Evaporite and Related Topics

Halite

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Type of salt, the mineral form of sodium chloride (NaCl).

Halite cubes from the Stassfurt Potash Deposit, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (size: 6.7 × 1.9 × 1.7 cm)

Unusual halite crystals from Faiyum, Egypt

Hopper crystal cast of halite in a Jurassic rock, Carmel Formation, Utah

Sharp halite crystals that have this green color from inclusions of malachite

Large natural crystal of halite, showing cubic crystal form

Pink color halite on a matrix covered with minute nahcolite

Halite from Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Mine in Rocanville, Saskatchewan, Canada

It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the sulfates, halides, and borates.

Crystals of serandite, natrolite, analcime, and aegirine from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada

In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.

Schist is a metamorphic rock characterized by an abundance of platy minerals. In this example, the rock has prominent sillimanite porphyroblasts as large as 3 cm.

Hübnerite, the manganese-rich end-member of the wolframite series, with minor quartz in the background

When minerals react, the products will sometimes assume the shape of the reagent; the product mineral is termed a pseudomorph of (or after) the reagent. Illustrated here is a pseudomorph of kaolinite after orthoclase. Here, the pseudomorph preserved the Carlsbad twinning common in orthoclase.

Topaz has a characteristic orthorhombic elongated crystal shape.

Diamond is the hardest natural material, and has a Mohs hardness of 10.

Perfect basal cleavage as seen in biotite (black), and good cleavage seen in the matrix (pink orthoclase).

Galena, PbS, is a mineral with a high specific gravity.

Carnotite (yellow) is a radioactive uranium-bearing mineral.

Aegirine, an iron-sodium clinopyroxene, is part of the inosilicate subclass.

Natrolite is a mineral series in the zeolite group; this sample has a very prominent acicular crystal habit.

Muscovite, a mineral species in the mica group, within the phyllosilicate subclass

Asbestiform tremolite, part of the amphibole group in the inosilicate subclass

An example of elbaite, a species of tourmaline, with distinctive colour banding.

Epidote often has a distinctive pistachio-green colour.

Black andradite, an end-member of the orthosilicate garnet group.

Native gold. Rare specimen of stout crystals growing off of a central stalk, size 3.7 x 1.1 x 0.4 cm, from Venezuela.

Red cinnabar (HgS), a mercury ore, on dolomite.

Sphalerite crystal partially encased in calcite from the Devonian Milwaukee Formation of Wisconsin

Pink cubic halite (NaCl; halide class) crystals on a nahcolite matrix (NaHCO3; a carbonate, and mineral form of sodium bicarbonate, used as baking soda).

Halite and sylvite commonly form as evaporites, and can be dominant minerals in chemical sedimentary rocks.

Carnallite

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Carnallite (also carnalite) is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated potassium magnesium chloride with formula KMgCl3·6(H2O).

Middle Triassic marginal marine sequence of siltstones (reddish layers at the cliff base) and limestones (brown rocks above), Virgin Formation, southwestern Utah, U.S.

Sedimentary rock

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Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a large sandstone formation in Northern Territory, Australia.

Claystone deposited in Glacial Lake Missoula, Montana, United States. Note the very fine and flat bedding, common for deposits coming from lake beds further away from the source of sediment.

Sedimentary rock with sandstone in Malta

Lower Antelope Canyon was carved out of the surrounding sandstone by both mechanical weathering and chemical weathering. Wind, sand, and water from flash flooding are the primary weathering agents.

Outcrop of Ordovician oil shale (kukersite), northern Estonia

Fossils of Nerinea marine gastropods of Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) age, in limestone in Lebanon

Cross-bedding and scour in a fine sandstone; the Logan Formation (Mississippian) of Jackson County, Ohio

Pressure solution at work in a clastic rock. While material dissolves at places where grains are in contact, that material may recrystallize from the solution and act as cement in open pore spaces. As a result, there is a net flow of material from areas under high stress to those under low stress, producing a sedimentary rock that is harder and more compact. Loose sand can become sandstone in this way.

A piece of a banded iron formation, a type of rock that consists of alternating layers with iron(III) oxide (red) and iron(II) oxide (grey). BIFs were mostly formed during the Precambrian, when the atmosphere was not yet rich in oxygen. Moodies Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Diagram showing well-sorted (left) and poorly sorted (right) grains

Diagram showing the rounding and sphericity of grains

Global collage of sand samples. There is one square centimeter of sand on every sample photo. Sand samples row by row from left to right: 1. Glass sand from Kauai, Hawaii 2. Dune sand from the Gobi Desert 3. Quartz sand with green glauconite from Estonia 4. Volcanic sand with reddish weathered basalt from Maui, Hawaii 5. Biogenic coral sand from Molokai, Hawaii 6. Coral pink sand dunes from Utah 7. Volcanic glass sand from California 8. Garnet sand from Emerald Creek, Idaho 9. Olivine sand from Papakolea, Hawaii.

