Freshwater Ocean

[JohnF]

If the land mass were ever to become covered in water how long would it take for the ocean to loose it's salt content; if it ever would?

[Klaynos]

How dilute would the salt level have to be for it to be fresh water?

 

I'm not sure it'd be possible even with all the water currently locked up.

[JohnF]

Does salt remain in dilution indefinitely then or does it eventually separate out?

[insane_alien]

it'll remain in solution indefinitely as long as conditions don't change

[JohnF]

it'll remain in solution indefinitely as long as conditions don't change

 

Can you be a little more specific please. What natural conditions could cause the salt to become separated from the water?

 

Also, is it possible that the surface water could be salt free (very little salt) whilst the water at greater depth was more saturated?

[insane_alien]

Can you be a little more specific please. What natural conditions could cause the salt to become separated from the water?

 

evapouration if the water does not return to the source. see The Dead Sea for an example of where this is happening. though, if its something lie the pacific, you wouldn't be able to evapourate all of it.

 

Also, is it possible that the surface water could be salt free (very little salt) whilst the water at greater depth was more saturated?

 

yes this is possible. there are examples of this in lakes where the surface salinity is very low but it is almost saturated at great depths. IIRC this requires a distinct lack of currents and other mixing effects. it also has something to do about the past of the lake or something. i'm not to clear on it.

[JohnF]

Thanks for those answers insane_alien.

 

How long do you think it will take then before all of the oceans/seas become saturated in salt/minerals?

 

I suppose it's possible to calculate how much land erosion will be required based on the water volume and it's current mineral content.

 

And when that time comes what will the marine life be like? What will boats be like for that matter?

[stormwarrior]

in this world our water is mixxed with salt because of the earth around it. This is a good thing. Salt is an important part of life. Our environment creates enough freshwater to sustain us.

 

Evaporation from the ocean

Rain on the landmass

rivers flowing from the mountains in dirty form(rain purifies the air we breath

rocks dirt sand gravel charcoal and such purify the water that we pump from the underground pure rivers after water is heated and condensed and reformated in many thousands of times.

 

Humans,animals and plants drink this water further purifiing the water and excrete the waste product which is used to form a fertilazer to grow plants which dig roots into the ground and help purify the bad water helping to make good water and this in turn is excreted in the cycle of life to another cycle that helps another different form of life survive.

 

Mother earth is extremely efficient when it comes to multitasking.

 

And a part of the water that we call salt comes from excreted waste in some portion of the balance.

 

Study geology and botany and you will surely see the cycles more accurately then I can explain it in this brief format.

 

the biggest body of fresh water you will get are the great lakes which are not pure water for the most part.

[iNow]

Our environment creates enough freshwater to sustain us.

This is actually being challenged by numerous groups. The current consensus is that we could, in a very real way, run out of fresh water by 2050.

 

 

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1661

As world population approaches 6 billion on October 12, water tables are falling on every continent, major rivers are drained dry before they reach the sea and millions of people lack enough water to satisfy basic needs.

 

http://taiwansecurity.org/Reu/2005/Reuters-011105.htm

China is struggling to overcome what a minister called the world's worst water crisis caused by widespread drought, pollution, rapid economic growth and waste.

 

http://www.wateryear2003.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3129&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

“Of all the social and natural crises we humans face, the water crisis is the one that lies at the heart of our survival and that of our planet Earth,” says UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura.

 

“No region will be spared from the impact of this crisis which touches every facet of life, from the health of children to the ability of nations to secure food for their citizens,” says Mr Matsuura. “Water supplies are falling while the demand is dramatically growing at an unsustainable rate. Over the next 20 years, the average supply of water world-wide per person is expected to drop by a third.”

 

Despite widely available evidence of the crisis, political commitment to reverse these trends has been lacking. A string of international conferences over the past 25 years has focused on the great variety of water issues including ways to provide the basic water supply and sanitation services required in the years to come. Several targets have been set to improve water management but “hardly any”, says the report, “have been met.”

 

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_supply/freshwater.html

< 1% of the world's fresh water (~0.007% of all water on earth) is accessible for direct human uses.

This is the water found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost.

Only this amount is regularly renewed by rain and snowfall, and is therefore available on a sustainable basis.

 

The water cycle on Earth is essentially a closed system – we always have the same amount of water.

 

Worldwide, new dams (> 15 m ht) were constructed at rate of 885 per year during 1950-80, present rate is 500/yr, and future rate is estimated at 350/yr.

Over next 30 years, assuming size of reservoirs is unchanged, new construction adds 1200 km3 to accessible supply, and raises total AR in 2025 to 13,700 km3/hr.

Assuming average per capita water demand stays unchanged, but adjusting the pollution dilution for additional population, the total human appropriation in 2025 would be 9830 km3/yr, or 70% of estimated AR (compared to current 54%).

Clearly we are approaching the limit of available fresh water supply.

[stormwarrior]

when you look at overpopulation of the world you will see drought and the interuption of natural cycle. The thing is though that we cannot break mother nature. When Mother nature stops the wells up and the world has no potable water, people will die off from thirst and the cycle will start over.

 

The reason I theorize that the cycle cant be interupted is because human beings will end up killing themselves every lost life eases the burden of the Earth and the everchanging cycle will pick up the slack.

 

When a person is dying from thirst water will be cause of war and the survival of the best soldier begins. China is so over crowded in the major cities that there are problems with food and drink.

 

Regardless, how advanced we get mother nature will balance our numbers. Just because our numbers are being counted with more precision doesnt mean the world population has grown more then it should have in the recent years.

[JohnF]

the answer is no

 

Which of my questions were you attempting to answer?

[stormwarrior]

the ocean cannot be salt free its not part of the cycle of life and what I was trying to get at in length is that the salt in the ocean is caused by the cycle of life in which we are a vital part thereof.

[JohnF]

the ocean cannot be salt free its not part of the cycle of life and what I was trying to get at in length is that the salt in the ocean is caused by the cycle of life in which we are a vital part thereof.

 

I see you misunderstood the original question then.

 

Considering this is Pseudoscience and Speculations my original question was based on the idea that the land became submerged; speculative. I then went on to consider whether the salt would remain in solution indefinitely.

 

I would further suggest that even without life the oceans/seas would still contain salt within the current geology.

 

Nice try though; keep it up.