Halite (Salt)
Salt mine conveyor belt, Reno County.
Also called table or common salt, halite is an evaporite because it precipitates (settles) out of water as the water evaporates. (Gypsum and anhydrite are also evaporites.) As seawater evaporates, the precipitated halite settles on the sea floor. Halite is easy to identify because it tastes salty and dissolves easily in water. Broken fragments of halite may be nearly cube-shaped.
In Kansas, salt is found in thick beds deep underground. Salt in these thick layers is known as rock salt. In central Kansas, salt is mined from extensive beds that are, on average, about 250 feet thick and between 500 and 1,000 feet deep.
- Chemical compound: sodium chloride
- Chemical formula: NaCl (Na = sodium, Cl = chlorine)
- Color: usually colorless or white when pure but may be colored by impurities
- Specific gravity: 2.16
- Luster: glassy
- Hardness: 2.5
- Amount of transparency: transparent to translucent