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Natron

Natron

Overview
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , , is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate; and is domestically well known for its everyday use as a water softener...

 decahydrate (Na
Sodium
Sodium is a metallic element with a symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1"...

2C
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

O
Oxygen
Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O...

3·10H2O
Water
Water is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...

, a naturally occurring form of soda ash) and about 17% sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . It is a component of the...

 (also called nahcolite
Nahcolite
Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....

 or baking soda, NaH
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly flammable diatomic gas with the molecular formula H2...

CO3) along with small quantities of household salt
Salt
A salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

 (halite
Halite
Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, NaCl, commonly known as rock salt. Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless to yellow, but may also be light blue, dark blue, and pink depending on the amount and type of impurities...

, sodium chloride
Sodium chloride
Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt, or halite, is an ionic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

) and sodium sulfate
Sodium sulfate
Sodium sulfate is the sodium salt of sulfuric acid. Anhydrous, it is a white crystalline solid of formula Na2SO4 known as the mineral thenardite; the decahydrate Na2SO4·10H2O has been known as Glauber's salt or, historically, sal mirabilis...

. Natron is white to colorless when pure, varying to gray or yellow with impurities. Natron deposits occur naturally as a part of saline lake beds in arid environments.
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Encyclopedia
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , , is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate; and is domestically well known for its everyday use as a water softener...

 decahydrate (Na
Sodium
Sodium is a metallic element with a symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1"...

2C
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

O
Oxygen
Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter) is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O...

3·10H2O
Water
Water is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...

, a naturally occurring form of soda ash) and about 17% sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . It is a component of the...

 (also called nahcolite
Nahcolite
Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....

 or baking soda, NaH
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly flammable diatomic gas with the molecular formula H2...

CO3) along with small quantities of household salt
Salt
A salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

 (halite
Halite
Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, NaCl, commonly known as rock salt. Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless to yellow, but may also be light blue, dark blue, and pink depending on the amount and type of impurities...

, sodium chloride
Sodium chloride
Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt, or halite, is an ionic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

) and sodium sulfate
Sodium sulfate
Sodium sulfate is the sodium salt of sulfuric acid. Anhydrous, it is a white crystalline solid of formula Na2SO4 known as the mineral thenardite; the decahydrate Na2SO4·10H2O has been known as Glauber's salt or, historically, sal mirabilis...

. Natron is white to colorless when pure, varying to gray or yellow with impurities. Natron deposits occur naturally as a part of saline lake beds in arid environments. Throughout history, natron has had many practical applications, which still resonate in the wide range of modern uses of its constituent mineral components.

In modern mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is an Earth Science focused around the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their...

 the term natron has come to mean only the sodium carbonate decahydrate (hydrated soda ash) which makes up most of the historical salt.

Etymology


The English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...

 word natron is a French
French language
French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...

 cognate
Cognate
Cognates in linguistics are words that have a common etymological origin.An example of cognates within the same language would be English shirt and skirt, the former from Old English scyrte, the latter loaned from Old Norse skyrta, both from the same Common Germanic *skurtjōn-. Words with this type...

 derived from the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...

 natrón through the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...

 natrun from Greek
Greek language
Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...

 nitron, which derived from the Ancient Egyptian word netjeri meaning Sodium. The modern chemical symbol for sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a metallic element with a symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1"...

, Na, is an abbreviation of that element's New Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe a form of the Latin language used for scholarly and scientific publications and for the formation of scientific terminology, such as botanical terms and taxonomic classification, after the end of the Renaissance period...

 name natrium, which was derived from natron.

Importance in antiquity


Historical natron was harvested directly as a salt mixture from dry lake beds in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...

 and has been used for thousands of years as a cleaning product for both the home and body. Blended with oil, it was an early form of soap
Soap
Soap is an anionic surfactant used in conjunction with water for washing and cleaning, which historically comes either in solid bars or in the form of a viscous liquid....

