Rock salt. Salt

How, then, were the reserves of table salt formed in the earth? Why are thick layers of rock salt found in the strata of rocks?

We know that salt is deposited in isolated areas of the earth's surface, which have a limited connection with the sea, where new portions of sea water are constantly or periodically supplied, and where, due to the dry climate, and therefore strong evaporation, the brine becomes more and more saturated.

Where these areas of the surface gradually subsided, due to the tectonic movements of the earth's crust, powerful deposits of sodium chloride were formed.

But how did the salt get into the sea? Why are rock salt deposits located either deep in rocks, or protrude to the surface of the earth, or sometimes form the so-called salt domes?

To answer these questions, we must first of all tell a little about the geological past of our Earth.

Since its inception, the globe has gradually changed its face.

Apparently, billions of years ago, our planet was surrounded by a thick impenetrable curtain of water vapor. They gradually cooled, thickened into clouds and fell to the ground in showers. Water filled the depressions of the earth, forming seas and lagoons. Rainwater, streams from mountain ranges and erupted hot waters poured into them.

“It is necessary to think,” wrote Academician V. A. Obruchev, “that the water of the primitive sea was already salty, since among the gases escaping from the magma were the constituent parts of various salts”.

Chemical compounds that were washed out of rocks and were in the atmosphere were carried along with water in a dissolved form. Apparently, table salt ended up in the primitive ocean. According to Academician AE Fersman, "From here begins the history of her wandering above the earth, underground and in the earth itself."

The water, which entered into its constant circulation on the surface of the globe, throughout the subsequent geological history of the earth, brought more and more reserves of salts to the seas and oceans.

According to the calculations of geologists, rivers and now annually bring 2735 million tons of various salts to the seas from the land. Of these, 157 million tons are sodium chloride. From this alone, one can judge how large the reserves of salt dissolved in the ocean are.

The distribution of continents and oceans on the Earth's surface has changed more than once. This happened during mountain building processes and from the extremely slow vibrations of the earth's crust, which are observed in our time. The earth's crust in different places slowly descends, and then the sea water floods the land, then rises, and then the sea recedes and the seabed is exposed.

It is known from the geological past of our Motherland that more than two hundred million years ago, in the so-called Permian period of the Earth's history, the waters of the ancient Perm Sea flooded on the vast surface of the European part of Russia, reaching a million square kilometers. It stretched from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the Caspian lowland.

This sea has existed for fifty million years. It covered the entire east of the European part of the country. Some of its bays and tongues in the north came under the very Arkhangelsk. In the south, long sleeves extended to the Donets Basin and Kharkov. In the southeast, it went far south.

For hundreds of thousands of years, this sea has changed its shape. It then receded, then again flooded a vast expanse of land. This huge sea was gradually shallowing, forming separate lakes along the shores. The humid climate was replaced by the winds and sun of the desert.

“Young Ural ridges were destroyed by powerful hot winds - everything was blown to the shores of the dying Perm Sea. The sea receded south. In the north, gypsum and table salt accumulated in lakes and estuaries, ”wrote AE Fersman. And in the southeast of our country, the Black Sea was sometimes connected with the Caspian Sea, sometimes it was disconnected, until, finally, they were finally separated from each other by the last uplift of the Caucasus Mountains.

The barren, sandy desert with salt lakes scattered over it between the Caspian and Aral seas was also once the seabed. The soil of the desert is still saturated with salt, and it contains many sea shells that once lived in the ancient, disappeared sea.

And in those areas where there were estuaries and bays that had a limited connection with the sea, where there was a dry climate and where the earth's crust subsided, we now find deposits of rock salt.

As you know, the formation of the earth's crust did not always proceed calmly. The gigantic force of underground pressures more than once crushed the earth's crust into folds. Mountain ranges protruded, dips and sinks occurred. During these displacements of rock strata, strata of sedimentary rocks deposited on the bottom of the former seas sometimes emerged on the surface of the earth. Layers of rock salt also came out to the surface, while in other places the salt remained buried at great depths.

Let's take a look at the vastness of the CIS. The Volga region, the Urals and Central Asia are famous for the richest salt deposits here. Rock salt deposits stretch between the Urals and the Emba, from Solikamsk up to the Caspian steppes, over six thousand square kilometers with a capacity of 450-500 meters. Ukraine is also rich in this respect - salt layers occur in the Donetsk depression, forming large accumulations in the region of Artemovsk and Slavyansk.

With the difference in vertical pressures in the earth's strata, due to the plasticity of the salt, the so-called "salt domes" - powerful salt deposits were formed. Salt is so plastic that under pressure it flows like resin and forms stocks and domes several kilometers high. In the Caspian region, in the Ukraine and in the lower reaches of the Khatanga River, there are over a thousand salt domes formed during the formation of the Ural Mountains.

But underground rock salt deposits are not the only sources of table salt.

A huge number of salt lakes and lagoons - the remnants of dried up or once gone seas - also serve as rich reservoirs of salt. Here, in evaporating estuaries and lakes, sodium chloride crystals, falling out of solution, settle to the bottom and form layers of salt over time.

In desert and semi-desert areas, lagoons, cut off from the sea, sometimes turn into a kind of natural "chemical laboratories" under the scorching rays of the sun. They transform various substances and form various salts, including sodium chloride.

One of the most majestic natural "laboratories" is the gulf of the Caspian Sea - Kara-Bogaz-Gol.

This bay is separated from the sea by a long spit, and only a narrow strait still connects it with the sea. Not a single river flows into Kara-Bogaz. The waterless steppe lies all around. The dry steppe wind and the scorching sun quickly evaporate the waters, and if water from the sea had not flowed into the bay, then Kara-Bogaz would have dried up long ago. Its water is not like ordinary sea water. It is a thick brine solution, in which the salt concentration is twenty-four times higher than in the Caspian Sea. It has been established that hundreds of millions of tons of various salts are annually brought into the bay together with seawater, while the water from the bay evaporates quickly, and thus a thick brine is obtained in it, from which mainly mirabilite (Glauber's salt ) and halite (table salt). Huge reserves of mirabilite have made Kara-Bogaz-Gol famous as a field of world importance. In addition to mirabilite and table salt, magnesium sulfate, magnesium chloride and other salts are also obtained here.

