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They are used by organisms but they are not removed from circulation. Other ions, calcium etc. are used and incorporated into insoluble minerals.
by hoseja 3y ago
They are used by organisms but they are not removed from circulation. Other ions, calcium etc. are used and incorporated into insoluble minerals.
- mcv 3y agoThanks. That sounds like the real explanation. Although this graph of the abundance of elements[0] puts sodium with the rock-forming elements (and chloride just inside, but on the edge). So doesn't that mean they should also form insoluble minerals? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elemental_abundances.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elemental_abundances.svg
- pjc50 3y agoChemistry stackexchange says yes, they do: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/82328/are-there-any-sodium-salts-that-are-insoluble-in-water https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/82328/are-ther... (wow, there are a lot of different minerals https://www.mindat.org/element/Sodium https://www.mindat.org/element/Sodium .. ah, 50% of the earth's rocks are feldspars which contain some sodium. https://www.imerys.com/minerals/feldspar https://www.imerys.com/minerals/feldspar )
- mcv 3y agoBut if sodium does form insoluble rocks, why is there so much of it still in the oceans? And what about chloride?
- pjc50 3y ago> But if sodium does form insoluble rocks, why is there so much of it still in the oceans? There's more than enough to go round? (Feldspars in particular need aluminum, so once that's all bound up you aren't going to get more feldspar even if there is surplus sodium. Think of the sea as the leftovers in a non-stochiometric reaction.)
- mcv 3y agoMakes sense, but still, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elemental_abundances.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elemental_abundances.svg there's even more aluminum than sodium on earth.
- hoseja 3y agoBecause the insoluble rocks are igneous, not biologically created. No mollusk has a feldspar shell or something.