Halite

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Wieliczka Mine, Wieliczka, Małopolskie, Poland
© R. Lang 2006

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Formula:

NaCl

System:

Isometric

Colour:

Colourless, whitish, ...

Lustre:

Vitreous

Hardness:

2½

Name:

From the Greek άλς, sea, for halites, later modified by J.D. Dana to halite.

Halite Group

Natural Salt. Occurs both as evaporite deposits in saline lakes and water courses, or as bedded sedimentary deposits, or as salt domes.

Classification of Halite

IMA status:

Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"

Strunz 8th edition ID:

3/A.02-30

Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:

3.AA.20

3 : HALIDES
A : Simple halides, without H₂O
A : M:X = 1:1, 2:3, 3:5, etc.

Dana 8th edition ID:

9.1.1.1

9 : NORMAL HALIDES
1 : AX

Hey's CIM Ref.:

8.1.3

8 : Halides - Fluorides, Chlorides, Bromides and Iodides; also Fluoborates and Fluosilicates
1 : Halides of the alkali metals and ammonium

mindat.org URL:

http://www.mindat.org/min-1804.html
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Occurrences of Halite

Geological Setting:

Sedimentary evaporite deposits

Physical Properties of Halite

Lustre:

Vitreous

Diaphaneity (Transparency):

Transparent, Translucent

Colour:

Colourless, whitish, yellow, red, purple or blue

Streak:

White

Hardness (Mohs):

2½

Tenacity:

Brittle

Cleavage:

Perfect
On {001}

Fracture:

Conchoidal

Density (measured):

2.168 g/cm³

Density (calculated):

2.165 g/cm³

Crystallography of Halite

Crystal System:

Isometric

Class (H-M):

m3m (4/m 3 2/m) - Hexoctahedral

Space Group:

Fm3m {F4/m 3 2/m}

Cell Parameters:

a = 5.6404(1) Å

Unit Cell Volume:

V 179.44 Å³ (Calculated from Unit Cell)

Morphology:

Normally cubic, rarely octahedral. Crystal faces often cavernous and stepped (hopper crystals). Massive. Coarsely granular to compact; columnar, stalactitic or capillary forms rare.

Twinning:

On {111} (artificial crystals).

Crystal Atlas:

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Halite no.1 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)

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The mindat.org Crystal Atlas allows you to view a selection of crystal drawings of real and idealised crystal forms for this mineral and, in certain cases, 3d rotating crystal objects. You need Java to see these. You can download Java for free - click here to download Java

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Structure

Reference
Wyckoff R W G (1963) Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York rocksalt structure. Crystal Structures 1:85-237.

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More Crystal Structures
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Optical Data of Halite

Type:

Isotropic

RI values:

n = 1.5443

Maximum Birefringence:

δ = 0.000 - Isotropic minerals have no birefringence

Surface Relief:

Low

Dispersion:

Moderately strong

Pleochroism:

Weak

Comments:

The pleochroism id sometimes developed in coloured material after being subjected to pressure.

Comments:

Weakly anisotropic due to stress.

Chemical Properties of Halite

Formula:

NaCl

Essential elements:

Cl, Na

All elements listed in formula:

Cl, Na

Common Impurities:

I,Br,Fe,O

Relationship of Halite to other Species

Common Associates:

Sylvite	Polyhalite	Kieserite	Kainite	Gypsum
Clay	Carnallite	Anhydrite

3.AA.05

Marshite

CuI

3.AA.05

Miersite

(Ag,Cu)I

3.AA.05

Nantokite

CuCl

3.AA.05

UM1999-11:I:CuS

Cu(I,S)

3.AA.10

Iodargyrite

AgI

3.AA.10

Tocornalite

(Ag,Hg)I

3.AA.15

Bromargyrite

AgBr

3.AA.15

Chlorargyrite

AgCl

3.AA.20

Carobbiite

3.AA.20

Griceite

LiF

3.AA.20

Sylvite

KCl

3.AA.20

Villiaumite

NaF

3.AA.25

Salammoniac

3.AA.25

UM1998-03-Cl:Tl

TlCl

3.AA.25

Lafossaite

Tl(Cl,Br)

