How does salt get into the ocean?

[Small_Fryz]

Why are the oceans salty?

Is there a chemical reaction for the ocean to replace salt, or produce it?

And why is there salt in some inland lakes?, yet none in others?

It was just a interesting topic that appeared into my head at 12:45am.

Thanks for any answers.

 

[Dave A]

Here's a site that might help you.
http://www.utdallas.edu/~pujana/oceans/why.html
And another that's a bit longer to read.
http://www.oceansonline.com/salts.htm

 

[TB]

I will skip the joke and cut straight to the chase.

Clicky

 

[TheCracker]

I will skip the joke and cut straight to the chase.

Why, do you know of any other salty liquids?

 

[Flerbizky]

Pee...

 

[TB]

Why, do you know of any other salty liquids?

A few.

Like saline and Soy Sauce.

 

[holl01]

Wherever water comes into contact with the rocks of Earth’s crust, either on land or in the ocean or within the oceanic crust (ie. sea bed), some of the minerals in the rock dissolve- the most common salt is sodium chloride. salts can be carried by the water to the ocean via rivers and is probably the main contribution in the increasing salt content of the earth over time. thats essentially how the ocean became salty. its also brought about by hydrothermal vents at the sea bed that release minerals. The salt content of seawater does not change because new minerals are forming on the sea floor from the already dissolved salt at the same rate as salt is added through the process above. Thus, the salt content of the sea is at steady state and has problem been this way for millions or billions of years. i hope this answers ur question!

 

[High-Test]

I'm telling you guys, it's that dumb girl and her umbrella...

 

[TheCracker]

Wherever water comes into contact with the rocks of Earth’s crust, either on land or in the ocean or within the oceanic crust (ie. sea bed), some of the minerals in the rock dissolve- the most common salt is sodium chloride. salts can be carried by the water to the ocean via rivers and is probably the main contribution in the increasing salt content of the earth over time. thats essentially how the ocean became salty. its also brought about by hydrothermal vents at the sea bed that release minerals. The salt content of seawater does not change because new minerals are forming on the sea floor from the already dissolved salt at the same rate as salt is added through the process above. Thus, the salt content of the sea is at steady state and has problem been this way for millions or billions of years. i hope this answers ur question!

Oh come on, that's a ridiculous idea! - you know it's from excess spilt baby juice.

 

[Swift]

It's really simple actually. I'm sure Famine is going to come in with a better explaination then me, but anyway.

If you look at the chemical makeup of rivers that lead to the ocean and the chemical makeup of the oceans, you'll see about the same thing. The only difference is that since the rivers are in constant motion, the elements that combine to form salt generally don't have a chance to settle and form the salt.

That's why estuarys are so important. This is the place where the river meets the ocean and it usually a very lively place for the sea life

 

[niky]

Oh tosh... God made the oceans salty. Everyone knows that. If salt came from rivers, and the Earth really was four billion years old, instead of the six thousand we know it to be... after four billion years of salty river water flowing in, the ocean would be as briny as the Dead Sea!




Oops... forgot my sarcasm tags...

 

[Omnis]

The ocean is salty because Poseidon has hypertension.

...and because of this:

 

[Kylehnat]

I'm telling you guys, it's that dumb girl and her umbrella...

Yeah, the Morton girl really needs to learn how to hold simple objects...

 

[BMWteamPTG]

Pee...

actually, pee contains more urea and waste than salt.

 

[Jpec07]

As rivers and streams flow down to the ocean, they pass over lots of rocks, sand, and other sediments, and are always churning to keep them in the water. Basically, the rivers dissolve rocks and stuff, and the dissolved stuff ends up in the ocean, and doesn't evaporate with the water from the ocean, so it just stays there (with the heavier stuff settling to the bottom of the pool with time).

 

[Omnis]

Thousands of years ago, the air was full of sulfur and chlorine. Maybe, as water erodes rock and ocean-floor bedrock, which can contain lithium elements like sodium, then, I guess, the chlorine and sodium bonded, becoming salt and making the water salty.

The reason why rivers and stuff aren't salty is because most of the water is rain/ice water. When the water evaporates from the ocean, the salt is left behind. This constant process leaves a heavier concentration of salt in the ocean, and a much lesser concentration in rivers and lakes, instead of an even dispersal.

 

[HACKr]

The American diet.
Nothing more.

 

[High-Test]

The American diet.
Nothing more.

Could you have put it any more bluntly? 👍

 

[Zrow]

The ocean is salty because Poseidon has hypertension.

...and because of this:

I was just reading this comic. Freaky.

 

[Matrixhasu77]

[sarcasm]
God uses a giant salt shaker to add salt to the oceans every once in a great while. What he does with the that giant pepper shaker is to make people sneeze, I guess.
[/sarcasm]

Who needs a scientific explanation when you've got sarcasm?

I bet Famine will go all scientifically (not a real word probably, I know) on this thread...

 

[Omnis]

I already scientifically answered it...