There are many salt lakes associated with the sea in Crimea and Moldova. Some of them have not yet completely separated from the sea, others are separated from the sea only by a narrow spit.

The Crimean salt lakes are distinguished not only by the richness and variety of salts, but also by the inexhaustibility of their salt reserves. These are in the full sense of the word "inexhaustible" sources of table salt. Most of them owe their origin to the sea, from which they were gradually separated by spits and barrows.

Strong evaporation of water led to the fact that the water level in the lakes compared to sea level dropped significantly and the brine in them thickened. But the sea continues to enrich these lakes with salt, as sea water seeps through the sand bars and barrows and enters the lakes.

However, not all salt lakes have separated from the sea. Many lakes arose differently. They have never been associated with the sea and are therefore called continental. So, in the Caspian steppes, there are many deep depressions, into which spring streams rush and rainwater accumulates. And since the soil in these areas is saturated with salt, the flowing water erodes this salt, dissolves it, and the lake becomes salty. This is how the Central Asian, Trans-Baikal and Siberian salt lakes were formed.

Among the steppes and deserts, salt lakes stand out sharply for their whiteness. Salt crystals from the sun's rays shimmer with a multi-colored rainbow.

The layer of salt deposits in some lakes reaches several tens of meters in thickness. This applies primarily to lakes that are associated with their food with deep salt deposits, for example, Elton, Baskunchak, Inder.

The largest lake from which table salt is now extracted in Russia is Baskunchak. It seems to be associated with the salt domes in the depths. Some lakes are constantly fed with salt, which comes into them from the soil surrounding the desert. That is why their salt riches are so great and inexhaustible. This assumption is confirmed by the example of some small lakes, the salt reserves of which are sometimes depleted after several years of development. However, some time passes, and the waters of the lake are again saturated with salt. Obviously, salt dissolves in the soil by rainwater, and therefore, these lakes really feed on salt from the surrounding saline desert.

There are many salt marshes in the dry southern countries. Here the scorching sun heats the soil up to 70-79 degrees in summer, and the slightest reserves of soil moisture evaporate; with strong evaporation, salty groundwater rises through capillaries in the sand. Water evaporates and salts are deposited in the topsoil. This is how salt marshes are formed where the subsoil salt water is at a depth of 1-2 meters.

In ancient times, farmers could not fight against soil salinization. Illiterate exploitation and over-watering caused saline groundwater levels to rise, and high evaporation caused salinization. Therefore, many lands in Central Asia turned into areas of the so-called secondary salt marshes.

The third source of salt is mineral waters that come to the surface of the earth from its depths.

Flowing underground among various rocks, water dissolves readily soluble salts in them and again draws them into the cycles of underground and overground wanderings.

These wanderings of the salts are complex and intricate. They travel from the ocean to the land and into the atmosphere, from there to the rivers and further back to the ocean; and the second way: from underground sedimentary strata - to the surface of the earth and again into the depths of the earth ...

But that's not all.

Fine salt dust swept away by winds from the surface of dry salt marshes, the slightest droplets of sea water caught by the wind, the eruptions of active volcanoes, the evaporation of salt lakes - all this contributes to the cycle of salts on the planet's surface.

Man, animals and plants, absorbing the salt they need, also participate in this cycle.

Salt comes in a variety of flavors, sizes, shapes, colors, and degrees of salinity. It all really depends on its origin. It is impossible to cover all the many types of salt, but the editor of the "Food" section of The Village Anna Maslovskaya decided to understand the issue and classify the main ones.

Origin

Sea salt is extracted from brine concentrated by the sun, which is formed in the place of areas filled with salt water. It is scraped off, dried, and sometimes recrystallized. Another way to get sea salt is by freezing it. Not evaporating the water, but putting the sea water in the cold.

Salt is mined in a similar way to sea salt: by evaporating water from underground salt springs or by evaporating water in salt marshes. In these places, salt water stagnates on the surface of the earth, but does not come from the sea, but from other sources.

Rock, or mineral, salt is mined in mines. It is formed due to the flow of saline springs or, for example, in the place of dried up seas. Until recently, along with boiled sea salt, mineral salt was the most popular in the world.

Salt, depending on the method of its extraction, is then either grinded or sieved. Thus, it is divided by caliber: from small to large.

Fine table salt

She's food salt. As a rule, it is of stone or cage origin. The second option is considered as clean as possible. It is obtained by repeated recrystallization of brine and, apart from salt, contains little in itself - white table salt has a purity of at least 97%. While stone can contain a significant amount of impurities that affect the taste. When sifting it, you can find microscopic pieces of clay and stones. In Russia, the largest places for the extraction of table salt are Lake Baskunchak in the Astrakhan region and Lake Elton in the Volgograd region.

Table salt has the purest salty taste, which is both its advantage and disadvantage. The main plus is that it allows you to accurately dose the amount during cooking. Minus - its taste is flat and one-dimensional. Table salt is one of the cheapest types of salt along with mineral salt.

Kosher Salt

A special case of ordinary table salt. It differs in that the size of its granules is larger than that of ordinary salt, and the shape of the crystals is different. Not cubes, but granules, flat or pyramidal in shape, obtained through a special evaporation process. Thanks to the shape, the amount of salt is easier to feel with your fingers, which is why in America, where this salt is produced in large quantities, it has become the industry standard in professional kitchens. It tastes almost the same as ordinary table salt, but there is a nuance: it is never iodized.

