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Contents of Sea Water

Seawater is composed of many elements and minerals. Aside from the fact that it is made up of water and salt, seawater also contains dissolved gases, particulates and other chemicals. People mainly use seawater to create table salt, but it is also useful in creating methanol and even bio-insecticide.

Taste and Salinity
- There are a lot of elements responsible for the unique taste of seawater, but two main elements give sea water its salty taste: sodium and chloride. These two elements make up about 85 percent of the dissolved solids contained in seawater. Typically, seawater has a salinity of about 3.5 percent.
Other Important Elements
- Other than sodium and chloride, there are several other elements usually detectable in seawater. These elements are far less in amount when compared to sodium and chloride, but they are easily identifiable when compared to trace elements found in seawater in much smaller amounts. These secondary main elements include magnesium, calcium, bicarbonate, potassium, sulfate and bromide.
Trace Elements
- There are about 72 types of chemical elements found in seawater; most of these are trace elements. Dissolved particulates and substances are present, mainly contributed by rivers. Seawater from deeper parts of the ocean also chemical substances released by the earth's crust through hydrothermal vents and underwater volcanoes. Hydrothermal vents are known to release silicon, barium, calcium and sulfides like hydrogen sulfide, lead sulfide and molybdenum sulfide. Underwater volcanoes release lava when they erupt; lava contains minerals such as silicon, potassium oxides, phosphorus, iron, aluminum, magnesium, calcium and even titanium.
Dissolved Gases
- Oxygen and carbon dioxide are two of the most abundant dissolved gases in seawater. These two elements make abundant life possible under the sea. Other dissolved gases found in seawater include nitrogen and argon.

Rocks & Minerals