why is the ocean salty, and how did it get that way?
In: 2228
Salt exists and can dissolve in water. When water evaporates from the ocean it doesn’t take salt with it, and falls on the land as fresh water. That water runs over the land and encounters salt in landscape. That salt will dissolve in the water as it runs downhill, eventually reaching the ocean.
Literally rinse and repeat and this results in salt making its way into the ocean over time.
The other two answered correctly. Also, it’s in equilibrium now so it won’t get saltier. Per google “the proportion and amounts of dissolved salts per unit volume of ocean are nearly constant and have been so for millions of years. So, no, the ocean is not getting saltier and this is because the processes that add and remove ions are in balance.”
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Over millions of years water dissolved salts out of the ground. Rivers carried that water into the sea where the plain water evaporated leaving salts behind. More salt was brought into the ocean but it could never leave and increased in concentration.