A sample of evaporite material

Evaporites (IPA: /iˈvapərʌɪt/) are water-soluble, mineral sediments that result from the evaporation of bodies of surficial water. Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks. Image File history File links Mineraly. ... Image File history File links Mineraly. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... For other uses, see Mineral (disambiguation). ... Two types of sedimentary rock: limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... “Vaporization” redirects here. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ...

Formation of evaporite rocks

Although all water bodies on the surface and in aquifers contain dissolved salts, in order to form minerals from these salts, the water must evaporate into the atmosphere in order to precipitate the minerals. In order for this to happen the water body must enter a restricted environment where water input into this environment remains below the net rate of evaporation. This is usually an arid environment with a small basin fed by a limited input of water. When evaporation occurs, the remaining water is enriched in salts, and they precipitate when the water becomes oversaturated.

Evaporite depositional environments

Evaporite depositional environments which meet the above conditions include;

• Graben areas and half-grabens within continental rift environments fed by limited riverine drainage, usually in subtropical or tropical environments
  • Example environments at the present which match this is the Denakil Depression, Ethiopia;Death Valley, California
• Graben environments in oceanic rift environments fed by limited oceanic input, leading to eventual isolation and evaporation
  • Examples include the Red Sea, and the Dead Sea in Jordan
• Internal drainage basins in arid to semi-arid temperate to tropical environments fed by ephemeral drainage
  • Example environments at the present include the Simpson Desert, Western Australia, the Great Salt Lake in Utah
• Non-basin areas fed exclusively by groundwater seepage from artesian waters
  • Example environments include the seep-mounds of the Victoria Desert, fed by the Great Artesian Basin, Australia
• Restricted coastal plains in regressive sea environments
  • Examples include the sabkha deposits of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea
• Drainage basins feeding into extremely arid environments
  • Examples include the Chilean deserts, certain parts of the Sahara and the Namib desert

USGS image A graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Rift valley. ... MODIS satellite image of the Afar Depression and surrounding regions of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabia, and the Horn of Africa. ... For other uses, see Death Valley (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The Dead Sea (‎, yam ha-melaħ, Sea of Salt; Quranic Arabic: , baħrᵘ l- mayitⁱ [3], Death Sea) is a salt lake between the West Bank and Israel to the west, and Jordan to the east. ... Ted Colsons expedition across the Simpson Desert in 1936 The Simpson Desert occupies approximately 170,000 square kilometres of central Australia[1]. It is bounded to the west by the Finke River and Mabel Range, to the north by Adam Range, to the east by the Georgina and Diamantina... Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the Golden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person... Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere,[1] the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world,[2] and the 33rd largest lake on Earth. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Lightning Ridge bathing thermes supplied by artesian bore water Hot water bore hole into the Great Artesian Basin in Thargomindah The Great Artesian Basin provides the only reliable source of water through much of inland Australia. ... The playa and shore of Lake Hart, an endorheic desert lake in South Australia Playa, also known as alkali flat or sabkha, is a dry lakebed, generally the shore of, or remnant of, an endorheic lake. ... Dune 7, the highest sand dune in the world, in the Namib Desert, Namibia. ...

Evaporitic formations

Evaporite formations need not be composed entirely of halite salt. In fact, most evaporite formations do not contain more than a few percent of evaporite minerals, the remainder being composed of the more typical detrital clastic rocks and carbonates.

In order for a formation to be recognised as evaporitic it may simply require recognition of halite pseudomorphs, sequences composed of some proportion of evaporite minerals, and recognition of mud crack textures or other textures. In geology, a pseudomorph is a mineral compound resulting from a substitution process in which the appearance and dimensions remain constant, but the mineral which makes up the chief component of the compound is replaced by another. ... Rock microstructure includes the texture of a rock and the small scale rock structures. ...

Economic importance of evaporites

Evaporites are important economically because of their mineralogy, their physical properties in-situ and their behaviour within the subsurface.