. It softens water
Water softening
A water softener reduces the dissolved calcium, magnesium, and to some degree manganese and ferrous iron ion concentration in hard water. A common water softener is sodium carbonate; formula .These "hardness ions" cause three major kinds of undesired effects....

 whilst removing oil and grease. Undiluted, natron was a cleanser for the teeth and an early mouthwash
Mouthwash
Mouthwash or mouth rinse is a product used to enhance oral hygiene. Antiseptic and anti-plaque mouth rinse claim to kill the bacterial plaque causing caries, gingivitis, and bad breath. Anti-cavity mouth rinse uses fluoride to protect against tooth decay. But, it is generally agreed that the use...

. The mineral was mixed into early antiseptics for wounds and minor cuts. Natron can be used to dry and preserve fish and meat. It was also an ancient household insecticide, was used for making leather, and as a bleach for clothing.

The mineral was used in Egyptian mummification
Mummy
A mummy is a corpse whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness, very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs...

 because it absorbs water and behaves as a drying agent. Moreover, when exposed to moisture the carbonate in natron increases pH, which creates a hostile environment for bacteria. In some cultures, natron was thought to enhance spiritual safety for both the living and the dead. Natron was added to castor oil
Castor oil
Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean . Castor oil is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with mild or no odor or taste. Its boiling point is and its density is 961 kg·m−3...

 to make a smokeless fuel, which allowed Egyptian artisans to paint elaborate artworks inside ancient tombs without staining them with soot.

Natron is an ingredient for the making of a distinct color called Egyptian blue
Egyptian Blue
Egyptian blue is chemically known as calcium copper silicate . It is a pigment used by Egyptians for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pigment. The pigment was known to the Romans by the name caeruleum...

. It was used along with sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain...

 and lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...

 in ceramic and glass-making by the Romans and others at least until 640
640
-Europe:* Tulga succeeds his father Suinthila as king of the Visigoths.* The French city of Lille is founded by Lyderic.* At request of Porga of Croatia, one of the first known princes of Dalmatian Croatia to Emperor Heraclius for Christian teachers, Pope John IV sent Christian teachers and...

 CE. The mineral was also employed as a flux
Flux (metallurgy)
In metallurgy, a flux is a chemical cleaning agent which facilitates soldering, brazing, and welding by removing oxidation from the metals to be joined. Common fluxes are: ammonium chloride or rosin for soldering tin; hydrochloric acid and zinc chloride for soldering galvanized iron ; and borax for...

 to solder precious metals together.

Decline in use


Most of natron's uses both in the home and by industry were gradually replaced with closely related sodium compounds and minerals. Natron's detergent
Detergent
A detergent is a material intended to assist cleaning. The term is sometimes used to differentiate between soap and other surfactants used for cleaning...

 properties are now commercially supplied by soda ash, the mixture's chief compound ingredient, along with other chemicals. Soda ash also replaced natron in glass-making. Some of its ancient household roles are also now filled by ordinary baking soda, natron's other meaningful ingredient.

Chemistry of hydrated sodium carbonate


Natron is also the mineralogical name for the compound sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na2CO3·10H2O), which is the main component in historical natron. Sodium carbonate decahydrate has a specific gravity of 1.42 to 1.47 and a Mohs hardness of 1. It crystallizes in the monoclinic-domatic crystal system
Crystal system
In crystallography, a crystal system or crystal family or lattice system is one of several classes of space groups, lattices, point groups, or crystals...

, typically forming efflorescences and encrustations.

The term hydrated sodium carbonate is commonly used to encompass the monohydrate (Na2CO3·H2O), the decahydrate and the heptahydrate (Na2CO3·7H2O), but is often used in industry to refer to the decahydrate only. Both the hepta- and the decahydrate effloresce (lose water) in dry air and are partially transformed into the monohydrate thermonatrite
Thermonatrite
Thermonatrite is a naturally occurring evaporite mineral form of sodium carbonate Na2CO3·.It was first described in 1845. Its name is from the Greek θερμός, "thermos", heat, plus natron, because it may be a dehydration product of natron.Typical occurrence is in dry saline lake...

 Na2CO3·H2O.

