Rock salt is a sedimentary mineral consisting 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 to it. In a state of natural deposits, these are really salty stones. This then, after processing the halite, as this salt is also called, becomes simply a former salt 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 people on the planet know this stone simply as salt.

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 glass shine.

However, pure NaCl is rare in nature. Its deposits may 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 (the presence of potassium chloride).

Mineral halite is distinguished by fragility, hygroscopicity and, of course, salty taste. It dissolves well in water at any temperature, but melts only at high temperatures - not lower than 800 ° C. When melted, the fire turns yellow.

The crystalline structure of rock salt is a dense cube, in the nodes of which are negative chlorine ions. The octahedral voids between the chlorine atoms are filled with positively charged sodium ions. The device of the crystal lattice is a sample of an 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 druses can form at the bottom.

Gallery: rock salt (25 photos)

Rock salt stone massage (video)

The origin of salt deposits

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

In small quantities, halite salt is formed during salinization of soils, during volcanic activity. Salinization of the soil occurs in arid regions. This process can develop in natural or man-made conditions. Natural salinization occurs where groundwater with increased salinity is suitable close to the surface. Such water evaporates, and salt crust forms on the soil surface. In addition, the soil may also become saline from above, for example, during high seas floods or tsunamis. In this case, a large amount of saltwater penetrates the lower horizons of the soil, and then evaporates, and salt is deposited on the surface.

Man greases the soil during heavy irrigation in an arid climate. In regions where the evaporation of water from the lower layers of the soil in total exceeds the influx of water with precipitation, the soil is highly mineralized. If it is watered, evaporation also increases. As a result, minerals deposited in different soil layers come to the surface. On this soil, salt crust is formed, which impedes any manifestation of life.

Rock salt by its origin is divided into the following categories.

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

Geography of the main deposits

Halite is concentrated mainly in Permian deposits. It was about 250-300 million years ago. Then, almost everywhere in Eurasia and North America, a dry and hot climate formed. Salt water reservoirs quickly dried out, and salt layers were gradually closed 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 Volga, as well as on the shores of the famous salt lake Baskunchak.

Significant halite deposits are located:

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

Rock salt use

No matter how abused the use of rock salt in the food industry and in everyday life, a person can not do without this "white death". This is not just a combination of minerals, although the complex composition of rock salt in some deposits is very much appreciated 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 the processes in the body.

However, halite found its application in the chemical industry. For example, the production of hydrochloric acid, sodium peroxide, and other compounds that are in demand in various industries is not complete without NaCl. The use of halite, in addition to eating it, provides more than 10,000 different processes of production and final consumption.

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

Nowadays, sodium chloride has become one of the cheapest food products. And once there were salt riots. Carts with this product moved under heavy guard. This product was part of the soldiers rations. Perhaps the consonance of the words of soldiers and salt is not accidental.

How is stone and extra salt made (video)

Salt mining methods

How is halite mined today? Modern mining is carried out by several methods.

1. Mass production of large quantities of rock salt is carried out by the mine method, which consists in the extraction of rock salt from sedimentary rocks. Since halite is a solid solid monolith, it has to be softened at high temperature and under pressure. To raise the 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. A well is drilled to get brine, reaching a rock salt deposit. After that, clean fresh water is pumped into the bowels. The mineral quickly dissolves in it, forming a saturated solution. After this, the brine is pumped to the surface. Usually, salt is extracted this way for food and medical needs, since the brine does not contain impurities of other breeds.
3. The lake method is based on the extraction of salt in open salt bodies of water. 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 a dry and hot climate. To obtain salt from sea water, energy sources were not needed here, since the sun itself perfectly coped with the process of evaporation of water. However, this process was very slow, therefore, with a large concentration of the population craving for salt, special heating was used.

The antipode of evaporation is the method practiced in regions with a cold climate. The fact is that fresh water freezes faster than salt water. For this reason, early ice in a vessel during melting was almost fresh water. In the remaining water, the salt concentration increases. So from sea water at the same time it was possible to obtain fresh water and saturated brine. Salt was boiled out of the water of late ice quickly and with less energy.

