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The oceans provide most of the water that is needed to fuel the water
cycle on Earth. As the diagram shows, the majority of evaporation and
precipitation occur over the oceans. Precipitation on land usually is
dependant on how much moisture is left in the clouds as they move over
land.
The precipitation on land will create runoff. This will migrate down
toward sea level bringing eroded sediment into the system. Most of the
world’s oceans are composed of 35 parts per million salts. This is
called "salinity." The oceans have evolved through
billions of years and represent the "end of the line" for rain
water on land.
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