I'm going to do a week of half and halves for Vikki's theme this month. This is a plant where rock salt is made that I see on the way to my son's house in NY State.
Thank you Milanie, Babs, Diana, Issi, Lou Ann, Katy, Harry, Marilyn, Bri, Haskar, Vikki and Ferry! Thank you for the views, comments and favs! And for those who were curious, yes, I guess at some point this area was covered by salt water/the sea. I believe this plant is for packaging the rock salt because the pile of it changes dramatically throughout the year. But here's a little info for your reading pleasure:
What is rock salt and where does it come from?
Rock salt is the name of a sedimentary rock that consists almost entirely of halite, a mineral composed of sodium chloride, NaCl. It forms where large volumes of sea water or salty lake water evaporate from an arid-climate basin -- where there is a replenishing flow of salt water and a restricted input of other water.
Deposits of rock salt occur as laterally extensive rock units in many parts of the world. These water-soluble rocks are rarely found at Earth's surface, except in arid countries. The most geographically extensive salt layers in the United States underlie thousands of square miles and reach thicknesses of over 100 feet.
People have mined rock salt or produced salt by evaporation for thousands of years. Most of the ancient salt production was used in cooking and food preservation.
Today in the United States, highway deicing is the most important use of rock salt. Rock salt is also used in chemical manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, plastics, paint, textiles, leather processing, water treatment, and many other industries.
@grammyn That's my understanding. I finally looked the name up after racking my brain for it- The American Rock Salt Co.
AMERICAN ROCK SALT is the largest operating salt mine in the United States with the capacity to produce up to 18,000 tons each day. Established in 1997, this underground salt mine is the only one built in the United States in the last 40 years.
Their website says the mine is in Hampton Corners just south of Rochester NY. It's the first successful rock salt mine to be built in the US since 1960.
Thank you Milanie, Babs, Diana, Issi, Lou Ann, Katy, Harry, Marilyn, Bri, Haskar, Vikki and Ferry! Thank you for the views, comments and favs! And for those who were curious, yes, I guess at some point this area was covered by salt water/the sea. I believe this plant is for packaging the rock salt because the pile of it changes dramatically throughout the year. But here's a little info for your reading pleasure:
What is rock salt and where does it come from?
Rock salt is the name of a sedimentary rock that consists almost entirely of halite, a mineral composed of sodium chloride, NaCl. It forms where large volumes of sea water or salty lake water evaporate from an arid-climate basin -- where there is a replenishing flow of salt water and a restricted input of other water.
Deposits of rock salt occur as laterally extensive rock units in many parts of the world. These water-soluble rocks are rarely found at Earth's surface, except in arid countries. The most geographically extensive salt layers in the United States underlie thousands of square miles and reach thicknesses of over 100 feet.
People have mined rock salt or produced salt by evaporation for thousands of years. Most of the ancient salt production was used in cooking and food preservation.
Today in the United States, highway deicing is the most important use of rock salt. Rock salt is also used in chemical manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, plastics, paint, textiles, leather processing, water treatment, and many other industries.
AMERICAN ROCK SALT is the largest operating salt mine in the United States with the capacity to produce up to 18,000 tons each day. Established in 1997, this underground salt mine is the only one built in the United States in the last 40 years.
Their website says the mine is in Hampton Corners just south of Rochester NY. It's the first successful rock salt mine to be built in the US since 1960.
So there you go!
@randystreat Thank you Kathy!