The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-18
WHY THE SEA is SALT
IT HAS BEEN so EVER SINCE The
CREATION OF THE WORLD.
or Great Benefit to Mankind--C ontinents
Produced by the Skeletons Of Animals
That Could Not Have Lived In Fresh Wa
ter-Moses' Short Account.


ter-Moses Short Account.
The sea at present contains 90, 000,- |
600, 900, 900, 600 tons of salt If this salt |
could be gathered in solid form and
compressed into the shape of cube. it
would contain 10, l73,OO cubic miles.
Each edge of such cube would meas
ure somewhat more than 200 miles.
This is enough to cover all the land on
this globe with uniform layer of salt
to depth of 1000 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 salts
factory. The second question is not so
difficult.
According to the history of the crea-
tion 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 tho heav-
ens' was gathered together and tho dry
land appeared.
This statement has bothered Il great
number of able philosophers, who, in
their effort to stick TO the letter of the
Scripture and at the same time to rea-
son out everything on perfectly natural
principles, have been puzzled to know
how such grand Transformation could
be accomplished in one day. And their
perplexity was not relieved when learn
ed biologists announced that it must
have required ages for the waters that
enveloped the earth to subside and re-
, veal this land that lay beneath.
But when it was suggested that the
word day as used by Moses meant
not period of "a hours, but an era Of
thousands of years, the difficulty was
), removed. This meaning of the word
:, "day" is at present generally accepted
by devout scientists, who now declare
> that there is nothing impossible in Nc
: ses' account of the creation.
: This description, to be sure, is Ia
mentally brief. 1t was hardly adequate
to pass over such huge event as the
was a big story from a newspaper point
y of view, and all thoughtful persons
!. must acknowledge that Moses did not
II take advantage of his opportunity.
l. Accepting the Mosaic account, DIR. L.
y S. Hunt, learned writer on the phys
u ical history of the globe, supplies wha
l. Moses left out, and in so doing he give'
ID a very good reason for the presence o.
l. the salt in the sea. Having arrived a
se the point Of Moses meager narrativ,
10 where the earth was in molten stat
IS and surrounded by an envelope of case
IS and of water vapor, DIR. Hunt says:
a. 1.-THE carbonates, chlorides and sui
pilates Chemical combinations of car
10 bon, chlorine and sulphur with oxygen
y, were changed into silicates. The car
re bon, chlorine and sulphur, being thu
m freed from the oxygen, separated Ill TN
d, form of acid gases. These, with nitro
O. gen, vapor of water and probable eA
ne cess Of oxygen, formed the atmosphere
o. which was very dense (and also yer
III unhealthy.
ie "The surface of the earth was cover
an ed with Jumps Of molten rock (probaDi
It's resembling furnace slag). The depresse
parts of the surface were filled Wit
W. highly heated solutions of hydrochlorl
M and sulphuric acids, which ate into Il
ne surface and decomposed it. In this wa
he the silicates were changed to pure slllc;
as taking the form of quartz as the atrno
t, phere cooled, and the condensation
To- the vaporous atmosphere produced Sc
to water. holding in solution salts OF SOD
&c. nm. calcium, magnesium and ammon
nm. The atmosphere, thus freed OF !
noxious elements, became pure and
for man. atu
BET It is therefore evident that the 81
lce has been salty from the creation OF u
ne, world. The salt does not come, as
rth generally supposed, from friction OF q
OH water against salt "rocks" in the DC
ISIS Of the ocean. This, then, answers Il
,ed first uuestion. Where did the salt con
on from? The second question Is pref
the we'll answered by Mr.. g. W. Littl
vas hales in Appleton's Popular Scien
m Monthly. bu nf Z.
no "It SEEMS he says, ''that the
'it, was made salt in the beginning as
pie part OF the grand design VI '."o
ave to provide for the system OF evoiuti
mt. which has been going on since the Gre
int ton. Many distinct species OF hvil
OF organisms exist in the sea as q result
nu- it's salinity, and their remains ma
hia largely contributed to the growth OF &C
Ign tipents "l -
inc The minute creatures that have hv
not in the sea for ages past have left end'
DIN ing monuments in the shape OF isian'
- rocks and continents. If the sea had
been salty, these marine animals COZ
not have existed and secreted the ma
substance known as a "calcareous ske
) of ton, y which has largely contributed
o is the growth of continents. Among TIT
ich early inhabitants of the sea were cora
ex- crinoids, sea urchins and starfishes.
ge. The saltiness Of the sea has also mt
ties, TO do with the ocean currents, WI
rect distribute the heat Of the tropics o
hen the colder regions of the earth. Cure
dea are largely due to the difference
n. ~ n