Will the ocean get so salty that it won't be able to support life?
Asked by
rowenaz (
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October 27th, 2010
If salt is deposited into the ocean by rivers and streams, etc., and the water is always getting evaporated, leaving the salt behind, will the oceans get more and more salty? Will there be a point that the oceans can’t sustain life due to the salt levels? Is the salt decreased some how? Thanks for your help.
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14 Answers
I think the concern is the opposite right now. The idea being the melting of glaciers and icebergs due to global warming will lead to a desalinization of the oceans. I didn’t answer your original question, because I do not know the answer, hopefully others will, but I thought you might be interested in this information. I would guess too much or too little salt could disrupt sea life as we know it.
The ocean is massive and slowly exchanging chemicals with the earth everywhere it touches it. Rivers and streams are really small compared to this. Any fish out of the ocean is salt out of the ocean. The ocean floor actually rises as fish remains fall onto it so anything that is too heavy just get’s buried. The continental plates control how much land is above sea level which is the only thing that might limit the salt levels of the ocean. But life has existed for a long time even when talking about continental plates so I think the fish will be fine.
Salt isn’t all that harmful to saltwater fish.
The ocean has gotten saltier over time.
That’s why we can’t drink saltwater. When our ancestors (basal amphibians) crawled out of the ocean, the ocean’s salt content was (iirc) ¼ of what it is now. We still have the genes adapted to that level of salt content. So we need some salt in our diet, but not as much salt as the ocean has now.
(I’m only like 80% sure this is true, but I’m too lazy to double check.)
The opposite is more likely.Snow and glaciers in Greenland and the poles are water without salt. If these melt and run into the oceans, the oceans will become more dilute, not more concentrated.
I personally feel that there is no way that everything in the ocean is going to die off because of salt… Think about the salt lake in central US where they have animals even though its salty.. not to get religious but in reality if anything is going to over power it would be the water, never heard of California going into the Pacific in the future and breaking off the US border?? I for sure think that water is so much stronger than everything else even fire.. ( even though I am a fire sign, lol) but seriously I dont see that happening..
there is the same amount of water on the Earth now as when the Earth was created so I don’t think the ocean will get too salty.
earthduzt I have to agree, but one thing is that there is more ocean than earth now that is a fact… But i really dont think that the ocean is going to get more salty mainly because we have to survive with the fish in the water and so I dont think its going to happen..
No. It will not. Unless somehow all the water in the ocean evaporates and goes somewhere that we don’t know about…
The salinity of the oceans is relatively stable because:
1. The rivers that flow into the oceans are less saline, though they do contain trace amounts of salt(s). (There are several different kinds.)
2. The oceans are also replenished by precipitation. (snow, rain, etc)
3. Any evaporation is offset by the previous two points.
4. Any water or ice going into the oceans are also replenished by precipitaion. As fast as the iceshelves are melting they are also being replenished, especially in Antarctica. Greenland maybe debatable, but there is a reason it is called green-land, not long ago it was very fertile and green, very green before being green was cool.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/greenland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEOXI88lSw8&p=0EC9B306E7F62098&playnext=1&index=47
The second is a clip with the relevant information after the two minute mark.
It’s never going to have the chance because the oceans are filling up with plastic debris. Soon you will be able to skip from bottle to bottle across the entire Atlantic and Pacific plus the other oceans as well.
Pretty weird how life isn’t adapting to plastic huh?
@Zyx: I think that man made things like metal and plastic are things which are really hurting this world, just my opinion…
In all reality salt is not going to over control the oceans, even though pollution is… Now that is something to worry about…
Really feel this topic is great
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