3.AA.30

Calomel

(Hg

)Cl

3.AA.30

Kuzminite

(Hg

)(Br,Cl)

3.AA.30

Moschelite

(Hg

3.AA.35

Neighborite

NaMgF

3.AA.40

Chlorocalcite

KCaCl

3.AA.45

Kolarite

PbTeCl

3.AA.50

Radhakrishnaite

PbTe

(Cl,S)

3.AA.55

Challacolloite

KPb

3.AA.60

Hephaistosite

TlPb

8.1.1

Griceite

LiF

8.1.2

Villiaumite

NaF

8.1.4

Hydrohalite

NaCl · 2H

8.1.5

Carobbiite

8.1.6

Sylvite

KCl

8.1.7

Salammoniac

Other Names for Halite

Synonyms:

β-Halite	Common Salt	Halites	Martinsite (of Karsten)	Muriate of Soda
Natrikalite	Rock Salt	Salt	Saltspar

Other Languages:

Basque:	Halita
Catalan:	Halita
Czech:	Halit
Dutch:	Haliet
Estonian:	Haliit
French:	Halite Chlorure de sodium Sal Mare Sel gemme Soude muriatée
German:	Halit Alit Bergsalz b-Halit Knistersalz Kochsalz Steinsalz
Hebrew:	הליט
Italian:	Halite Alite Salgemma
Japanese:	岩塩
Lithuanian:	Halitas
Low Saxon:	Halit
Norwegian (Bokmål):	Halitt

Polish:	Halit
Portuguese:	Halita
Romanian:	Sare gemă
Russian:	Галит
Simplified Chinese:	石盐
Slovak:	Halit
Spanish:	Halita Alita Sal gema Sal marina
Telugu:	రాతి ఉప్పు
Traditional Chinese:	石鹽
Ukrainian:	Галіт

Varieties:

Huantajayite

Other Information

Fluorescence in UV light:

Red (SW UV)[Searles Lake, CA]. Orange (SW) [Poland]

Thermal Behaviour:

Melts at 804°.

Health Warning:

Licking or ingesting raw halite in the "wild" could cause health problems due to unidentified admixed substances (such as alkaline compounds).

Industrial Uses:

Edible salt, chlorine production

References for Halite

Reference List:

- +

Karsten (1845), Journal für praktische Chemie, Leipzig: 36: 127 (as Martinsite).

Adam, M. (1869) Tableau minéralogique, Paris (as Natrikalite).

Dana (1868), System of Mineralogy, 5th. ed.: 112.

Exner (1873), Härte an Krystallflächen, Wien.

Raimondi (1876), in: Domeyko, Min. Chili, 5th. Appendix (as Huantajayite).

Cesàro (1888), Société géologique de Belgique, Liége, Memoir: 15: 204.

Brauns (1889), Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paleontologie, Heidelberg, Stuttgart: 1: 113.

Bragg (1914), Royal Society of London, Proceedings: 9A: 468.

Straumanis and Ievins (1914) Zeitschrift für Physik, Brunswick, Berlin: 109: 468.

Tertsch (1932), Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, Mineralogie und Petrographie, Leipzig: 81: 264.

Paniche (1933), Periodico de Mineralogia-Roma: 4: 25 (as β-halite).

Murzaev (1941), Ac.sc. Leningrad Comptes rendus (Doklady): 33: 306 (as Saltspar).

Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1951), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Seventh edition, Volume II: 4-7.

Panichi U. – (1933) Sul dimorfismo del salgemma e della silvite. Periodico di Mineralogia – Roma pp. 25-33.

Hunt, G.R., J.W. Salisbury, and C.J. Lenhoff (1972), Visible and near-infrared spectra of minerals and rocks: V. Halides, phosphates, arsenates, vanadates and borates. Modern Geology, v. 3, p. 121-132.

Basso R., Della Giusta A., Isetti G. (1977) - Anomalie ottiche in cristalli di salgemma. Periodico di mineralogia – Roma, pp. 91-98.

Janz, G.J. (1980) Molten-salts data as reference-standards for density, surface-tension viscosity and electrical conductance - KNO3 and NaCl. Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data: 9: 791-829.