Why is the Atlantic Ocean saltier than the Pacific?

The surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean are a lot saltier than the Pacific surface water (Fig. 1), Why? The water vapor transport (about 0.3 Sv, equal to about two Amazon Rivers) carried by the trade winds across the Isthmus of Central America (Fig. 2) may explain the salty North Atlantic. read more

The Atlantic is also the most saline ocean at each depth. If you compare the salinity averaged across all latitudes and longitudes of each basin, as a function of depth (or potential temperature as in the figure below), both the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic are saltier than the Pacific. read more

The water vapor transport (about 0.3 Sv, equal to about two Amazon Rivers) carried by the trade winds across the Isthmus of Central America (Fig. 2) may explain the salty North Atlantic. read more