From salt basins in the Persian Gulf to lithium reserves in Chile, evaporite minerals accumulate in sedimentary basins under tectonic and climatic processes of significance to scientists worldwide.
salts & sodium
Posted inNews
Engineering a Cleaner Way to Extract Lithium
The new chemical solvent technique could cut water use, speed extraction, and unlock reserves like California’s Salton Sea.
Posted inFeatures
Salt of the Earth: Vast Underground Salt Caverns Are Preserving Our History—and Just Might Power Our Future
From health spas to film storage, salt mine caverns have been put to use in surprising ways—and they’re now poised to contribute to the generation and storage of clean energy.
Posted inEditors' Vox
A Double-Edged Sword: The Global Oxychlorine Cycle on Mars
Global detections of oxychlorine salts reveal a complex, 4-billion-year chemical cycle on Mars. They can act as de-icing agents, oxidants, a hazard and a vital resource for future human exploration.
Posted inNews
Snowball Earth’s Liquid Seas Dipped Way Below Freezing
Iron isotopes show that salty seawater pockets beneath the ice were as cold as −15°C.
Posted inNews
How the Rise of a Salty Blob Led to the Fall of the Last Ice Age
Scientists have long suspected that high salinity levels in the deep ocean were responsible for keeping carbon dioxide locked away during the last ice age. New research finds the strongest evidence yet.
Posted inNews
Insights for Making Quick Clay Landslides Less Quick
In a quick clay landslide, solid soil liquefies suddenly, sometimes washing over entire towns. New modeling examines what kinds of salts could help stabilize these clays.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Episodic Tales of Salt
When episodic pulses of road salt hit after a winter storm, the impact can be like a lightning strike for the environment.
Posted inNews
What Salty Water Means for Wild Horses
New research monitors how saltwater intrusion is affecting the behaviors of Shackleford Banks’s wild horses.
Posted inNews
La salinidad del Océano Austral podría estar desencadenando la pérdida de hielo marino
Nuevas tecnologías satelitales han revelado que el Océano Austral se está volviendo más salino, un giro inesperado de los eventos que podría representar un gran problema para la Antártida.