The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-03-28
WHY THE SEA is SALT.
1t Has Been so Ever Since the Crea-
ton of the World.
From the New York world.


From the New York World.
The sea at present contains 90, 000.-
600, 600, 900, 900 tons of salt. Ifthis salt
could be gathered in solid form and COM
pressed into the shape of a cube, it would
contain 1O,173, 900 cubic miles. Each
edge Of such a cube would measure some-
what more than 200 miles This is enough
to cover all the land on this globe with
uniform layer of salt to depth of 900
feet.
This statement as to the saltiness of the
sea is interesting enough in itself, but it is
also suggestive. The questions may well
be asked, Where did all this salt come
from, and what is the use of it? Several
scientific gentlemen have attempted to
answer this first question, and their efforts
are not entirely satisfactory. The second
question is not so difficult,
According to the history of the creation
of the world, as told by Moses in the
Genesis, it is implied that the ocean existed
before the land, for, on the third day"
the water under the heavens was gath
cred together and the dry land appeared.
Accepting the Mosaic account, DIR. I.
S. Hunt, learned writer on the physical
history of the globe, supplies what Moses
left out, and in so doing he gives very
good reason for the presence of the salt in
the sea. Having arrived at the point Of
Moses meager narrative where the earth
was In a molten state and surrounded by
an envelope of gases and of water vapor,
DIR. Hunt says
1.-THE carbonates, chlorides and sui
pilates (chemical combinations of carbon,
chlorine and sulphur with oxygen) were
changed into silicates. The carbon,
chlorine and sulphur, being thus freed
from the oxygen, separated in the form of
acid gases, These, with nitrogen, vapor
of water and probable excess of oxygen,
formed the atmosphere, which was very
dense (and also very unhealthy.
''The surface of the earth was covered
with Jumps of molten rock (probably re-
sembling furnace slag). The depressed
parts of the surface were filed with highly
heated solutions of hydrochloric and sui
phurie acids, which ate into the surface
and decompQsed it. In this way the
silicates were changed to pure silica, taking
the form of quartz as the atmosphere
cooled, and the condensation of the vaporous
atmosphere produced sea water, holding in
solution salts fsodium, calcium, magnesium
and ammonium. The atmosphere, thus
freed of its noxious elements, became pure
and ct for man.
1t is therefore evident that the sea has
been salty from the creation of the world
The salt does not come, as is generally
supposed, from friction of the water against
salt Crooks in the bed of the ocean.
This, then, answers the first question,
Where did the salt come fromq The
second question is pretty well answered by
Mr.. G. W. Littlehales in Appleton Pop
ular Science Monthly.
sit seems, he says, ''that the sea wa,
made salt in the beginning as part of the
grand design of the Creator to provide fol
the system of evolution which has beer
going on since the creation. Many dis,
tinct species of living organisms exist in the
sea as result of its salinity. and their re.
mains have largely contributed to the
growth of continents,
The minute creatures that have lived il
the sea for ages past have left enduring
monuments in the shape of islands, rock
and continents. If the sea had not beer
salty, these marine animals could not hav,
existed and secreted the hard substanc,
known as "calcareous skeleton, which
has largely contributed to the growth o
continents. Among these early inhabi
tants of the sea were corals, crinoids, sel
urchins and starfshes,
The saltiness Of the sea has also much
to do with the ocean currents, which dis.
tribute the heat of the tropics over tn,
colder regions of the earth. Currents art
largely due to the difference between tht
specific gravity of sea water and the fresI
water of rains. Thus, when rain falls OF
certain part of the ocean, the effort Of
the heavier salt water of the ocean to es.
tablish an equilibrium causes current