why is the water of the sea is salted?
818829
Scientific theories behind the origins of sea salt started with Sir Edmond Halley in 1715, who proposed that salt and other minerals were carried into the sea by rivers, having been leached out of the ground by rainfall runoff. Upon reaching the ocean, these salts would be retained and concentrated as the process of evaporation (see Hydrologic cycle) removed the water. Halley noted that of the small number of lakes in the world without ocean outlets (such as the Dead Sea and the Caspian Sea, see endorheic basin), most have high salt content. Halley termed this process "continental weathering".
746615
"In average, the water of the the whole world sea has a salinity of 35 (3,5%). This means that for each liter of water of the sea it has 35 grams of you leave dissolved (most is sodium chloride, NaCl). \n\nThe water of the sea does not have salinity around uniform of the globe. The water less saline of the planet is of the Gulf of the Finlândia, in the Baltic Sea. The sea most saline is the Red Sea, in the Middle East, where the heat increases the tax of evaporation in the surface, and has little fluvial discharge."\n\nThen there is 3,5 % of salt in the ocean's water.
49972
As water flows in rivers, it picks up small amounts of mineral salts from the rocks and soil of the river beds. This very-slightly salty water flows into the oceans and seas. The water in the oceans only leaves by evaporating (and the freezing of polar ice), but the salt remains dissolved in the ocean - it does not evaporate. So the remaining water gets saltier and saltier as time passes.
589999
It is actually easier for fish to live in salt water than fresh water because the ionic balance of the water is closer to that of their own blood. Fresh water fish constantly have to pump out the excess water they accumulate due to osmosis. Marine mammals (seals, whales etc) maintain their ionic balance in water by having protective compounds in their skin which acts as a waterproof barrier.
596282
Because theres so much water thats constantly moving that the sun can't warm it all up. The ocean is so deep, and that water is about 30 degrees (yes farenheit, which doesnt freeze because of the salt in it) that it continusoly gets mixed up and remains a constant tempertature that seems cold to us. =)
540602
it's a brine solution. as the salt dissolves on the water...
873513
"Ocean water is  a complex solution of mineral salts and of decayed biologic matter that results from the teeming life in the seas. Most of the ocean's salts were derived from gradual processes such the breaking up of the cooled igneous rocks of the Earth's crust by weathering and erosion, the wearing down of mountains, and the dissolving action of rains and streams which transported their mineral washings to the sea. Some of the ocean's salts have been dissolved from rocks and sediments below its floor. Other sources of salts include the solid and gaseous materials that escaped from the Earth's crust through volcanic vents or that originated in the atmosphere."
74937
there is salt in the water
1117056
The ocean is essential for life on Earth, and also helps make the climate fairly moderate. However, although the ocean contains 1,370 million cubic kilometres (334 million cubic miles) of water, humans can’t survive by drinking from it—it is too salty.\n\nTo a chemist, ‘salt’ refers to a wide range of chemicals where a metal is combined with a non-metal. Ordinary common salt is a compound formed when the metal sodium combines with the non-metal chlorine—sodium chloride. This contains electrically charged atoms, called ions, that attract each other, resulting in a fairly hard crystal. When salt dissolves, these ions separate. Sodium and chloride ions are the main ions in seawater, but not the only ones. The salty seas benefit man, because the ocean provides many useful minerals for our industries.
1020573
it does but it's diluted.Some bodies of water have higher salt content than others.
968670
Water in the sea can vary in salt concentration, temperature and in ion ratios. The first two create differences in the density of the water and therefore warm / less salty (light) water floats on cold/ salty (heavy) water.\n\nSince these currents do not mix easily, different ratio's of ions in seawater can maintain their difference. These differences are created by sources of ions (vulcanic activity which can create specific ions, incoming rivers) or by the fact that certain ion concentrations (HCO3-, HSOx-) are very temperature dependent. \n\nusefull info can be found on http://www.biosbcc.net/ocean/marinesci/02ocean/swcomposition.htm
1057120
If I remember right, the crystalline structure of the salt breaks down, and the Na and Cl ions move freely in the water, dissolving into the water.\nSince the salt breaks down into free ions, that explains why salt water is such a good electrical conductor.
