Why is the ocean salty?
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What do you think the ocean would taste like if it had no salt?
What about...?
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Transcript
Why does ocean water taste salty? Let's wonder together!
Rain falls on rocks and soil. It picks up tiny bits of salt as it flows to the sea.
Rivers bring that water to the ocean. The salt stays behind when warm sun lifts water into clouds.
More salty water keeps arriving for a very long time. That is why the ocean tastes salty!
So that's why the ocean is salty. Rivers bring tiny bits of salt, and the water can leave without them!
For grown-ups: the science
The ocean is salty because rivers carry tiny bits of salt from rocks into it.
Rainwater and groundwater dissolve minerals from rocks and carry dissolved ions, especially sodium and chloride, to the ocean through rivers. Evaporation removes mostly pure water, leaving salts behind; salts are also added by seafloor vents and volcanic sources. Some salts leave the ocean in sediments and rock processes, but over long periods the ocean remains salty.