Salts dissolve in water. look at the image of the water cycle. hypothesize as to the original source of the salts in the oceans on earth. a) water collecting on earth chemically erodes the continental crust. b) elements found within the earth, dissolve in water, enter the water cycle, and return to the oceans. c) elements in the atmosphere fall back to earth when combined with water in some form of precipitation. d) evaporation leaves behind salts that eventually combine with the water that covers the oceanic plates.