Earth Science
A Halite World
Throughout history, halite or what it is more commonly known as, salt, has played a key role in driving our world. From ancient economies run on salt to the preservation of food and creating new salty dishes, below are a few examples of halite's major uses throughout the millennia.
Preservation
For millennia salt has been used to preserve our food stores and protect them during long storage periods from bacterial growth and condensation. This is because salt is naturally great at reducing water activity which is the amount of water available for microbial and chemical actions and hence preventing the food from spoiling.
Economy
Salt has been one of the most valuable and highly traded minerals in history. For a time salt was used as a form of currency and the words "salary" and "soilder" (as well as salad but we'll see that later) are derived from ancient Rome which from Latin translate to: giving salt or the one who receives salt, respectively. In addition halite has been traded by nearly every civilization in history with a few exceptions from the most isolated fresh water/landlocked civilizations like those in the Amazon or central Africa. Due to its value and importance salt was also legally restricted and regulated in a manor that would be comparable to oil or steel production today.
Flavor
Salt has also been used as an additive for flavoring food, its flavor making it a must for many dishes. The word "Salad" as mentioned previously was derived from salt due to the romans sprinkling it as seasoning in their salad dishes, even words like "Sause" and "Sausage" can be traced back to salt. Some of the most popular types of salted dishes include: Salted meats, Sausage, Pretzels, Salads, Pasta, Salted Nuts, French Fries and Salted Chips.
Culture
Finally, Salt has had a massive impact on the worlds culture, from the extensive impact on our modern language and the creation of roadways and diplomatic relations built around its trade to wars and art, salt has been a part of or at the center of nearly every culture throughout history. In ancient china numerous wars since 6000 BCE have been fought over a single lake, Yuncheng. Dozens of cities and villages have been named after their relation with the salt trade such as those in england with the suffix of "wich" or those across america with "salt" or "sal" in their name. Even expressions like "not worth their salt" was birthed from its cultural and economic significance the expression being both greek and roman, the former in relation to payment for slaves or other goods/services and for salary in the later case where troops were paid a salt-salarium. Even today, artworks made of salt as well as its culanary uses have kept it a culturally significant mineral in the modern world.
