Can river water be the source of the dissolved constituents in sea water?
Hydrologic cycle - water evaporates from ocean, transported over land, falls as rain water, dissolves rock constituents, & carries them into ocean basins
- When sea water evaporates, it takes some salts, but water vapor is effectively fresh water
- When water condenses to form precipitation, it usually ends up with significant dissolved CO2 & SO2
- Rain water falling on continents is acidic
- Acidic water dissolves the continents