Salt is called kosher because it is used for koshering meat, that is, rubbing the carcass to remove residual blood.

Rock salt

Iranian Blue Salt

Cooking food rock salt of grinding No. 1

This is a large family, most often under the name of which is meant white table salt, mined by the mine method. For example, salt mined in the Artyomovskoye field in Ukraine, the supply of which to Russia is now limited due to sanctions. As a rule, it is white, but sometimes it has a slightly gray or yellowish tint. Salts with brighter impurities often take on their own names. For example, black Himalayan salt, which will be discussed below. Rock salt is also used for technical purposes - for example, to salt a pool or sprinkle a road.

Sea salt

Iodized sea salt from the Adriatic Sea

Black Lava Sea Hawaiian Salt

There are many types of it due to their origin. Since all seas are different in chemical profile, this is reflected in the taste and composition of the salt. Sometimes this salt is recrystallized to obtain pure table salt. Its value lies in the variety of tastes and the presence of additional impurities that enrich the taste.

Fleur de sel

Fleur de sel from Lake Rø

Swedish salt flakes

Salt flakes are highly prized by chefs and consumers alike. Depending on the origin, it differs in shape, appearance, humidity and salinity. Its traditional name is fleur de sel. As a rule, this is sea salt, crystals of which grow on the edges of salt baths, in the process of slow evaporation of water, overgrowing with beautiful growths, which, as a rule, are collected by hand at a certain stage of growth. That is, both coarse-crystalline salt and salt flakes can be obtained from the same source.

Salt is mined in the form of flakes in various places in the world, but there are three most famous deposits: salt from the French island of Rø, Moldonian salt from the south-east of England and salt from a large deposit in Portugal.

Maldon is a very famous fleur de sel salt, mined in the Maldon area of ​​Essex in the south-east of England since the late 19th century. It is correct to say “Moldon”, although “Maldon” has managed to take root in Russia. Moldovan salt is a separate type of salt, which differs from fleur de sel in that its crystals are larger, up to a centimeter. It is also slightly saltier than the classic fleur de sel. Being sea salt and having the shape of flat crystals, it is delicate, creates a pleasant sensation, exploding on the tongue with salty sparks. This makes Moldovan salt a versatile finishing tool.

Black Himalayan Salt

Pink Himalayan Salt

Coarse mineral salt, the color of which is due to the presence of impurities of potassium chloride and iron oxide. In total, salt contains about 5% of all kinds of impurities. It is used in hand mills for finishing dishes, that is, not only for salting dishes, but also for decoration.

Pink Himalayan salt is mined in large blocks, which are then cut out, in the Punjab region, mainly in the troughs of the Himalayas, in Pakistan and India. Salt blocks are even used for interior work.

Pink hawaiian salt

Sedimentary sea salt, which was first collected in Hawaii. Now its main production takes place in California. The bright pink-brown color of medium-sized salt crystals is imparted by clay inclusions. An expensive product with a slightly iron flavor. According to some reports, it is considered particularly useful. But what you definitely can't argue with is that she is beautiful, which makes serving dishes ideal.

Interesting fact

In foreign literature, the term "pink salt" means a special product based on salt with the addition of sodium nitrite, which is used for the production of meat products.

Flavored Salts

Black Thursday Salt

There are many types of aromatic salts, and they are all invented and made by man. Such salt can be of any origin, the main thing in it is the combination of two functions: salting the dish with its aromatization. For this, additives are placed in the salt or the necessary manipulations are performed above the salt itself, for example, smoking. Additives can be anything: flowers, spices, herbs, berries, and even wine.

Thursday salt stands out on this list because it is the result of rather complex manipulations. Initially, this salt was ritual (like pink Hawaiian salt), now it is more often used because of its unusual taste. This salt is prepared as follows: table salt is mixed in equal proportions with leavened bread or rye bread soaked in water; put in an oven (sometimes buried in ashes), oven or overheated in a frying pan. After the monolithic piece is split and pounded in a mortar.

Interesting fact

Charcoal salt is used in many culinary traditions such as Japan and Korea. Just like Thursday, it is made by human hands. A similar example from Korea is bamboo salt: mOrsk salt is literally baked in bamboo.

Rock salt is a sedimentary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride. The composition of impurities depends on the characteristics of the deposits. Why is it rock salt, and not just, for example, sodium or chloride? This name reflects the state of the mineral and the attitude of a person towards it. In the state of a natural deposit, these are really salty stones. Then, after processing, halite, as this salt is also called, becomes just a former salty powder. It is in this form that it acquires the name of table salt.

Rock salt is a sedimentary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride

Halite stone belongs to the natural minerals of the halogen class of the sodium chloride subclass. However, most of the people on the planet know this stone as simply salt.

The mineral halite got its scientific name in Ancient Greece. The translation of this word is ambiguous, but its meaning is with two concepts - sea and salt. The chemical formula of rock salt is simple - it is NaCl as the main substance and other elements as impurities. Pure rock salt contains 61% chlorine and 39% sodium.

In its pure form, this mineral can be:

• transparent;
• opaque but translucent;
• colorless or white with signs of a glassy sheen.

However, pure NaCl is rare in nature. Its deposits can have shades of colors:

• yellow and red (presence of iron oxide);
• dark - from brown to black (impurities of decomposed organic matter, for example, humus);
• gray (clay impurities);
• blue and lilac (presence of potassium chloride).

The mineral halite is fragile, hygroscopic and, of course, salty. It dissolves well in water at any temperature, but melts only at high temperatures - not lower than 800 ° C. When the fire melts, it turns yellow.

The crystal structure of rock salt is a dense cube, in the nodes of which there are negative chlorine ions. Octahedral voids between chlorine atoms are filled with positively charged sodium ions. The structure of the crystal lattice is a sample of ideal order - in it, each chlorine atom is surrounded by six sodium atoms, and each sodium atom is adjacent to the same number of chlorine ions.