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

The fact is that life arose in sea water. Not surprisingly, the internal environment of the human body corresponds to the parameters of salt 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.

Rock salt is a mineral of sedimentary origin, consisting of sodium chloride and impurities. The rock has another name - halite, which in everyday life is known as table salt.

In the conditions of the deposit, it is a stone that, after processing and purification, takes the usual form of a white powder. The rock has an ancient origin. The ancient Greeks associated its properties with the salty taste of sea water.

Main characteristics

The chemical formula of sodium chloride is NaCl, the compound contains 61% chlorine and 39% sodium.

In its pure form, a substance is found very rarely in vivo. When refined, rock salt can be transparent, opaque or white with a glass sheen. Depending on the constituents of additional impurities, the compound can be colored in:

The rock rock salt is quite fragile, absorbs moisture well and has a salty taste. The mineral quickly dissolves in water. The melting point is 800 degrees. During burning, the flame takes on an orange-yellow hue.

Rock salt looks like a cubic crystal or stalactite with a large granular structure.

Halite formation occurs during compaction of layers that were formed in past geological periods and are large massifs.

The origin of rock salt is conventionally divided into the following types:

Mineral deposits

Rock salt is a mineral of exogenous origin, whose deposits were formed many millions of years ago in a hot climate. Mineral deposits can form when drying out of salt lakes and shallow waters. A small amount of halite can form during volcanic activity or soil salinization in arid regions as a result of human activity.

With close proximity to groundwater with a high salt content, natural salinization of the soil can also occur. When moisture evaporates, a thin layer of rock forms on the soil surface.

For areas with high moisture evaporation and low water inflow, soil mineralization is characteristic. With high evaporation, compounds that form in different layers of the soil come to the surface. When salt crust forms on the upper soil layer, plant growth and the vital activity of living organisms ceases.

Currently, deposits are located in Russia in the Urals in the Solikamsk and Sol-Iletsk deposits, in Irkutsk, Orenburg, Arkhangelsk region, Volga region and Astrakhan region. In Ukraine, halite is mined in the Donetsk region and Transcarpathia. A significant amount of mineral is mined in Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma.

Mining methods

Mining on an industrial scale is carried out in several ways:

Due to the properties of rock salt, the use is not limited to eating. A man cannot do without table salt. Halite is in demand in technological processes in various industries. It is widely used not only in the food industry for the preservation of meat, fish and vegetables, since it is a cheap preservative.

In the chemical industry, the compound is necessary for the production of hydrochloric acid, which is in demand in various sectors of the economy.

In metallurgy, the mineral is used as a cooler in hardening, as well as in the production of a number of non-ferrous metal compounds. It is part of the electrolyte.

The pharmaceutical industry uses halite for the manufacture of drugs and solutions for injection.

In the leather industry, the compound is used as a tannin in the treatment of animal skins.

Healing properties

The sodium compound is part of the body’s internal environment, which ensures the normal functioning of the circulatory system, the conduction of impulses along nerve fibers.

Many peoples have a belief that if you pour salt with a cross before entering the house, it will protect against people with bad thoughts. It was highly appreciated by many peoples, it is no coincidence that spilled salt became a sign of trouble or quarrel. Halite is capable of reinforcing good intentions and returning evil multiplied by several times.

Mages and sorcerers consider conspiracies to love and luck using salt to be effective. A jar of salt can absorb other people's negative energy and protect the wearer from the evil eye and spoilage.

Or halite, the necessary and unique mineral in nature that people eat. It took him hundreds of years to become an indispensable seasoning in every kitchen.

Halite got its name from the union of two words: galla ("ink nut") and lithos ("stone"). In its pure form, halite contains many impurities and is not suitable for eating. Only after processing, ordinary rock salt is obtained from it.

Features of Origin

This interesting mineral belongs to sedimentary rocks and lies in natural brines, gradually crystallizing there. Its deposits have not yet been studied. Salt rocks are in different regions of our country. They are found in the craters of volcanoes. Natural halite in its natural state contains about 8% impurities, and its color varies from white, yellow, to blue and even red. Many minerals are covered with dense plaster skin.

Chemical composition

Halite consists of 39% sodium Na and 60.6% of. In addition to them, KCl, CaCl, MgCl₂ are present in the composition - their content depends on the field.

