Are Ocean-Derived Minerals Safe?
Read the previous article in this series here:
"Sea water" is hardly a term that inspired confidence. We think of the oceans as too salty to consume (at best), and polluted and dying (at worst).
Could a fundamental misunderstanding be depriving us of the last pure source of vital nutrients?
Circulate.
Our planet never rests. Mirroring the many resident lifeforms that call planet earth home, the earth also has a circulatory system. The world's oceans connect and combine to form one giant body that covers more than 70% of the surface area of the planet.
​
The study of ocean currents has given birth to the term "thermohaline circulation". In simple terms, this just means the way ocean currents move around the planet. It so happens that having a grasp of how the planet's circulatory system works, through ocean currents, opens up to us a previously missed opportunity.
What can we learn from the movement of ocean water across the planet, and can this teach us anything as to the safety of certain ocean reserves? Let's follow the journey of ocean water as it leaves the tip of the Florida coast.
​
Thermohaline Circulation
​
-
The gulf stream carries warm water from the equator north and east away from the south-eastern corner of the United States toward Europe.
-
As evaporation and cooling make the water dense, it sinks low and swings anti-clockwise near the Arctic. From here is starts its deep-ocean-current journey south past the north and south American land masses.
-
Eventually it reaches the Southern Ocean where it circumnavigates the Antarctic landmass, sometimes more than once, before picking up energy and rising toward the surface where it spins off northwards into the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
-
As the current heads north the warmer climate raises the ocean temperature where it rises before circling south once again to either join the Southern Ocean or the Atlantic.
-
It takes up to 1,000 years to complete this journey just once.
-
Due to this slow movement of ocean currents, the Southern Ocean generally carries the pollution levels of the Northern Hemisphere from several hundred years ago.
​
The last reservoir of pure nutrients on earth.
​The Southern Ocean is a cold, deep water system. It is sparse in human activity and full of nutrients. There is no purer source of ionic minerals on earth.​​​
​
Ocean-derived sea minerals sourced from the Southern Ocean may be considered the highest quality source of ions on the planet, both in purity and nutrient content.
​
Enjoy!