Why does the ocean have salt water?

1. 62

   mintinfoposted 11 years ago

   Why does the ocean have salt water?
   
   Millions of years ago ocean water was not salty (no I wasn't there). Why does lakes and rivers have fresh water while the seas and oceans have salt water?
   
   

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2. 53

   whonunuwhoposted 11 years ago

   Sodium chloride washes into the oceans around the globe from rivers and streams. Over time the abundant salt(notice I said abundant) has been deposited into the world's oceans and remained there . Even fresh water has some salt in it, but not near as much as ocean water. Water is replenished by evaporation over the oceans and the heavy salt remains behind and mixes with the fresh new water from the cyclical rainfall.The ocean's creatures need the salt water as their environment and cannot live, without it, with the exception of a few fish that migrate in fresh water streams to lay eggs, and some sharks, such as the Bull Shark. The salt or sodium chloride was washed from deposits in the earth, just as other chemicals and elements have been over millions of years. The salt evidently is one of the hardiest, and remains a part of the ever-evolving cycle of life on the planet.

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   1. 62

      mintinfoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Very good answer. However, I would say that the fishes adapted to the Sodium over time.

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3. 62

   dialogueposted 11 years ago

   Ocean water is saline to taste as it contains salts dissolved in it. The distribution of salinity in the oceans is not uniform. The salinity in the oceans depends upon a number of factors which lead to dilution or concentration of the saline solution.
   
   Read more: http://dialogue.hubpages.com/hub/Salini … cean-Water

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4. 65

   Sheepsquatchposted 11 years ago

   Lakes and rivers have salt in them to. They just don't have the amounts that oceans or seas will have a majority of times. Salt is continually being washed into the oceans and more salt is washed in than taken out.

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