Thenardite ps. Halite

Item Description

Large, rich specimen of Thenardite (a sulfate) after Halite (a halide), from Searles Lake. In these evaporite deposits, you often have minerals changing in solution, and then often changing back again. Here, the dozens of 1 cm and larger Halites have been altered, or partially altered, to a delicate, almost spongy, Thenardite. One way to identify them visually is that the Halite is basically colorless, while the Thenardite has a pinkish tint. A very good example of these evaporite minerals.