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What causes the saltiness in ocean water?
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As water flows in rivers, it picks up small amounts of mineral salts from the rocks and soil of the river beds. This very-slightly salty water flows into the oceans and seas. The water in the oceans only leaves by evaporating (and the freezing of polar ice), but the salt remains dissolved in the ocean - it does not evaporate. So the remaining water gets saltier and saltier as time passes.
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Check out this little short animated film. It is a neat little fable about how the sea became salt.. . http://www.atomfilms.com/af/content/how_sea_salt
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