As a source of soda ash


Sodium carbonate decahydrate is stable at room temperature but recrystallizes at only 32°C (90°F) to sodium carbonate heptahydrate, Na2CO3·7H2O, then above 37-38°C (98-100°F) to sodium carbonate monohydrate, Na2CO3·H2O. This recrystallization from decahydrate to monohydrate releases much crystal water in a mostly clear, colorless salt solution with little solid thermonatrite
Thermonatrite
Thermonatrite is a naturally occurring evaporite mineral form of sodium carbonate Na2CO3·.It was first described in 1845. Its name is from the Greek θερμός, "thermos", heat, plus natron, because it may be a dehydration product of natron.Typical occurrence is in dry saline lake...

. The mineral natron is often found in association with thermonatrite
Thermonatrite
Thermonatrite is a naturally occurring evaporite mineral form of sodium carbonate Na2CO3·.It was first described in 1845. Its name is from the Greek θερμός, "thermos", heat, plus natron, because it may be a dehydration product of natron.Typical occurrence is in dry saline lake...

, nahcolite
Nahcolite
Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....

, trona
Trona
Trona ; Na3H2·2H2O is an evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced the Solvay process used in most of the rest of the world for sodium carbonate production.- Natural occurrence :Trona is...

, halite
Halite
Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, NaCl, commonly known as rock salt. Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless to yellow, but may also be light blue, dark blue, and pink depending on the amount and type of impurities...

, mirabilite
Mirabilite
Mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt, is a hydrous sodium sulfate mineral: Na2SO4·10H2O. It is a vitreous, colorless to white monoclinic mineral which forms as an evaporite from sodium sulfate bearing brines. It is found around saline springs and along saline...

, gaylussite
Gaylussite
Gaylussite is a carbonate mineral, a hydrated sodium calcium carbonate, formula Na2Ca2·5H2O. It occurs as translucent, vitreous white to grey to yellow monoclinic prismatic crystals. It is an unstable mineral which dehydrates in dry air and decomposes in water.It...

, gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O.-Crystal varieties:...

, and calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 470°C, and vaterite is even less stable....

.
Most industrially produced sodium carbonate is soda ash, sodium carbonate anhydrate Na2CO3, which is obtained by calcination (dry heating at temperatures of 150 to 200°C) of sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate monohydrate, or trona
Trona
Trona ; Na3H2·2H2O is an evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced the Solvay process used in most of the rest of the world for sodium carbonate production.- Natural occurrence :Trona is...

.

Geological occurrence


Geologically, the mineral natron as well as the historical natron are formed as transpiro-evaporite
Evaporite
Evaporites are water-soluble mineral sediments that result from the evaporation of bodies of surficial water. Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks.- Formation of evaporite rocks :...

 minerals, i.e. crystallizing during the drying up of salt lakes rich in sodium carbonate. The sodium carbonate is usually formed by absorption of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state...

 from the atmosphere by a highly alkaline, sodium-rich lake brine
Brine
Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with a salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses.Brine is a common fluid used in large refrigeration installations for the transport of heat from...

, according to the following reaction scheme:

NaOH(aq) + CO2 -> NaHCO3(aq)

NaHCO3(aq) + NaOH(aq) -> Na2CO3(aq) + H2O

Pure deposits of sodium carbonate decahydrate are rare, due to the limited temperature stability of this compound and due to the fact, that the absorption of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state...

 usually produces mixtures of bicarbonate
Bicarbonate

In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid...

 and carbonate
Carbonate
In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt or ester of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, or a carbonate functional group O=C2....

 in solution. From such mixtures, the mineral natron (and also the historical one) will only be formed, if the brine
Brine
Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with a salt .It is used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses.Brine is a common fluid used in large refrigeration installations for the transport of heat from...

 temperature during evaporation is maximally ca. 20°C (68°F) - or the alkalinity
Alkalinity
Alkalinity or AT is a measure of the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the equivalence point of carbonate or bicarbonate. Alkalinity is closely related to the acid neutralizing capacity of a solution and ANC is often incorrectly used to refer to alkalinity.The alkalinity is...

 of the lake is so high, that little bicarbonate
Bicarbonate

In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid...

 is present in solution (see reaction scheme above) - in which case the maximum temperature is increased to ca. 30°C (86°F). In most cases the mineral natron will form together with some amount of nahcolite
Nahcolite
Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....

