Pink Halite cubes from Searls Lake,
Trona California.
Clear to milky crystals of Halite from
Searls Lake, Trona, California.
CHEMISTRY NaCl
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY - Isometric, cubic
CRYSTAL GROWTH AND HABITS - Crystals of Halite are most commonly cubes, rarely modified by octahedral faces. It may also produce hopper crystals, parallel overgrowths and can be encrusting, massive and stalactitic.
COLOR AND OTHER OPTICAL PROPERTIES - Colorless to white, blue and a variety of other colors depending on impurities. The pink color Halite from Searls Lake, is due to the inclusion of bacteria that lives in the brine pools.
HARDNESS - 2
SPECIFIC GRAVITY - 2.16 - 2.17
LUSTER - Vitreous
STREAK - White
BREAKABILITY - Halite has a very good cleavage along {100} and is brittle.
OCCURRENCE - Halite occurrs principally from the evaporation of saline bodies of water.
ASSOCIATED MINERALS - Gypsum, Anhydrite, Polyhalite, Sulfohalite, Glauberite, Sylvite, Trona, Hanksite, Thenardite, Mirabilite
NAME - From the Greek word "hals" for sea.