Perhaps not everyone met in person with the ocean, but everyone saw it at least in school atlases. Everyone would like to get there, right? The oceans are incredibly beautiful, their inhabitants will make you freeze in surprise. But … for many, the question might also have arisen: "Salt or fresh water in the ocean?" Still, fresh rivers flow into the oceans. Could this cause desalination of ocean water? And if the water is still salty, then how did the ocean manage to keep it like this after such an amount of time? So what kind of water in the oceans is fresh or salty? Now we'll figure it out.
Why is there salt water in the oceans?
Many rivers really flow into the oceans, but they bring not only fresh water. These rivers originate in the mountains and, flowing down, wash salt from the mountain peaks, and when the river water reaches the ocean, it is already saturated with salt. And given that water constantly evaporates in the oceans, and salt remains, we can conclude that it will not become fresh from rivers flowing into the ocean. And now let's delve into the very beginning of the appearance of the oceans on Earth, when nature itself began to decide whether the oceans will have salt or fresh water. Volcanic gases that were in the atmosphere reacted with water. As a result of such reactions, acids formed. They, in turn, reacted with metal silicates in the rocks of the ocean floor, which led to the formation of salts. So the oceans became salty.
They also claim that there is still fresh water in the oceans, at the very bottom. But the question arises: "How did it end up at the bottom if fresh water is lighter than salt?" That is, it must remain on the surface. During an expedition to the Southern Ocean in 2014, scientists discovered fresh water at the bottom and explained this by the fact that due to the rotation of the Earth, it simply could not rise upward through denser salt water.
Salt or Fresh Water: Atlantic Ocean
As we have already found out, water is salty in the oceans. Moreover, the question is "salt or fresh water in the ocean?" for the Atlantic, in general, is inappropriate. The Atlantic Ocean is considered the most saline, although some scientists are still sure that the Indian Ocean is the most saline. But it is worth noting that the salinity of the water in the oceans varies in different areas. However, in the Atlantic Ocean, the salinity of the water is almost the same everywhere, so in general, salinity does not jump as much.
An interesting fact is that water in the Atlantic Ocean, as many information networks say, "disappears." There was an assumption that as a result of hurricanes in America, water was simply carried away by a stream of wind, but the phenomenon of extinction moved to the coasts of Brazil and Uruguay, where there were no hurricanes at all. The investigation concluded that the water simply evaporates rapidly, but the reasons are still not clear. Scientists are puzzled and seriously worried, this phenomenon is still being investigated.
Salt or Fresh Water: Pacific
The Pacific Ocean, without exaggeration, can be called the greatest on our planet. And it became the greatest precisely because of its size. The Pacific Ocean occupies almost 50% of the World Ocean. It ranks third in salinity among the oceans. It should be noted that the maximum percentage of salinity in the Pacific Ocean falls on the tropic zones. This is justified by the intensity of water evaporation and is supported by a small amount of precipitation. Following east, a decrease in salinity due to cold currents was noticed. And if in tropical zones with a small amount of precipitation the water is the most saline, then on the equator and in the zones of western circulation of temperate and subpolar latitudes, the opposite is true. Relatively low salinity due to high rainfall. However, there may well be some fresh water at the bottom of the ocean, as in any other ocean, so the question is “salty or fresh water in the ocean?” in this case, set incorrectly.