Varieties of mineral

In nature, it is customary to divide halite into certain categories:

• self-settling salt - a natural rock that is formed in evaporite deposits with fine-grained deposits of Druze;
• salt marsh - distributed in the steppe and desert regions, is a salt fading on the very surface of the soil in the form of plaque;

Salt flats Uyuni (Bolivia)

• volcanic halite - asbestos aggregates resulting from vulcanization, they are mined directly in the craters of volcanoes;
• rock salt - compaction of sedimentary accumulations of halite in rocks and their layers.

Different types of halite are formed as a result of the deposition of salts. It was previously believed that the mineral is obtained by precipitation of sea salt and evaporation of moisture from it on the surface. However, over time, this theory has lost its strength. The formation of halite rocks is influenced by certain physical properties, chemical compounds and geological features. To study the chemical properties of salt, you can conduct several simple experiments even at home.

Salt mascots

Salt for many centuries attributed miraculous properties. It was believed that a seemingly simple mineral composition could heal and expel negativity from life and home. And now salt is associated with many signs: to scatter - to a quarrel, pour to the ground in the form of a cross - to make a talisman against evil spirits, and also to identify damage. Such amulets needed to be made on certain days indicated in the old ritual books.

Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka (Poland)

Healing properties

In addition to its magical properties, halite is also known as a healing mineral. It is an excellent cold remedy. They gargle, nose with tonsillitis and runny nose. It copes with pharyngitis, sinusitis, toothache and tonsillitis.

Making halitic salt for rinsing is very simple: you need to take 1 tablespoon of salt and dilute it in a glass of warm boiled (200 ml). You can add a few drops to the glass. Stir until crystals are dissolved. Such a tool helps well with purulent processes, inflammatory and infectious formations. Radiculitis, sinusitis are heated with salt heated in a bag. But this must be done very carefully. The treatment of bronchitis and pneumonia with air-saturated halite ions has effectively proven itself. This will require special equipment.

Application

The widespread use of halite is caused by the availability of extraction of this mineral. It is mainly used in the food industry. Before packing, the natural mineral is cleaned of impurities. Sometimes iodine is added there or additional crushing is carried out, as a result, the Extra salt is obtained.

In the chemical industry, halite is used to remove sodium and chlorine. As a result, soda, concentrated alkalis, and even hydrochloric acid, known to us, are obtained. Halite is often included in paper and glass. By the way, in the lenses a halite single-crystal film serves as an additional layer of strength.

Concentrated halite clean the boilers of water heating units from scale. Halite is a good way to combat frostbite on the roads. Salt sculptures, lamps, home furnishings, amulets are made of pure mineral rocks. But this mineral is quite fragile, it is easy to damage. Therefore, halite should be used only for its intended purpose.

