Most kids and teenagers know that salt comes from the sea, but many do not know how it ends up there in the first place. Today, after many days of research, I have enough information to inform you guys about where the salt in the sea comes from.
Ocean salt comes from 2 sources. The first is runoff from the land. Rainwater that meets the land is slightly acidic, causing the rocks to erode. This causes ions (items or molecules with an electric charge) to release and end up getting carried away by streams and rivers, which eventually lead to the ocean. Many ions get used by organisms that live underwater, and the rest get more concentrated over time. The concentration of an ion is very important in making salt because when positively charged ions meet negatively charged ions, they produce salt.
Another source of salt in the sea is Hydrothermal fluids which come directly from the vents on the seafloor. Then there are salts that come from underwater volcanic eruptions that directly release minerals into the ocean.
INFORMATION ABOUT CHLORIDE AND SODIUM
(This info is important because these types of negative and positive charged ions help produce salt in the seawater.)
Two of the most common and important ions in seawater are chloride and sodium.
If you add them up, they make up around 85 percent of all dissolved ions in the ocean.
Ions that are rare and come in fewer quantities include Magnesium and Sulfate, which make up 10 percent of the ions in the sea.
In conclusion, ions in the sea come from many different sources, and then over time the ions get concentrated with positive and negative charged ions, and when these ions meet, they produce salt.
Thanks, and have a great day!!
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