Why Is Seawater Salty?

Seawater thumbnail

Water on the earth is almost 71%. This ratio is capable of solving all the problems of water crises on the planet. But 96.5% of the water is seawater which cannot be consumed by us because it is very salty whereas river water is not. But have you ever imagine why is seawater salty? Let’s study here on Ring Study.

Before we study more let us see where does the seawater come from. River water comes from rain & mountains and both processes include the contamination.

How Rain water becomes salty?


Raindrops coming from the sky get mixed with CO2 present in the atmosphere and become acidic. When it falls on the ground it chemically reacts with base and forms a salt. We can simply say that “Acid+Base=Salt”. Reference

How mountain water becomes salty?

When water comes from the mountains through the rocks it absorbs the salt in it from the rocks. Later this water takes the form of a river.

Why river water is not salty?

The truth is that river water is salty too. But the process of salt contamination is very slow whereas the river water keeps moving hence is not easy to recognize and identify the taste of salt in it.

How seawater becomes Salty?

river delta

When this water from the river comes together then they form huge storage of it we call them as Sea. But the formation of the sea is a process of millions & millions of years which means salt is being mixed with seawater from millions & millions of years. Hence due to this process seawater becomes salty.

Why salt level is almost constant even if the river is regularly meeting with the sea?

There are many creatures under the sea level who keeps absorbing the salt from the seawater for their nutrition and as well as for their hard body structure. These creatures maintain the excess salt in the sea by absorbing for themselves.

There are several other processes of seawater becoming salty.

1. Volcanoes and Hydrothermal Vent– Basalt coming from the volcanoes reacts with seawater and increase the amount of salt in the seawater.

2. Sea Creature’s physical structures– The shell of a turtle and any other like animals when dead their shell dissolves in the water making it salty.

So these are the main reason why seawater is salty whereas river water is not. I hope you all understood the reason behind it

Thank you !!!!

Also read: Why Water Drops Are Always Spherical?

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Jaikamal is a very fluctuating mind person who always looks for knowledge or resources of knowledge. He believes that knowledge is the key to success.

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