WorldWide Drilling Resource®

48 FEBRUARY 2020 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Frequently-Used Geological Terms Part 86 Glossary Adapted from the Dictionary of Geological Terms S Sagenite - A variety of the mineral rutile which occurs in groups of needlelike crystals crossing at 60 degrees, often enclosed in quartz or other minerals. Also refers to a crystal of sagenite, tourmaline, goethite, actinolite, or other minerals penetrating quartz. Salic -A term, where “S” stands for silica and “AL” for alumina, applied to the group of standard minerals where one or both elements are present in large amounts. This includes quartz, feldspars, and feldspathoids (such as nepheline and leucite). Saline - A natural deposit of halite or any soluble salt. Also, used to refer to a spring of salt water. Salty; containing sodium chloride. Said of a taste resembling common salt. Salinity - The total quantity of dissolved salts in seawater, measured by weight in parts per thousand, when all the carbonate has been converted to oxide, all the bromide and iodide to chloride, and all the organic matter has been completely oxidized. Salinity is typically computed from some other factor, such as chlorinity. It may also be defined in terms of electrical conductivity relative to normal seawater. Salt - A general term for nat- urally occurring sodium chloride, or halite, common salt, and rock salt. This term is also used to describe the process of scattering valuable ore in the ground or mine, to give the illusion of a property rich in ore. Saltation - Sediment transport in which particles are moved forward in a series of short leaps or bounces such as sand grands bounding downstream in a current not turbulent enough to retain them in suspension. It is an intermediate between suspension and traction. Salt Dome - A term used for a piercement structure, or diapir, with a columnar salt plug at its core, a cap rock of anhydrite and limestone, and upturned and complexly faulted sediments next to the salt plug. Salt domes are characteristic features of the Gulf Coastal Plain in North America and the North German Plain in Europe, and occur in many other regions. More terms next month! MIN Underground salt mining typically uses the room and pillar method. This allows solid salt pillars to remain in place to support the mine’s roof. Photo courtesy of Morton Salt.