Ideal cubic crystals in some deposits are replaced by octahedral ones. In salt lakes, crusts and drusen can form on the bottom.

Gallery: rock salt (25 photos)

Massage with stones from rock salt (video)

The origin of salt deposits

Rock salt is a mineral of exogenous origin. Salt deposits were formed during sedimentary processes in a dry and hot climate. The origin of the salt deposits is associated with the slow drying out of closed salt lakes, sea bays and shallow waters.

In small quantities, halite salt is formed during soil salinization, during volcanic activity. Soil salinization occurs in arid regions. This process can develop in natural or anthropogenic conditions. Natural salinization occurs where groundwater with increased salinity approaches the surface. This water evaporates and a salt crust forms on the soil surface. In addition, the soil can also become saline from above, for example, during surge sea floods or tsunamis. In this case, a large amount of salty sea water penetrates into the lower horizons of the soil, and then evaporates, and salt deposits on the surface.

A person salines the soil with abundant watering in an arid climate. In regions where the evaporation of water from the lower soil layers in aggregate exceeds the inflow of water with precipitation, the soil is highly mineralized. If it is watered, then evaporation also increases. As a result, minerals deposited in different soil layers come to the surface. On such soil, a salt crust forms, which prevents any manifestation of life.

Rock salt is classified according to its origin into the following categories.

1. Self-sedimentary, which forms in evaporite basins, deposited with granular crusts and drusen.
2. Stone, lying in large layers between different rocks.
3. Volcanic salt rock that is deposited in fumaroles, craters and lavas.
4. Salt marshes, which represent salt crusts on the soil surface in an arid climate.

Geography of the main deposits

Halite is concentrated mainly in the deposits of the Permian period. This was about 250 - 300 million years ago. Then a dry and hot climate was formed almost everywhere in Eurasia and North America. Salt water ponds dried out quickly, and the salt layers were gradually covered by other sedimentary rocks.

On the territory of Russia, the largest halite deposits are located in the Urals (Solikamskoye and Iletskoye deposits), in Eastern Siberia near Irkutsk (Usolye-Sibirskoye deposit). Halite is mined on an industrial scale in the lower reaches of the Volga, as well as on the shores of the famous salt lake Baskunchak.

Significant halite deposits are located:

• in the Donetsk region (Artyomovskoye field);
• in Crimea (Sivash region);
• in the north of India in the state of Punjab;
• in the USA - the states of New Mexico, Louisiana, Kansas, Utah;
• in Iran - the Urmia deposit;
• in Poland - the Bochnia and Wieliczka salt mines;
• in Germany near Bernburg, where halite has blue and lilac shades;
• large salt lakes are located in the western part of South America.

Use of rock salt

No matter how scolded the use of rock salt in the food industry and in everyday life, a person cannot do without this “white death”. These are not just compounds of minerals, although the complex composition of rock salt in some deposits is highly valued in medicine. Salt dissolved in water or in food is an increase in the number of ions, that is, positively and negatively charged particles, which activates all processes in the body.

However, halite has found its use in the chemical industry as well. For example, the production of hydrochloric acid, sodium peroxide and other compounds that are in demand in various industries cannot do without NaCl. The use of halite, in addition to its use in food, provides more than 10,000 different production and final consumption processes.

This mineral is still the most popular and cheapest preservative that helps people live from one harvest to another, transport food over long distances, and stock up on food for future use. Salt's function as a preservative has saved and is now saving people around the world from hunger.

In our time, sodium chloride has become one of the cheapest foods. And once there were salt riots. The wagons with this product moved under heavy guard. This product was part of the soldiers' rations. Perhaps the consonance of the words of the soldiers and the salt is not accidental.

How rock and extra salt is produced (video)

Salt mining methods

How is halite mined in our time? Modern mining is carried out using several methods.

1. Mass production of large quantities of rock salt is carried out by the mine method, which consists in extracting rock salt from sedimentary rocks. Since halite is a solid solid monolith, it must be softened at high temperature and under pressure. To raise salt to the surface, special salt combines are used.
2. The vacuum method is to digest minerals from water with a high concentration of dissolved salt. To obtain brine, a well is drilled, reaching the rock salt deposit. After that, clean fresh water is pumped into the bowels. The mineral quickly dissolves in it, forming a saturated solution. After that, the brine is pumped out to the surface. Usually, salt is mined in this way for food and medical needs, since the brine does not contain impurities of other rocks.
3. The lake method is based on the extraction of salt from open salt reservoirs. This method does not require the construction of boreholes or the construction of mines. However, the product obtained in this way needs to be thoroughly cleaned, which affects the cost.
4. The method of evaporating sea water has been practiced for about 2,000 years. It was popular in countries with dry and hot climates. To obtain salt from sea water, energy sources were not needed here, since the sun itself perfectly coped with the process of water evaporation. However, this process was very slow, therefore, with a large concentration of the population thirsty for salt, special heating was used.

The antipode of evaporation is a method practiced in regions with cold climates. The fact is that fresh water freezes faster than salt water. For this reason, the early ice in the vessel, when melted, was practically fresh water. At the same time, the concentration of salt in the remaining water increases. Thus, fresh water and saturated brine could be simultaneously obtained from sea water. Salt was boiled out of the late ice water quickly and with less energy consumption.

Nowadays, NaCl is a product that has become familiar, and the omen that spilled salt leads to a quarrel is puzzling. The use of sodium chloride in food has the character of bringing its taste to the state of sea water. This is the need for all organisms living on land.

The fact is that life originated in sea water. Not surprisingly, the internal environment of the human body corresponds to the parameters of salty sea water. So by consuming salt, we restore the mineral balance established by evolution. Just do not make a saturated solution from a weak saline solution and eat a lot of salt.

