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Elsbeth Alpert, age 14, of Eugene, Ore., for her question:

IS SEA SALT THE SAME AS SALT FOUND ON THE GROUND?

Salt is used in an estimated 14,000 different ways. Salt as a seasoning for food takes less than five percent of the salt produced each year. Much salt is used by meat packers, chemical companies, hide and leather processors and food processors. A great deal of the world's annual supply is used to make soda ash, a compound used in making glass andsoap.

Salt is a mineral that can be found in both solid and liquid form. The chemical formula is NaCl, indicating that it contains two elements: chlorine and sodium. Technically it is known as sodium chloride.Page Two ...ASK ANDY  NO. 8570...Dec. 28...chloride.

Very pure salt can be and is obtained from the ocean. In a gallon of water, there is about one quarter pound of salt. The solar method of taking salt from the sea is still used to a limited degree. Sun and wind originally evaporated ocean water trapped in low spots on land. Now the process is speeded up by placing the brine in large iron pans and placing them over extremely hot fires. Solar plants are in operation in the San Francisco Bay area and around the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

Thirteen percent of the salt produced each year in the United States is taken from the sea, while 28 percent is taken from mines and about 59 percent from wells.

In almost every part of the world, salt is found beneath the ground. Salt is mined in much the same way as coal. Miners use compressed air drills and electric crushing and shoveling machines to break loose rock salt. It then goes through a series of crushers, passes over screens that separate it into crystals of various sizes and is put into sacks or bulk carloads.

A salt well is drilled in much the same way that a water or oil well is drilled. But the salt well has a double pipe sunk into it. One pipe is inside the other, leaving space between the two. Pure, fresh water is pumped down through this space to the salt vein below. The solution is then forced up the inner pipe by the pressure of the fresh water that continues to come down. When a vein of salt lies very deep, air pressure forces the brine to the surfact.

The brine that comes from salt wells contains only the impurities that dissolve in water. Solid impurities are left at the bottom of the well. The brine is then refined in aboutthe same way as sea salt.

About 44 million tons of salt are processed in the United States each year. Louisiana is the leading state, coming up with more than 13 million tons, followed by more than 10 million tons from Texas, more than 5 million from New York and more than 4.5 million from both Michigan and Ohio

Salt was once so scarce and precious that it was used as money. Caesar's soldiers received part of their pay this way. It was known as salarium, and from this word our word" salary " comes.

 

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