halite

views updated May 08 2018

halite (rock salt) Mineral, NaCl; sp. gr. 2.2; hardness 2.5; cubic; perfect cubic cleavage; colourless, white, or shades of yellow, red, and blue; white streak; vitreous lustre; crystals usually cubes, often with curved faces, but it can be granular and compact; widely distributed in stratified evaporite deposits, associated with other water-soluble minerals (e.g. sylvite) and with gypsum and anhydrite of various geologic ages, large masses frequently forming plugs which rise through and arch overlying sedimentary rocks, thereby forming oil traps; soluble in water; tastes salty. It is widely used as a road dressing in icy weather.

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY

halite

views updated May 11 2018

hal·ite / ˈhaˌlīt; ˈhāˌlīt/ • n. sodium chloride as a mineral, typically occurring as colorless cubic crystals; rock salt.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

halite

views updated Jun 27 2018

halite (NaCl) Sodium chloride, or common (rock) salt. It is found in some sedimentary rocks, and in salt domes and dried lakes. It is colourless, white or grey with a glassy lustre. It has a cubic system of interlocking cubic crystals, granules and masses. It is important as a source of chlorine. Hardness 2.5; r.d. 2.2.

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