February 2, 2017

Rock salt (halite, Halite) is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. The chemical formula of NaCl is sodium chloride. A substance of natural origin, the main deposits are concentrated in places where seas and oceans were in ancient times. The formation of new deposits is ongoing, salt lakes, seas, estuaries are potential deposits. At the moment, elite varieties of edible salt are mined in existing lakes, and the underlying reserves are a zone of halite formation.

Origin

Halite has surface and fossil deposits. Surface deposits are divided into ancient deposits and modern formations. The ancients are mainly represented by rock salt of sedimentary origin at the sites of once existing bays, lakes, sea lagoons during a period when the planet was dry and very hot, which caused intense evaporation of water.

Fossil deposits occur in layers, stocks or domes below the earth's surface in sedimentary rocks. Fossil salt layers have a layered structure interspersed with clay and sandstone. The domed arrangement of halite is formed due to the movement of rocks, when the overlying strata, moving, push the softer deposits of rock salt into the weakened zones, the result is a dome. The size of the domed halite can reach several tens of kilometers.

Halite types

The halite mineral is distinguished into primary and secondary. The primary one received its education from the brine of ancient salt pools and is interspersed with other minerals. Secondary, later halite, formed as a result of redeposition of primary halite and is characterized by a high content of bromine.

The mineral of secondary origin has a transparent, coarse-grained structure and forms large nests in the rock salt mass. During the development of deposits, large nests of halite of secondary origin that come across sometimes surprise with the beauty and clarity of lines, a variety of color palette. In stratal deposits, halite is located in the form of veins, while its structure is denser, white, sometimes the peripheral ends are colored blue, which may indicate radioactivity.

Mineral characteristics

Halite has a glassy luster, hardness index - 2, specific gravity of the mineral - 2.1-2.2 g / cm 3. Crystals are white, gray, pink, blue, red / shade or colorless. In mass, a nugget can be painted in several colors. Crystalline halite is soldered in three directions of any facet of the cube. In nature, it occurs in the form of stalactites, druses, crystals, deposits, slugs, etc.

The mineral has an ionic crystal lattice consisting of positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chlorine ions. The taste of halite is salty, has a solid structure, it dissolves completely in water, giving a precipitate of impurities, at an increased concentration it precipitates in the form of crystals or flakes.

Place of Birth

The two largest world halite deposits are located in the Volgograd region of the Russian Federation, one is located on Lake Baskunchak, the second on Lake Elton. One of the long-discovered salt mines is the Sol-Iletskoye field in the Orenburg region and Usolskoye in Yakutia. Slavyano-Artyomovskoe and Prikarpatskoe deposits are being developed in Ukraine.

Large-area stratal deposits are located in Germany and Austria. In the United States, vast reserves of halite are found in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and the Saskatchewan Basin in Canada.

Main scope

Halite is most commonly used as a road deicing agent. The climatic conditions of most of the territory of Russia are characterized by long periods of cold, atmospheric precipitation, forming an ice shell. Given the length of the highways, no equipment is able to provide quick cleaning of the roadway. The use of halite-based mixtures helps to quickly and effectively cope with ice and ensure traffic safety.

Technical salt halite has the following advantages:

• Ease, versatility of use.
• Preservation of the qualities of the reagent at low temperatures (down to -30 ° C).
• Environmental Safety.
• Low consumption.
• Low cost.
• General availability.

Application features

Treatment of the roadway with a halite-based reagent provokes the formation of a slurry, which destroys the ice crust tightly adhered to the asphalt. The disadvantage of the reagent is the solidification of the entire mass (reagent and melted ice) at temperatures below -30 ° C.

For better cleaning of roads, halite salt is mixed with sand or stone chips, which allows faster and better cleaning of the asphalt from the ice cover. According to the technical specifications, no more than 150 grams of salt is required to clean one square meter of the road, which puts the mineral out of competition in comparison with other reagents. For domestic needs, especially in winter, you can purchase small packages of a mineral reagent. Technical salt halite, the price of which varies in retail from 5 rubles per kilogram, does an excellent job with the task.

Other uses

Technical salt (mineral halite) is used in industry in the following areas:

• Oil production. The main property of technical halite is the dissolution of ice, softening of frozen or hardened soil. In winter or in the Far North, a solution of mineral salt is pumped under pressure into drilled wells, which greatly facilitates further work and saves other resources.
• Tablet halite is used for washing industrial boilers, heating systems in order to get rid of scale. Also, this pressed form of the mineral is used as a filter element for the purification of large volumes of water, for example, in water supply wells. In addition to filtration, salt treatment relieves water from the appearance of microbes and microorganisms. For domestic purposes, it is used to reduce the hardness of hot water.
• Construction. Halite salt is used in the production of silicate bricks to make the final product resistant to sudden changes in temperature, as well as increasing the strength characteristics and lengthening the service life. Bricks with a salt additive have a lower production cost. The salt added to the cement slurry helps it to "set9raquo" faster, which speeds up the construction process and increases the durability and reliability of the building.

There are more than 14,000 areas in the world where industrial salt (halite) is used. In medicine, it is used for the production of saline solutions, antiseptics, preservatives and medicines. Technical salt has found application in the food industry as a refrigerant that allows you to quickly freeze and preserve food at an appropriate temperature.

Implementation

In the implementation, there are three types of minerals, the differences are in the characteristics:

• The highest grade - the sodium chloride content must be at least 97%, the content of foreign impurities is allowed no more than 0.85%.
• The first is not less than 90% of calcium chloride in the mass, foreign impurities - 5%.
• Second - the minimum content of the main element should be about 80%, impurities in the amount of 12% of the total mass are allowed.

The amount of moisture for any variety is regulated at a level of no more than 4.5%. The price at which technical salt (halite) is sold depends on the grade. The price per ton of raw materials ranges from 3500-3700 rubles (in a package).

