Why does fresh water evaporate faster then salt-water?

Considering that salt does not evaporate with water, what makes the ocean air salty?

• Here are some of the possibilities I came up with. As the salt could not directly come from the ocean, a few of my ideas assume dealing with salt deposits on the beach/shore. A. Waves, splashes throw the saltwater into the air, allowing some of the water to evaporate and the dissolved salt to either evaporate as well or dissolve into the air. B. Salt deposits on the beach are exposed to wind erosion, putting salt in the air. C. Salt deposits on such a massive scale have enough sublimation to make a major impact around the oceans. D. The ocean air is not really salty, it is the dryness of the air caused by the salt that creates the different atmosphere (I doubt this, but it has probably been two years since I went to the beach) Unfortunately I get seasick, so the last time I've been far out to see I don't remember if the air was still salty. Thanks!

• Answer:

  An interesting question and good reasoning on your part. The answer is "A" as you have outlined it. Sodium chloride has a very low vapor pressure and will not evaporate or sublime except at exceedingly high temperatures. However, the action of the waves throws very tiny droplets of salt water into the air. When the water evaporates, it leaves nano scale particles of sodium chloride dispersed in the air. It turns out this is a severe problem for manufacture of electronic components. I was involved in a company considering building a capacitor manufacturing facility in San Diego. We determined that we could not build the facility within 3 miles of the ocean because of the nano scale particulate sodium chloride in the air which would cause unacceptable impurities in the product.