Different crystals of snowflakesNatural water carries a lot of material with it as it flows along all kinds of ground -- sand, clay, limestone, granite. Some scientists say that by knowing the composition of a riverbed you can tell the answer to the composition of a river.As mentioned earlier, silicate aluminates are widely distributed in nature, but natural water does not contain as much aluminum or silicon. What's more, all rivers and seawater contain alkali metals-sodium and potassium, as well as other elements like magnesium and calcium. Why is this? The reason is that the chemical composition of water is related to the solubility of salts in water. The most soluble chemicals are the ones most commonly found in natural water. We have already said that sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, bromine and several other elements are the main components of the residue left behind by the evaporation of natural water. Natural brine contains the same water-soluble compounds that water washes out of rocks. The oceans are seen as a shelter for all water-soluble salts, which have accumulated in the oceans since the beginning of the earth's existence, as water circulates continuously between the land and the sea. Scientists have tried to work out how old the oceans are by counting the amount of salt in them and the amount that rivers wash into them each year, but the answers are unreliable.