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'''Sea salt''' is the [[salt]] found in certain bodies of [[water]], notably [[oceans]] and [[seas]], and certain [[river]]s. It is the key differentiation between "saltwater" and "freshwater".
Scientific theories behind the origins of sea salt started with [[Sir Edmond Halley]] in [[1715]], who proposed that salt and other [[mineral]]s were carried into the sea by rivers, leached out of the ground by [[rain]] runoff. Seawater through the process of [[evaporation]] creates clouds which replenished rivers and streams with rain: the salt is not capable of [[evaporation]], leaving oceans with a high level of salinity. Halley noted that of the small number of lakes in the world without ocean outlets, such as the [[Dead Sea]] and the [[Caspian Sea]], have very high salinity levels. Halley called this process "continental weathering".
Halley's theory is partly correct: in addition, [[sodium]] was leached out of the ocean floor when the oceans were first formed. The presence of the other element of salt, [[chlorine]] results from "outgassing" of chlorine and other
Ocean salinity has been stable for millions of years, most likely as a consequence of a chemical/tectonic system which recycles the salt. Since the ocean's creation, sodium is no longer leached out of the ocean floor, but instead is forming sedimentary layers on the ocean beds. One theory is that [[plate tectonics]] result in the salt being forced under the land masses, where it is again leached to the surface.
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