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Saltmaking Castes
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as rock salt or halite. Salt is essential for life in general (being the source of the essential dietary minerals sodium and chlorine), and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous food seasonings, and is known to uniformly improve the taste perception of food. Salting, brining, and pickling are ancient and important methods of food preservation. Some of the earliest evidence of salt processing dates to around 6000 BC, when people living in the area of present-day Romania boiled spring water to extract salts; a salt works in China dates to approximately the same period. Salt was prized by the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Hittites, Egyptians, and Indians. Salt became an impor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rock Salt (halitite) (Billianwala Salt Member, Salt Range Formation, Ediacaran To Lower Cambrian; Khewra Salt Mine, Salt Range, Pakistan) 14
Halite ( ), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride (sodium, Nachlorine, Cl). Halite forms Cubic (crystal system), isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on inclusion of other materials, impurities, and structural or isotopic abnormalities in the crystals. It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the Sulfate mineral, sulfates, Halide mineral, halides, and Borate mineral, borates. The name ''halite'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word for "salt", ἅλς (''háls''). Occurrence Halite dominantly occurs within sedimentary rocks where it has formed from the evaporation of seawater or salty lake water. Vast beds of sedimentary evaporite minerals, including halite, can result from the drying up of endorheic, enclosed lakes and restricted seas. Such salt beds may be hundreds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