 (sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . It is a component of the...

), resulting in salt mixtures like the historical natron.
Otherwise, the minerals trona
Trona
Trona ; Na3H2·2H2O is an evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced the Solvay process used in most of the rest of the world for sodium carbonate production.- Natural occurrence :Trona is...

http://webmineral.com/data/Trona.shtml or thermonatrite
Thermonatrite
Thermonatrite is a naturally occurring evaporite mineral form of sodium carbonate Na2CO3·.It was first described in 1845. Its name is from the Greek θερμός, "thermos", heat, plus natron, because it may be a dehydration product of natron.Typical occurrence is in dry saline lake...

 and nahcolite
Nahcolite
Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....

 are commonly formed. As the evaporation of a salt lake will occur over geological time spans, during which also part or all of the salt beds might redissolve and recrystallize, deposits of sodium carbonate can be composed of layers of all these minerals.

The following list may include geographical sources of either natron or other hydrated sodium carbonate minerals:
  • Africa
    • Chad
      Chad
      Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...

      • shores of Lake Chad
        Lake Chad
        Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow lake in Africa, whose size has varied greatly over the centuries. It is economically very important, providing water to more than 20 million people living in the four countries which surround it: Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. It is located mainly in...

    • Egypt
      Egypt
      Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...

      • Wadi El Natrun
        Wadi El Natrun
        Wadi El Natrun is a valley located in Beheira Governorate, Egypt, including a town with the same name. The name refers to the presence of eight different lakes in the region that produce natron salt...

    • Ethiopia
      Ethiopia
      Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...

      • Showa Province
        Shewa
        Shewa is a historical region of Ethiopia. Formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire, the Ethiopian modern capital Addis Ababa is located at its center....

  • Europe
    Europe
    Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...

    • Hungary
      Hungary
      Hungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...

      • Bács-Kiskun County
        Bács-Kiskun
        Bács-Kiskun is a county located in southern Hungary. It was created as a result of World War II, merging the pre war Bács-Bodrog and Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun counties. With an area of 8,445 km2, Bács-Kiskun is the largest county in the country. The terrain is mostly flat with slight...

        , (Great Hungarian Plain)
      • Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County
        Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg
        Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg is an administrative county in north-eastern Hungary, bordering Slovakia, Ukraine and Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Hajdú-Bihar and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén...

         (Great Hungarian Plain)
    • Italy
      Italy
      Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...

      • Campania,
        Campania
        Campania is a region of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,595 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

      • Province of Naples
        Province of Naples
        The Province of Naples is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital city is Naples, within the province there are 92 Comuni of the Province of Naples.-Demographics:...

      • Somma-Vesuvius Complex
    • Russia
      Russia
      Russia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

       (Northern Region)
      • Murmanskaja Oblast
      • Kola Peninsula
        Kola Peninsula
        The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far north of Russia, part of the Murmansk Oblast. It borders upon the Barents Sea on the North and the White Sea on the East and South...

      • Khibiny Massif
        Khibiny Massif
        The Khibiny Massif, Khibiny Mountains or Khibins is one of the two main mountain ranges of the Kola Peninsula, Russia.The massif is of oval shape of about 1,300 sq.km. and occupies the central part of the peninsula at a relative elevation of 900-1000 m above the surrounding plain. The highest...

      • Lovozero
        Lovozero
        Lovozero may refer to:*Lovozero Tundras, a mountain range in the center of Kola Peninsula, Russia*Lake Lovozero, a lake in Murmansk Oblast, Russia*Lovozero , a village in Murmansk Oblast, Russia...

         Massif
        Massif
        In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term is also used to refer to a group of mountains formed by such a structure...

      • Alluaiv Mountain
      • Umbozero Mine
      • Kedykverpakhk Mountain
    • England, UK
      • Cornwall
        Cornwall
        Cornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...

      • St Just District
        St Just in Penwith
        St Just is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to...

      • Botallack
        Botallack
        Botallack is an ex-tin mining village in Cornwall, England United Kingdom near Land's End. It is situated between the town of St Just in Penwith and the village of Pendeen. It has a pub and a nearby campsite....