According to GOST, storage and release of the mineral is allowed in bulk, in tons, in polypropylene packages of various weights. At the same time, salt packed in bags has a limited shelf life - up to five years, while unpackaged salt can be stored for a very long time.

The enterprises developing the deposits carry out the sale of the mineral by carriage rates for wholesale buyers, which allows increasing production. According to the grade, the cost of such a mineral as salt (halite) is also determined. The price per ton when sold by carriage norms varies in the range from 1400 to 2600 rubles.

In addition to technical applications, halite is sold as a necessary mineral supplement for animals, in which case the pressed mineral is produced in briquettes.

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Minerals: Rock Salt

Mining and chemical raw materials in the form of salt belong to the non-metallic group of minerals. Rock salt is distinguished by the lowest content of impurities, low humidity and the highest sodium chloride content - up to 99%.

If we consider the breed in its pure form, then it is colorless and water-transparent. Salt that is not refined can be mixed with clay rocks, organic substances, iron oxide, respectively, and the color of the salt can be gray, brown, red and even blue. Let's easily dissolve in water. In terms of transparency, halite has an amazing faint glassy luster. The world resources of rock salt are practically inexhaustible, since almost every country has deposits of this mineral.

Characteristics and types

Rock salt is formed as a result of the compaction of halite sedimentary deposits that arose in past geological eras. Occurs in large crystalline masses between rock strata. It is a natural crystalline mineral and an environmentally friendly product. The composition of rock salt contains a natural complex of biologically active macro and microelements. We can say with confidence that this type of salt is the most popular and massively sold. Subdivided into coarse and fine grinding. To increase iodine, iodized rock salt is produced.

Field and production

Solid salt deposits are found in many regions of the world, where they occur at depths ranging from a few hundred to over a thousand meters. Salt layers are cut with special harvesters underground, then the rock is transported to the surface of the earth by conveyors. Then, getting to the mills, it crumbles to obtain particles (crystals) of various sizes.

It is mined in more than a hundred countries. The largest producer is the USA (21%), followed by Japan (14%). In Russia, the breed is mined in the Urals and Eastern Siberia. Ukraine and Belarus also have large reserves.

The use of rock salt

Rock salt is a treasure trove of our planet. Most of the salt mined is used in the chemical, leather and food industries. For the human body, rock salt is an essential mineral. Humanity consumes about seven million tons of salt per year.

It is widely used in medicine. There are many methods that are popular and help to cure many diseases with the use of rock salt.

The use of salt in modern lamps is no longer considered a curiosity. The developers have proven that salt evaporates under the influence of heat, which is what makes it possible to effectively ionize the air in the room.

Properties of stones

Halite stone - salt. Halite properties. Description of halite

Halite is the only natural mineral that humans eat. In everyday life, halite is called rock or table salt. The word "halite" comes from the Greek gallos - sea salt.

Halite is an ordinary salt that is eaten every day by everyone. The name of the mineral in ancient Greece meant both salt and sea.

Genetic classification... Halite is formed almost exclusively by sediment, crystallizing from natural brines. Due to the fact that its solubility is almost independent of temperature, it separates from other dissolved salts. The same reason determines the tendency of halite to form skeletal and dendritic forms. Rock salt is deposited in sea bays when water evaporates.

Composition... The chemical formula is NaCl with a fairly frequent admixture of KCl, CaCl2 and MgCl2.

Physical properties :
a) color: in nature, halite is found in a transparent or white color (from air bubbles), red (from scattered particles of hematite), gray (from impurities of clay particles), yellow and blue (from scattered metallic sodium),
b) hardness: 2, perfect cube cleavage,
c) density: 2.2,
d) the degree of transparency: halite has a weak glass luster.

Features of education... It is assumed that halite is formed on the earth's surface during deposition in marine lagoons and salt lakes (in the latter case, during the evaporation of underground saline waters). However, according to some indications, the accumulation of thick layers of halite (hundreds of meters thick) requires certain conditions in the upper zones of the earth's crust and metamorphism of sediments at low pressures and temperatures.

Place of Birth... Sedimentary deposits of halite are found in many places, including at a depth of 1700 meters near Moscow. In Russia, halite is mined in the Donbass, the Perm region, the Lower Volga region and in the Ukraine in Transcarpathia. Wieliczka, Inowroclaw and Bochnia (Poland) are famous for their beautiful specimens. Large deposits are located in Germany (Strasbourg), Austria (Salzburg), and Ukraine. Halite is sodium chloride. The color of the mineral is most often white, but there are colorless, blue and red crystals.

Healing properties
Halite is used in a solution with iodine and water to gargle with sore throat, laryngitis and tonsillitis. A solution of warm water (1 tablespoon of mineral per glass) with halite relieves acute toothache. A clothes bag with hot salt is applied to the places affected by radiculitis, they warm up the chest with bronchitis, remove boils and boils.

Magical properties
At first glance, it may seem that the usual (but extremely necessary) seasoning for our food - salt cannot have any magical powers. But let's remember what our relationship really is to salt, or, in the language of mineralogists, to halite. What do we mean when we say: "I ate a pound of salt with him"? With this phrase, we emphasize not only long-term acquaintance with a person, but also complete trust in him. And, mind you, the degree of closeness and trust is measured not by bread, sugar or potatoes, but by salt.

And who does not remember the phrase "salt of the earth", "this is the salt", "and what is the salt of your story" and so on? It seems that these simple figures of speech are used for the imagery of language and have no hidden meaning. However, in almost all fairy tales and legends of the peoples of the world there is a mention of salt as the strongest amulet against witchcraft, evil spirits and from various troubles and troubles. For example, Vasilisa the Wise averts Koshchei the Immortal's eyes and directs him in the other direction, throwing a handful of salt between herself and the pursuer; Baba Yaga gives salt to Ivan the soldier as a talisman when he goes after his bride to the distant kingdom (that is, to the world of the dead). In European legends, the bride pours salt on the table, at which the groom who has forgotten her and himself is feasting, his eyes open, and he remembers both his own name and his beloved, etc.

