How much salt is in the ocean?

The ocean has a huge lot of salt. It has so much because rivers bring salt. In one big water bottle, about two spoonfuls. All the salt together is mountain-big.

The ocean has about two spoonfuls of salt in every big water bottle of seawater. In all the oceans together, that is about 46 quadrillion tons of salt. Rivers wash tiny bits of salt from rocks into the sea. The sun warms the sea, so water rises into the air, like steam from soup, but the salt stays behind.

The ocean is about 3.5% salt. In 1 liter, a large bottle of seawater, about 35 grams is salt, roughly two tablespoons. Across all oceans, that is about 46 quadrillion metric tons. Salt gets there when rain and rivers dissolve minerals, meaning they break tiny bits from rocks into water. Water evaporates, turning into vapor, but the salt stays. Fun fact: spread over land, ocean salt would make a layer about 150 meters thick.