Salt is an important dietary supplement, without which it is impossible to prepare so many dishes. When ground, this product has the appearance of small white crystals. Various impurities in the composition of table salt of natural origin can give it shades of gray.
According to the chemical structure, table salt consists of 97% sodium chloride. Other names for this product are rock, table or salt, sodium chloride. In industrial production, such varieties of salt are obtained as peeled or unrefined, finely or coarsely ground, iodized, fluorinated, pure, sea salt.
An admixture of magnesium salts in table salt gives it a bitter aftertaste, and calcium sulphate - an earthy.
They have been mining salt for many millennia. At first, the method of obtaining it was the evaporation of sea or salt lake water, the burning of some plants. Now on an industrial scale, deposits of common salt are being developed on the site of dried up ancient seas, getting it from the halite mineral (rock salt).
In addition to direct use in food, table salt is used as a safe and common preservative for the preservation of products, as a component in the production of hydrochloric acid, soda. The properties of table salt in the form of its strong solution in water have long been used for leather dressing.
The benefits of salt
Salt does not form in the body, so it must necessarily come from the outside, with food. Absorption of salt occurs almost completely in the small intestine. Its removal from the body is carried out using the kidneys, intestines and sweat glands. Excessive loss of sodium and chlorine ions occurs with profuse vomiting, severe diarrhea.
Salt is the main source of sodium and chlorine ions for the body, which are found in all organs and tissues. These ions play an important role in maintaining water-electrolyte balance, including by activating a number of enzymes involved in the regulation of this balance.
The beneficial properties of table salt also lie in the fact that it is involved in conducting nerve impulses and muscle contractions. One fifth of the total daily requirement of salt goes to the production of hydrochloric acid of gastric juice, without which normal digestion is impossible.
With insufficient intake of salt in the body, a person's blood pressure decreases, palpitations become more frequent, convulsive muscle contractions and weakness appear.
In medicine, sodium chloride solutions are used to dilute drugs, to make up for a deficiency of fluid in the body and detoxification. With colds and sinusitis, saline is washed with a nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Salt solutions have weak antiseptic properties. With constipation, enemas help with a solution of sodium chloride, which is able to stimulate peristalsis of the large intestine.
The daily requirement for sodium chloride is about 11 grams, this amount of salt contains 1 teaspoon of salt. In a hot climate with severe sweating, the daily need for table salt is higher, and is 25-30 g. But often the real amount of salt consumed exceeds this figure by 2-3 times. Calorie salt is almost zero.
With the abuse of salt, arterial hypertension develops, the kidneys and the heart work in an intense mode. With its excessive content in the body, water begins to linger, which leads to the occurrence of edema, headaches.
For diseases of the kidneys, liver and cardiovascular system, for rheumatism and obesity, it is recommended to limit salt intake or completely eliminate it.
Salt Poisoning
The use of salt in large quantities can not only negatively affect health, but also cause death. It is known that the lethal dose of sodium chloride is 3 g / kg of weight; these figures were established in experiments on rats. But salt poisoning is more common in pets and birds. Lack of water exacerbates this situation.
When such an amount of salt enters the body, the composition of the blood changes and blood pressure rises sharply. Due to the redistribution of fluid in the body, the functioning of the nervous system is disrupted, blood cells - red blood cells, as well as cells of vital organs are dehydrated. As a result, oxygen delivery to tissues is disrupted, and the body dies.
  Well, something like this)))

Salt is an inorganic compound that consists of sodium and chlorine ions. In crushed form is a white crystals of different sizes. In most cases, it has impurities that can change the color of the salt from light brown to gray.

Types of Salt

According to the genesis and method of obtaining table salt is divided into:

• Stone;
• Boiling out;
• Lake District;
• Basin.

Rock salt, or halite, is a mineral that consists of cubic crystals and is the main source of table salt, as well as a raw material for the production of chlorine, sodium hydroxide, and hydrochloric acid. Located in sedimentary rocks, the thickness of halite deposits reaches 350 meters. It differs from other types of salt in a relatively small amount of impurities.

Evaporated salt is obtained in the process of evaporation of natural brines, which are extracted from the bowels of the earth, or artificial brines, which are made by dissolving halite in water, which is pumped into the wells. After clarification of the brines, they are evaporated in a vacuum apparatus.

Lake, or self-salt, is mined from the bottom of the lakes. It is called sedimentary because it precipitates due to an excess of salt in the water. This type of table salt is characterized by high hygroscopicity and humidity.

Basin, or cage salt, is obtained from ocean or sea water, which is transferred to artificial, large in area, pools in the southern regions. Water evaporates, and salt precipitates.

According to the type of processing, table salt is divided into: finely crystalline, ground, unmilled and iodized; by quality: extra, top, first and second grade.

Deposits and Production

The natural reserves of table salt on Earth are almost inexhaustible.

The main types of salt deposits: strata of rock salt deposits, ocean, sea and lake waters, brines and groundwater, salt marshes. The largest Russian as well as Ukrainian deposits are Verkhnekamskoye, Seregovskoye, Astrakhan and Artyomovskoye.

In our time, table salt is mined by the mine method (the most common), crystallization, freezing, and evaporation.

The use of salt

The main importance of salt is in the food industry in the form of seasoning. In its pure form, it is used in metallurgy for the burning of ores and the purification of metals. It is used even in transport - sprinkling the bottom of wagons to protect coke or manganese ore during transportation. Salt is also used to process leather products in order to prevent their decay.