Sea water
Sea water is an aqueous solution; must add or subtract dissolved constituents by chemical means
Cannot filter out dissolved constituents
Dissolved constituents will not settle out
Of 92 stable elements, 72 occur in sea water in measurable amounts
Most abundant elements dissolved in sea water are the abundant in the earth’s crust, with two important exceptions
- Si is abundant in crust but not in sea water
- Cl is abundant in sea water but not in crust