Saltern

A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works, as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also other halophiles including algae and bacteria.

Salterns usually begin with seawater as the initial source of brine but may also use natural saltwater springs and streams. The water is evaporated, usually over a series of ponds, to the point where sodium chloride and other salts precipitate out of the saturated brine, allowing pure salts to be harvested. Where complete evaporation in this fashion was not routinely achievable due to weather, salt was produced from the concentrated brine by boiling the brine.

Earliest examples of pans used in the solution mining of salt date back to prehistoric times and the pans were made of ceramics known as briquetage. Later examples were made from lead and then iron. The change from lead to iron coincided with a change from wood to coal for the purpose of heating the brine. Brine would be pumped into the pans, and concentrated by the heat of the fire burning underneath. As crystals of salt formed these would be raked out and more brine added. In warmer climates no additional heat would be supplied, the sun's heat being sufficient to evaporate off the brine.

History

One of the earliest salterns for the harvesting of salt is argued to have taken place on Lake Yuncheng, Shanxi, China by 6000 BC.^[1] Strong archaeological evidence of salt making dating to 2000 BC is found in the ruins of Zhongba at Chongqing.^[2]^[3]

References

^ Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Retrieved on 2008-7-5.
^ Rowan Flad et al. (2005), 12618–12622.
^ A seasoned ancient state: Chinese site adds salt to civilization's rise. Sciencenews.org. Retrieved on 2008-7-5.

This article incorporates text from Dawlish.com, a site which allows free use of its content.
Salt Making in the Adur Valley
Archaeology, arable landscapes and drainage ...Excavations at the Bourne–Morton Canal and the Roman saltern recorded. Archaeology, arable landscapes and drainage in the Fenland of Eastern England.
A medieval saltern mound at Millfields Caravan Park, Bramber,West Medieval (13th-16th century) saltern mound
Definition of Saltern Mound

[1] Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Retrieved on 2008-7-5.

[2] Rowan Flad et al. (2005), 12618–12622.

[3] A seasoned ancient state: Chinese site adds salt to civilization's rise. Sciencenews.org. Retrieved on 2008-7-5.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Salt
History	History In the American Civil War International Salt Co. v. United States In Middlewich Old Salt Route In Chinese history Salt March Salt road
Types	Abraum Alaea Alberger Asín tibuok Bittern Black lava Butter Calcium chloride Celery Curing Cyclic Dairy Flake Fleur de sel Garlic Himalayan Iodised Jugyeom Kala namak Korean brining Kosher Monosodium glutamate Moshio salt Pickling Potassium chloride Potassium nitrate River reed salt Sodium nitrate Onion Rock Salammoniac Salt substitute Sea salt Seasoned Sel gris Smoked Sodium chloride Truffle Túltul
Food usage	Brining Salting Brined cheese Salt-cured meat Salted fish Health effects Salt and cardiovascular disease
Commerce and industry	Salt Industry Commission Evaporation pond Salt mining Salt well Sink works Open-pan salt making List of countries by salt production Salt tectonics
By region	In Cheshire In Ghana San Francisco Bay In Pakistan
Culture	Grain of salt Salt in the Bible Salting the earth
Miscellaneous	Mineral lick Road salt Smelling salts Water softening Ximenes Redoubt Tax
Category

History

See also

References