Among the military, it was believed that salt protects from wounds and death in battle. No wonder (even during the Second World War) a soldier took with him to the front a bundle with a handful of his native soil mixed with a pinch of salt.

And what can we say about the famous conspiracies for salt to protect a person on the way from dashing people, to attract love; for "drying" tears (from depression), for good luck, for happiness, for various diseases, etc. Any village healer knows that salt(halite) possesses the strongest magical properties, both protecting and enhancing the connection of a person with the Earth. How can you take advantage of these wonderful qualities of halite? First of all, make charms, amulets and talismans out of it. I must say that this magical assistant will serve a person no matter what zodiac sign he was born under.

Talismans and amulets
As a talisman, halite serves its owner to attract good luck, love, sympathy from other people. As a talisman, it protects it from accidental wounds, injuries, attacks of dashing people. Halite is an amulet against the influence of evil spirits (negative energy) on a person, cleans the premises and the owner's mind of negativity, helps to achieve a successful career. It is not difficult to prepare a talisman, amulet or talisman - sew a pinch of salt (preferably a crystal) into a small piece of cotton cloth and carry it constantly in your pocket, bag or around your neck in the form of an incense. The only condition that must be observed in order for the amulet to work successfully is that you do not need to not only show it to anyone, but even tell that you have it.

Applications... More than two and a half centuries ago, delivery difficulties salt forced the commander of the First Kamchatka Expedition V. Bering to organize in 1726 the extraction of salt on the Pacific coast in Okhotsk, where it was obtained from sea water by freezing. The production started by the "people of the Bering expedition" and the plant that arose on its basis functioned for over a hundred years.

Sea salt has long been cooked by Russian Pomors on the coast of the White Sea and was called long-tailed duck.

In ancient times, salt was appreciated, it was the subject of state trade, because of it wars and popular unrest arose. In Russia, in the 16th century, a single tax on salt was introduced - two hryvnias per pood, which was equivalent to a double rise in price, and in the spring of 1648 a salt riot broke out in Moscow, and then in Pskov and Novgorod.

Salty taste is a unique and most important property of halite. In its pure form, this taste is characteristic only of halite and is, without a doubt, a method developed by a long evolution to unmistakably isolate this substance, irreplaceable in its biological functions, among which the main one is maintaining the salt balance, the necessary conditions for the metabolism of substances in tissues and cells. This mineral can be rightfully considered invaluable.

Each person needs to eat about 5-6 kg of table salt per year. For all mankind, this amounts to about 7 million tons annually (for chemical industries - several times more). Once a slave was bought for a couple of bricks of salt; in Central Africa, they were sold literally worth their weight in gold. But with the success of geological prospecting for halite deposits and its artificial cultivation, as well as thanks to improved transport and active trade, "salt passions" subsided. This invaluable mineral, which is impossible to do without, is sold at quite affordable prices.

Let us emphasize once again a very important circumstance: it was precisely starting with halite that it was possible to organize an artificial cycle of renewal of mineral raw materials. This is already a real geotechnology. And if it began for halite several centuries ago, now its methods are used more widely, although still too limited only for some minerals, mostly readily soluble. In this case, most often we are talking about underground mineless mining, and not the renewal of reserves of valuable raw materials. However, the protection of mineral resources requires the creation of closed cycles of many, if not all, minerals and chemical elements.

Physical properties and photo of halite

Glass luster. Hardness 2. Specific gravity 2.1-2.2 g / cm 3. Colorless, white, grayish, pink, red, brown, blue, blue. Different colors are often observed in one sample. The line is white. In crystalline halite, perfect cleavage is observed in three directions along the sides of the cube. Continuous granular, dense, leafy, fibrous, sinter (stalactites and other forms); also druze, crystals and deposits. The system is cubic. Crystals are overgrown and ingrown, usually cubic in shape.

Halite has an ionic crystal lattice. The lattice sites, which have a cubic shape, contain positive sodium ions and negative chlorine ions. This is the reason for the presence of perfect cleavage in three directions along the sides of the cube in crystalline halite.

Features... Halite is characterized by a non-metallic luster, medium hardness, salty taste, perfect cleavage in three directions along the sides of the cube, observed in crystalline varieties. Rock salt is similar to sylvin. Differs in taste (bitter for sylvine) and color (for sylvine milky white).

Chemical properties... The taste is salty. Easily soluble in water.

Halite. Photo. G. Zell Galit. Photo by Pyotr Sosonovsky Cubic rock salt crystal. © Hans-Joachim Engelhardt Green-lit barn salt at the Mineralogy Museum Bonn

The origin of halite

Surface is mostly lagoon and lacustrine chemical sediment. Distinguish between ancient and modern deposits. The ancients are represented by rock salt and are chemical sediments of ancient sea bays, lagoons and lakes, formed under conditions of intense evaporation (hot, dry climate). Rock salt occurs in the form of strata, stocks or domes among sedimentary rocks. Reservoir deposits usually occupy large areas (tens and hundreds of kilometers) and are very thick (up to 100 m and more).

Modern deposits of halite are salt lakes, bays, lagoons, where the process of precipitation and accumulation of salt is still taking place. In addition, a relatively low concentration of salt is observed on the walls of volcano craters, at the outcrops of salt springs, in desert and steppe regions - on the soil surface ("efflorescence").

Satellites... Sylvin, carnallite, gypsum, anhydrite.

Halite application

Halite is a raw material for the production of hydrochloric acid and its salts (caustic and soda ash, chlorine gas, ammonia, etc.). Almost no industry can do without salt. Salt is used in the manufacture of more than one and a half thousand different products. Salt is used in refrigeration, as a food product, for preserving meat, salting fish; for salting out soap and organic paints, for salting leather; in metallurgy - for chlorinating roasting; in ceramics - for the glazing of clay products, in medicine. Salt is used in the production of aluminum and bleach.

