Lithium has a conservative distribution in the ocean that varies primarily due to differences in evaporation or precipitation in the water that sank to form intermediate or deep waters in the sea
Lithium exists in seawater as the Li+ ion. The lithium residence time was calculated from the global average river input (Stoffyn-Egli and MaKenzie, 1984). Lithium can be determined by flame photometry or atomic absorption spectrophotometry.