Oceans cover about 70 percent of the Earth's surface and about 97 percent of all water on and in the Earth is saline—there's a lot of salty water on our planet. By some estimates, if the salt in the ocean could be removed and spread evenly over the Earth’s land surface it would form a layer more than 500 feet (166 meters) thick, about the height of a 40-story office building. But, where ...
The oceans are the lifeblood of the planet, covering more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. Their vast blue expanses are a cocktail of dissolved salts, giving seawater its characteristic salty taste. But why exactly is the ocean salty? This phenomenon depends geological and hydrological processes that add and remove salts from ocean water.
Discover why the ocean is salty! Explore the fascinating processes that contribute to seawater's salinity and learn how it affects marine life.
The Short Answer (For the Curious but Impatient) The ocean is salty because rainwater dissolves minerals from rocks on land and carries them into the sea. These minerals contain salts. Once the salt reaches the ocean, it stays there while water evaporates and falls back as rain concentrating the salt over millions of years. That's the quick version. But the full story involves volcanoes ...
Why Is the Ocean Salty? Discover the science behind ocean saltiness, how it happens, and why seawater tastes salty — explained in simple, easy English.
Why Is the Ocean Salty? Salt journeys around the planet, leaving its mark at every step — before it's ultimately deposited into the ocean. Here's how the process works, and why the ocean's salt content may be more important than you think.