of salts for the ocean. A large part of the salt content of the ocean is from the weathering process, which involves the breakdown of minerals on land.
Some of the water in the sea is dissolved by the heat of the sun. It then evaporates to form clouds. While it evaporates, it leaves behind the salt, which is then absorbed by marine organisms. When the organism dies, the salt is freed to continue its journey to the sea.
Other forms of salt enter the sea from volcanic eruptions or underwater hot vents. Oceans have accumulated a lot of salt over millions of years. In some regions, there are up to three times more salt than in other parts of the world. Since the sea is so massive, it is not uniformly salty.
During the Age of Sail, sailing warships were fitted with distillation apparatuses. These ships carried large crews of sailors and were fitted with galleys. Each outlet contributed a modest amount of salt. After the Age of Sail, the energy-intensive processes were not available. Still, the cumulative effect of billions of exits over millenia increased the salinity of the sea.
Although seawater is salty, it doesn’t necessarily taste so. Rainwater is not completely salty, because of the amount of water it contains. Freshwater, however, doesn’t have a taste of salt. Water in rivers, on the other hand, is slightly acidic, but the salt it contains isn’t noticeable. Nevertheless, there are many animals that have evolved to live in areas with high levels of salt. For example, sea turtles remove excess salt from their bodies through tear ducts.
Lastly, seawater is made up of many dissolved ions. These are used by the many organisms that inhabit the ocean. There are more than 3.5 million dissolved ions in the ocean. One of these ions is sodium, which is found in abundance on the surface of the Earth. Sodium is the main component of the salt in the ocean.
Salt is important because it helps regulate the fluid in a cell, which is essential for neuron function. It also helps maintain the balance of the universe.
