Halite

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Other names: Table salt
Mineral class: Halide
Composition: Sodium chloride, NaCl
Hardness: 2.5
Luster: Glassy, Pearly
Color: Colorless crystals, white rock
Streak: White
Cleavage: Perfect in 3 planes at 90 degrees
Crystal form: Isometric; usually simple cubes.
Environment: Halite is common in evaporite deposits of chemical sedimentary rocks and is commonly associated with gypsum and borax. Halite is more soluble than gypsum, and thus precipitates after gypsum as a salty lake or sea evaporates.
Uses: Chemical industry, a source of chlorine and sodium.
Comments:
Not scratched by fingernail (usually), but may be scratched by a knife.

Salty taste.

The name "halite" is from the Greek 'hals' meaning "salt."

Water soluble. Dissolves at surface; does not form outcrops. May dissolve near surface, forming sinkholes.

Salt domes are stable structures, often of great size, which were extruded upward from deep deposits, and are frequently mined.
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Other names:	Table salt
Mineral class:	Halide
Composition:	Sodium chloride, NaCl
Hardness:	2.5
Luster:	Glassy, Pearly
Color:	Colorless crystals, white rock
Streak:	White
Cleavage:	Perfect in 3 planes at 90 degrees
Crystal form:	Isometric; usually simple cubes.
Environment:	Halite is common in evaporite deposits of chemical sedimentary rocks and is commonly associated with gypsum and borax. Halite is more soluble than gypsum, and thus precipitates after gypsum as a salty lake or sea evaporates.
Uses:	Chemical industry, a source of chlorine and sodium.
Comments:	Not scratched by fingernail (usually), but may be scratched by a knife. Salty taste. The name "halite" is from the Greek 'hals' meaning "salt." Water soluble. Dissolves at surface; does not form outcrops. May dissolve near surface, forming sinkholes. Salt domes are stable structures, often of great size, which were extruded upward from deep deposits, and are frequently mined.