Oceanic salt evaporation

JHOFMANN@CCVAX.FULLERTON.EDU
Mon, 23 Oct 1995 23:10:05 -0800 (PST)

Greetings:
As some of you know, I teach a seminar on "Evolution and
Creation" at California State University- Fullerton. During the
last few classes we have been discussing young earth creationism.
I showed the seminar Glenn Morton's book and quoted a few passages.
We had some trouble with the following passage on page 17 where
Glenn is responding to young earth theorists who he argues do not
sufficiently address methods through which salt is removed from the
sea. [This is in the context of an argument that, at the rates at
which salt is entering and leaving the sea, and the present salt
content, the sea cannot be billions of years old.]

However, it is by evaporation that most of the salt is
believed to have been removed from the sea. Is there any
evidence that salt has evaporated from the oceans? Quite
simply, it is everywhere. Occasionally, due to
continental drift, the ocean basins become configured in
such such a way that evaporation deposits salt on the ocean floor.
This leaves salt sandwiched between other sediments.

I and my students don't understand how "evaporation deposits salt
on the ocean floor". If anyone can help us with this, we would be
most grateful, Glenn of course preferably, but he may not have
time.

Thanks, Jim Hofmann
jhofmann@ccvax.fullerton.edu