Halite also serves as an ore for the production of metallic sodium and chlorine, as well as all compounds of these elements. Metallic sodium is used for the production of alloys, as a reducing agent in metallurgy, as catalysts in the production of organic compounds and in the electrical industry - for the manufacture of wires (sodium "veins" covered with a copper sheath) and discharge lamps. Sodium lamps are used for street lighting. They are twice as bright, almost three times more durable than mercury. Sodium lamps also increase the contrast of objects.

Sodium serves as a catalyst in the production of synthetic rubber. Sodium peroxide regenerates the air in the spacecraft cabin and in the submarine. A cloud of sodium vapor released from space rockets makes it possible to locate the rocket and refine its flight path. It has been established that 1 mm3 of rock salt is capable of storing up to a billion units of information. This opens up the possibility of using grains of salt in computers. Sodium sulfur storage battery Lead oxygen battery of equal weight. Sodium coolant is used in nuclear reactors. Concentrated solutions are good antiseptics.

Place of Birth

The world's largest salt reserve is Lake. Baskunchak; is also famous for the lake. Elton (both are in the Volgograd region).

The Sol-Iletskoe deposit of rock salt (Orenburg region), Usolye - near Irkutsk, in Yakutia, as well as the Slavyano-Artemovskoe and Prikarpatskoe deposits (Ukraine) have long been known. Reservoir deposits with a large area of ​​distribution include the Statfurt Salt Basin in Germany, the salt deposits of the states of Kansas and Oklahoma in the USA, and the Saskatchewan Basin in Canada.

Rock salt, or halite, is one of the most common minerals. Many do not even mean that in a purified form, this breed is nothing more than ordinary table salt. Mineral halite is something without which human life is impossible. Sodium chloride is a halogen. The name can be used to judge the origin of the mineral. It is composed of sodium and chlorine.

Rock salt, or halite, is one of the most common minerals

The use of halite is very common. Not a single housewife can do without salt. Crushed sodium chloride is added to almost every dish. Without it, all food would be bland and would not acquire such nuances of taste.

In addition, the mineral halite is widely used for canning and medicinal purposes. Sodium chloride has a pronounced antiseptic effect, which is very important in the presence of bacterial infections.

In its pure form, the breed is white or colorless. Depending on the amount of additional inclusions, rock salt changes its color. If potassium is present, it turns blue. Halite formula is NaCl. Many people are interested in how the breed is mined. Basically, the location of the mineral is sea bays.

Depending on the amount of additional inclusions, rock salt changes its color

Mineral characteristic

Rock salt comes in several varieties:

1. Sadovaya - formed by granular crusts, as a rule, in evaporite basins.
2. Stone - formed in large layers, found in rocks.
3. Volcanic is the most unusual type. Formed near volcanic rock.
4. Efflorescences are formed on the surface of the soil and are thin crusts.

Few know how such a mineral is mined. In Russia, a large amount of halite is concentrated in the Urals. Rock salt is in great demand. It is used everywhere. A person consumes up to 4 kg per year. In addition to the food industry, rock salt is used in medicine, soap making, cosmetology and metallurgy. Almost no production is complete without halite, which makes it so necessary.

How rock salt is produced (video)

Previously, the mineral was almost worth its weight in gold. Sedimentary rock is very valuable to this day. The origin of the mineral can be different. Volcanic salt has long been considered a symbol of abundance. She was endowed with a mass of magical properties.

It was believed that if you speak salt and sprinkle it in front of the threshold, then not a single negative-minded person will be able to enter the house. Halite was used in various magical rituals, since it is endowed with a special energy capable of eliminating the evil eye, damage and other outside influences.

In the stones of this breed, a magical meaning has always been found and used for healing. Salt was sprinkled on homes, sick people and things that were supposedly bewitched. To this day, many psychics use sodium chloride for rituals.

Gallery: rock salt (50 photos)

Additional Information

Halite stone has been used to treat many diseases. Nowadays, salt is used for gargling. The special chemical composition has an antiseptic effect on the tonsils, freeing lacunae from bacterial plaque, which is so important for angina.

Halite salt is mined all over the world. Deposits can be found almost everywhere, so at present this mineral is not in short supply. The use of rock salt is due to its unique properties. It prevents the growth of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Salt can leave the body with sweat, so sodium chloride solutions are often prescribed when dehydrated as a result of vomiting or diarrhea, which promotes fluid retention in cells.

Any animal in the wild always finds salt deposits and eats them. If the diet lacks salt, then the pressure and the conduction of nerve impulses are significantly reduced. At the same time, the heart muscle weakens, which is extremely dangerous.

Of course, an excess of this natural substance is also harmful, so people with hypertension should use it with caution. Sea water contains a large amount of halite, so if you accidentally cut yourself on a shell while swimming, then there will be practically no pain. This is due to the fact that the composition of rock salt, which is contained in sea water, is similar to the chemical parameters of blood.

The physiological solution, which is used as the basis for the infusion of drugs, contains a large amount of halite. It is used to eliminate the effects of poisoning. Indeed, during intoxication, a significant amount of such an important compound as sodium chloride is lost.

If there is not enough salt in the human body, muscle spasms and cognitive-behavioral disorders can occur. In addition, a significant lack of such a compound can be fatal. A diet that excludes salt provokes severe consequences if it is followed for more than 10 days.

How salt is mined (video)

An interesting fact about halite is associated with the defeat of Napoleon's army. The soldiers' diet lacked salt, so the wounds healed extremely slowly. Currently, it has been scientifically proven that a lack of sodium chloride can lead to long-term pathological processes of the skin, in which the integrity of the epidermis and dermis is disrupted. Thus, this breed is valuable to this day.

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