CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY

It was recognized in early civilizations that most elements are dissolved in seawater. Many kings and queens in early dynasties would hire court "alchemists" to try and extract gold from seawater. Most alchemists were unsuccessful because it takes more money to extract the element than the element is worth.

The major chemical components include chlorine, sodium, magnesium, sulfate, calcium, and potassium. The bonding of chlorine and sodium produces a major resource from seawater, salt. The minor components include bromine, carbon, strontium, boron, silica, and fluorine.

Some of these elements and compounds go in and out of dissolution in seawater. Many of the elements are used in biological processes to produce skeletons and then deposited on the ocean bottom. If the sediments are buried, the elements are taken out of the chemical pot.