Why is the River That Carries Salt to Ocean, Not Salty?
We learnt from the previous article that, the river brings in all the salts and minerals to the ocean. This fact may raise an obvious question in our mind! The Ocean is salty; Understood! But, Why is the river, that brings in all the salts (to the ocean), not salty? Here is the answer to this question:
- Rain refills the freshwater in to the rivers and streams.
- The salts and minerals in the rivers and streams, are washed away by the floods, when it rains.
- Since the river water keeps flowing without getting stored permenantly, the salts are not deposited in to the river bed.
Though the river contains the salts and minerals, their quantity is very less when compared to the huge amount of fast flowing river water. Hence, the river water is fresh and pure, and does not taste salty!
On the other hand, the salts and minerals are carried away by the rivers in to the ocean continuously. This process has been recurring for millions of years. Since the ocean does not have any outlet to dispose the salt, it becomes the final and permanant storage place of salt. Hence, the ocean is always salty!