2007-02-06 18:05:17 · 6 answers · asked by montralia 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Ocean water is poisonous to humans because it will disrupt our isotonic bodies. Ocean water has many dissolved ions such as sodium, calcium, chlorine to name a few. This makes the water dangerous to our bodies, because we only get thirstier. Our bodies have to work harder to get rid of these excess ions. As for the reason of it being salty, I can't explain because I'm strapped for time, but if acid comes in contact with Calcium carbonate or rock, the result is the calcium ion being desolved and the CO3 ion doing something else, I'm not too clear sorry. Oh wait, the carbonate becomes a weak base. there you go.
2007-02-06 18:16:17 · answer #1 · answered by Jian C 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is a contradiction here. How can you say that the salt has been and is being washed away from land by rivers, when rivers contain fresh water and "ocean salinity has been stable for billions of years" (quoting wikipedia)?
There's a certain "Gaia hypothesis" that among other thing states that "ocean salinity constancy was a long-standing mystery, because river salts should have raised the ocean salinity much higher than observed; ... the composition of sea water is far from equilibrium, and it is difficult to explain this fact without the influence of organic processes".
Still, I think that no one can say for sure why the ocean is salty.
2007-02-07 08:38:25 · answer #2 · answered by Freakasso 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
water is a very good solvent. Rain water is distilled water. It can hold a lot of materials including salt itself. As almost all runoff water will be going down the streams and rivers into the oceans, it carries all the dissolved matter with it. The oceans are therefore steadily getting saltier. One scientist calculated back to when the oceans may have been nearly fresh water. It figured to be around 10,000 years ago. The land mass tends to be depleted of many minerals or other elements. Perhaps seaweed or other sea plants or sea salt would be a good supplement in our food for these elements.
Ocean water is less damaging to our lungs than fresh water. Its osmotic pressure is more equal to our bodies intracellular pressure.
2007-02-07 02:46:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like anything else, it's poisonous if you drink enough of it. It takes the human body more water to remove the salt you drink in seawater than the seawater itself actually contains, so if you exclusively drink seawater, you body will lose the ability to remove the salt from you body. Bad things happen then.
However, tasting (clean) seawater won't hurt you.
The oceans are salty because salt from the land leaches out into the water, then the water evaporates leaving the salt behind. The water rains down on the land again, leaching more salt and perpetually increasing the salt content of the oceans.
2007-02-07 02:08:15 · answer #4 · answered by violentquaker 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Sort of....if you drink a significant amount of sea water, it will dehydrate you pretty quickly (unless you dilute it). Ocean water is salty due to the mineral salts dissolved in it (from millennia of river runoff).
2007-02-07 02:12:48 · answer #5 · answered by swilliamrex 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Salt water is not poisonous! It's just not good to drink it because it's so high in sodium.
I'm not totally sure why it's salty... it's just a natural mineral that occurs in the sea, I guess.
2007-02-07 02:08:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