385501
mostly mineral, you'll probably find sodium chloride (salt) in it, but it depends on which water body is evaporated.
1095674
Why is the Ocean Salty?\n\nAll water, even rain water, contains dissolved chemicals which scientists call "salts." But not all water tastes salty. Water is fresh or salty according to individual judgment, and in making this decision man is more convinced by his sense of taste than by a laboratory test. It is one's taste buds that accept one water and reject another.\nA simple experiment illustrates this. Fill three glasses with water from the kitchen faucet. Drink from one and it tastes fresh even though some dissolved salts are naturally present. Add a pinch of table salt to the second, and the water may taste fresh or slightly salty depending on a personal taste threshold and on the amount of salt held in a "pinch." But add a teaspoon of salt to the third and your taste buds vehemently protest that this water is too salty to drink; this glass of water has about the same salt content as a glass of sea water.\nObviously, the ocean, in contrast to the water we use daily, contains unacceptable amounts of dissolved chemicals; it is too salty for human consumption. \n\nHOW SALTY IS THE OCEAN?...\nHow salty the ocean is, however, defies ordinary comprehension. Some scientists estimate that the oceans contain as much as 50 quadrillion tons (50 million billion tons) of dissolved solids.\n\nIf the salt in the sea could be removed and spread evenly over the Earth's land surface it would form a layer more than 500 feet thick, about the height of a 40-story office building. The saltiness of the ocean is more understandable when compared with the salt content of a fresh-water lake. For example, when 1 cubic foot of sea water evaporates it yields about 2.2 pounds of salt, but 1 cubic foot of fresh water from Lake Michigan contains only one one-hundredth (0.01) of a pound of salt, or about one sixth of an ounce. Thus, sea water is 220 times saltier than the fresh lake water. What arouses the scientist's curiosity is not so much why the ocean is salty, but why it isn't fresh like the rivers and streams that empty into it. Further, what is the origin of the sea and of its "salts"? And how does one explain ocean water's remarkably uniform chemical composition? To these and related questions, scientists seek answers with full awareness that little about the oceans is understood.\n\n\nIllustration: Sources of salts in the ocean.\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE SEA...\nIn popular language, "ocean" and "sea" are used interchangeably. Today's seas are the North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans and the Antarctic waters or seas.\nScientists believe that the seas are as much as 500 million years old because animals that lived then occur as fossils in rocks which once were under ancient seas. There are several theories about the origin of the seas, but no single theory explains all aspects of this puzzle. Many earth scientists agree with the hypothesis that both the atmosphere and the oceans have accumulated gradually through geologic time from some process of "degassing" of the Earth's interior. According to this theory, the ocean had its origin from the prolonged escape of water vapor and other gases from the molten igneous rocks of the Earth to the clouds surrounding the cooling Earth. After the Earth's surface had cooled to a temperature below the boiling point of water, rain began to fall and continued to fall for centuries. As the water drained into the great hollows in the Earth's surface, the primeval ocean came into existence. The forces of gravity prevented the water from leaving the planet.\n\nSOURCES OF THE SALTS...\nSea water has been defined as a weak solution of almost everything. Ocean water is indeed a complex solution of mineral salts and of decayed biologic matter that results from the teeming life in the seas. Most of the ocean's salts were derived from gradual processes such the breaking up of the cooled ign
798090
It's because salt is an electrolyte, a substance containing ions (charged atoms or molecules). The charges are what allow the atoms to conduct electricity, I think.
676507
because sea water has a salt concentration in it, and it is corrosive, similar to an acid but not as destructive. and saltwater will kill plant life harming the surrounding enviroment. they do but they also have salt water filters on the firboats to help bring the salt concentration down.
376556
Because of the salt. Salt makes living things/people dehydrated. If a thirsty person drank salt water, they would be even more thirsty.