         - Pendeen
        Pendeen
        Pendeen is a small village close to the coastline, within Cornwall, England, UK. It is away from the town of St Just and is part of the St. Just civil parish. It is from the town of Penzance.-Geography:...

         Area
      • Botallack, and Botallack Mine
  • Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

    • Quebec
      Quebec
      Quebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

      • Rouville County
        Rouville
        Rouville may refer to the following places:* Rouville, Oise, a commune in the Oise department, France* Rouville, Seine-Maritime, a commune in the Seine-Maritime department, France...

      • Mont-Saint-Hilaire
        Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec
        Mont-Saint-Hilaire is a town in southeastern Quebec, Canada on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-du-Richelieu...

    • Interior British Columbia, Canada
  • United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

    • California
      California
      California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...

      • Inyo County
        Inyo County, California
        Inyo County is located in east-central California in the southwestern United States, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and south of Yosemite National Park. As of 2000 the county had a population of 17,945. The county seat is Independence....

    • Nevada
      Nevada
      Nevada is a state located in the western region of the United States. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas. The state's nickname is Silver State, due to the large number of silver deposits that were discovered and mined there...

      • Churchill County
        Churchill County, Nevada
        Churchill County is a county located in the western U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 23,982. As of July 1, 2007, the population of Churchill County was estimated at 27,190. The county, named after Mexican-American War hero brevet Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill,...

         (Soda Lake District
        Soda Lake
        Soda Lake is a dry lake at the terminus of the Mojave River in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California. The lake has standing water during wet periods, and water can be found beneath the surface....

        )
      • Humboldt County
        Humboldt County, Nevada
        Humboldt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of 2007, the population was estimated to be 18,052 . Its county seat is Winnemucca.The county was the site of an arrest in 2000 that led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hiibel v...

      • Mineral County
        Mineral County, Nevada
        Mineral County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 5,071. Its county seat is Hawthorne.-History:...

    • Oregon
      Oregon
      Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

      • Lake County
        Lake County, Oregon
        Lake County is a county located in the high desert south central region of U.S. state of Oregon. It is named for the lakes found within its boundaries, including Lake Abert, Hart Lake Reservoir, and Goose Lake. While it is among the largest Oregon counties in land area, it is thinly populated with...

    • Pennsylvania
      Pennsylvania
      The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...

      • Natrona, Pennsylvania
        Natrona, Pennsylvania
        Natrona is an unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; it is located in Western Pennsylvania within the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, approximately northeast of Pittsburgh. Natrona is situated along the Allegheny River at Lock and Dam 4, Pools...

    • Washington
      Washington
      Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...

      • Okanogan County
        Okanogan County, Washington
        Okanogan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. In area, it is the largest county in the state. As of 2000, the population was 39,564. The county seat is at Okanogan, and its largest city is Omak...


See also

  • Trona
    Trona
    Trona ; Na3H2·2H2O is an evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced the Solvay process used in most of the rest of the world for sodium carbonate production.- Natural occurrence :Trona is...

  • Nahcolite
    Nahcolite
    Nahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....

  • Shortite
    Shortite
    thumb|Shortite, [[Green River Formation]], [[Wyoming]] Shortite is a sodium - calcium carbonate mineral, with the chemical formula Na2Ca23. It was discovered by J. J. Fahey in well cuttings from the Green River Formation, Sweetwater County, Wyoming USA, and was...

  • Sodium sesquicarbonate
    Sodium sesquicarbonate
    Sodium sesquicarbonate Na3H2, which is a double salt of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate, and has a needle-like crystal structure...

  • Thermonatrite
    Thermonatrite
    Thermonatrite is a naturally occurring evaporite mineral form of sodium carbonate Na2CO3·.It was first described in 1845. Its name is from the Greek θερμός, "thermos", heat, plus natron, because it may be a dehydration product of natron.Typical occurrence is in dry saline lake...

  • Saltpeter
    Sodium nitrate
    Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as "Chile saltpeter" or "Peru saltpeter" , is a white solid which is very soluble in water...


External links