Evaporite minerals, especially nitrate minerals, are economically important in Peru and Chile. Nitrate minerals are often mined for use in the production on fertilizer and explosives. Spreading manure, an organic fertilizer Fertilizers (also spelled fertilisers) are compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either via the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ...

Thick halite deposits are expected to become an important location for the disposal of nuclear waste because of their geologic stability, predictable engineering and physical behaviour and imperviousness to groundwater. Political Punk band from Victorville, Ca WWW.MYSPACE.COM/NUCLEARWASTEX ...

Halite formations are famous for their ability to form diapirs which produce ideal locations for trapping petroleum deposits. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ...

Major groups of evaporite minerals

• Halides: halite, sylvite (KCl), and fluorite
• Sulfates: such as gypsum, barite, and anhydrite
• Nitrates: nitratite (soda niter) and niter
• Borates: typically found in arid-salt-lake deposits plentiful in the southwestern US. A common borate is borax, which has been used in soaps as a surfactant.
• Carbonates: such as trona, formed in inland brine lakes.

Evaporite minerals start to precipitate when their concentration in water reaches such a level that they can no longer exist as solutes. For Halite Bittorrent client , see Halite Client. ... Sylvite is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. ... Fluorite (also called fluor-spar) is a mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. ... It has been suggested that Selenite be merged into this article or section. ... Baryte with Cerussite from Morocco Baryte with Galena and Hematite from Poland Barite (BaSO4) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. ... Anhydrite is a mineral - anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Borax from Persian burah. ... A collection of decorative soaps used for human hygiene purposes. ... Surfactants, also known as tensides, are wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and lower the interfacial tension between two liquids. ... Trona, hydrated sodium bicarbonate carbonate (Na3HCO3CO3·2H2O), is an evaporite mineral. ... A substance is soluble in a fluid if it dissolves in the fluid. ...

The minerals precipitate out of solution in the reverse order of their solubilities, such that the order of precipitation from sea water is

1. Calcite (CaCO₃) and dolomite (CaMg(CO₃)₂)
2. Gypsum (CaSO₄-2H₂O) and anhydrite (CaSO₄).
3. Halite (i.e. common salt, NaCl)
4. Potassium and magnesium salts

The abundance of rocks formed by seawater precipitation is in the same order as the precipitation given above. Thus, limestone (calcite) and dolomite are more common than gypsum, which is more common than halite, which is more common than potassium and magnesium salts. Doubly refracting Calcite from Iceberg claim, Dixon, New Mexico. ... For other uses, see Dolomite (disambiguation). ... General Name, symbol, number potassium, K, 19 Chemical series alkali metals Group, period, block 1, 4, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 39. ... General Name, symbol, number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ... For other uses, see Limestone (disambiguation). ... Doubly refracting Calcite from Iceberg claim, Dixon, New Mexico. ... For other uses, see Dolomite (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Selenite be merged into this article or section. ... For Halite Bittorrent client , see Halite Client. ... General Name, symbol, number potassium, K, 19 Chemical series alkali metals Group, period, block 1, 4, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 39. ... General Name, symbol, number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white solid at room temp Standard atomic weight 24. ...

Evaporites can also be easily recrystallized in laboratories in order to postulate the specific characteristics of their formation. Insulin crystals Recrystallization is an essentially physical process that has meanings in chemistry, metallurgy and geology. ...

See also

• List of minerals
• List of rock types
• Salt dome
• Diapir
• Tectonic rifts
• Graben

Gem animals. ... This page is intended as a list of all rock types. ... A salt dome is formed when a thick bed of evaporite minerals (mainly salt, or halite) found at depth intrudes vertically into surrounding rock strata, forming a diapir. ... A lava lamp illustrates the basic principle of diapirism. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Rift valley. ... USGS image A graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults. ...

References

• California State University evaporites page

• Gore, Rick. "The Mediterranean: Sea of Man's Fate." National Geographic. Dec. 1982: 694-737.

• Gueguen and Palciauskas (1984). Introduction to the Physics of Rocks