• Question: Why does the sea not become any more salty as more salt is always washed into the sea?

    Asked by appeley to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Awesome question appeley,
      Yes, there is salt getting washed into the sea and yes, it has remained at the same salt level for hundreds of millions of years. Salt enters the sea from lakes and volcanic actibity, but it is also taken out of the oceans at a certain rate, by animals which use its sodium to make shells. When these animals die, the sodium is locked away and doesn’t get back into the sea. On top of that, salt can react with the rocks at high pressure. The more salt there is, the fact they react, so there is a feedback mechanism here, and it can and has reached equillibrium.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Is it true that more salt is always washed into the sea? I’m not sure it is… streams and rivers are freshwater, not saltwater.

Comments