All waters in nature, whether rain water or ocean water, contain dissolved mineral salts. Salinity is the term used to define the total content of dissolved salts in sea water. Factors affecting ocean salinity are mentioned below:

• The salinity of water in the surface layer of oceans depends mainly on evaporation and precipitation.
• Surface salinity is greatly influenced in coastal regions by the fresh water flow from rivers, and in Polar Regions by the processes of freezing and thawing of ice.
• Wind, also influences salinity of an area by transferring water to other areas.
• The ocean currents contribute to the salinity variations. Salinity, temperature and density of water are interrelated. Hence, any change in the temperature or density influences the salinity of water in an area.

Source: NCERT