Fossil-rich layers in a sedimentary rock, Año Nuevo State Reserve, California

Burrows in a turbidite, made by crustaceans, San Vincente Formation (early Eocene) of the Ainsa Basin, southern foreland of the Pyrenees

Cross-bedding in a fluviatile sandstone, Middle Old Red Sandstone (Devonian) on Bressay, Shetland Islands

Flute casts, a type of sole marking on the base of a vertical layer of Triassic sandstone in Spain

Ripple marks formed by a current in a sandstone that was later tilted (Haßberge, Bavaria)

Halite crystal mold in dolomite, Paadla Formation (Silurian), Saaremaa, Estonia

Chert concretions in chalk, Middle Lefkara Formation (upper Paleocene to middle Eocene), Cyprus

Common types of depositional environments

The swirls of tan, green, blue, and white are sediment in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula. The blue-green cloud in this image roughly matches the extent of the shallow continental shelf west of the peninsula. This is a perfect example of a shallow marine depositional environment.

Shifting sedimentary facies in the case of transgression (above) and regression of the sea (below)

Plate tectonics diagram showing convergence of an oceanic plate and a continental plate. Note the back-arc basin, forearc basin, and oceanic basin.

Cyclic alternation of competent and less competent beds in the Blue Lias at Lyme Regis, southern England

The Permian through Jurassic stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau area of southeastern Utah that makes up much of the famous prominent rock formations in protected areas such as Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park. From top to bottom: Rounded tan domes of the Navajo Sandstone, layered red Kayenta Formation, cliff-forming, vertically jointed, red Wingate Sandstone, slope-forming, purplish Chinle Formation, layered, lighter-red Moenkopi Formation, and white, layered Cutler Formation sandstone. Picture from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah.

Sedimentary rocks on Mars, investigated by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover

Steeply dipping sedimentary rock strata along the Chalous Road in northern Iran

Stratified remains of Puʻu Mahana cinder cone.

A regressive facies shown on a stratigraphic column

Common chemical sedimentary rocks include oolitic limestone and rocks composed of evaporite minerals, such as halite (rock salt), sylvite, baryte and gypsum.

Anhydrite

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Mineral with the chemical formula CaSO4.

Relief carving of an anhydrite kiln, made from a piece of anhydrite, by Ophelia Gordon Bell

Anhydrite is most frequently found in evaporite deposits with gypsum; it was, for instance, first discovered in 1794 in a salt mine near Hall in Tirol.

Gypsum

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Soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4*2H2O.

Gypsum crystals are soft enough to bend under pressure of the hand. Sample on display at Musée cantonal de géologie de Lausanne.

Gypsum works, Valencian Museum of Ethnology

Map of gypsum deposits in northern Ohio, black squares indicate the location of deposits, from "Geography of Ohio", 1923

Gypsum crystals in the Cave of the Crystals in Mexico (person at lower right for scale)

Gypsum crystals formed as the water evaporated in Lake Lucero, White Sands National Park

Gypsum veins in the silts/marls of the Tea Green and Grey Marls, Blue Anchor, Somerset, United Kingdom

Gypsum veins in Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway, Texas

Dunes made of small crystals of gypsum, White Sands National Park

Gypsum sand from White Sands National Park, New Mexico

Green gypsum crystals from Pernatty Lagoon, Mt Gunson, South Australia - its green color is due to presence of copper ions.

Unusual selenite gypsum from the Red River, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Classic "ram's horn" gypsum from Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico, 7.5×4.3×3.8 cm

Gypsum from Pernatty Lagoon, Mt Gunson, Stuart Shelf area, Andamooka Ranges - Lake Torrens area, South Australia, Australia

Gypsum with crystalline native copper inside

Gypsum from Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia. The coloring is due to the copper oxide

Waterclear twined crystal of the form known as "Roman sword". Fuentes de Ebro, Zaragoza (Spain)

Bright, cherry-red gypsum crystals 2.5 cm in height colored by rich inclusions of the rare mineral botryogen

Gypsum from Naica, Mun. de Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico

Golden color gem, "fishtail"-twinned crystals of gypsum sitting atop a "ball" of gypsum which is composed of several single bladed crystals

It forms as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite.

Polyhalite

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Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: K2Ca2Mg(SO4)4*2H2O.

Kainite

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Kainite ( or ) (KMg(SO4)Cl·3H2O) is an evaporite mineral in the class of "Sulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2O" according to the Nickel–Strunz classification.

Potassium

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Chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number19.

Structure of solid potassium superoxide.

Monte Kali, a potash mining and beneficiation waste heap in Hesse, Germany, consisting mostly of sodium chloride.

Potassium sulfate/magnesium sulfate fertilizer

Sylvite (KCl), carnallite, kainite and langbeinite are the minerals found in large evaporite deposits worldwide.

Dolomite (rock)

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Sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2.

Erosion of dolomite over weaker shale created the Niagara Escarpment

Trilobite fossil preserved as an internal cast in Silurian dolomite from southwestern Ohio, USA

Erosion of dolomitic rocks in Mourèze, Hérault, France

It occurs widely, often in association with limestone and evaporites, though it is less abundant than limestone and rare in Cenozoic rock beds (beds less than about 66 million years in age).

A report on Evaporite

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