Open Adit™ - Halides

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The halides are relatively simple salts, of which the best known is common salt (halite). They consist of a halogen such as fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), and the much rarer bromine (Br) and iodine (I) combined with an alkali metal. The halogens are present as large negatively charged cations linked with a pure ionic bond to a small metal positive cation such as sodium (Na) or calcium (Ca). The ions behave like almost perfect spheres and consequenlty adopt the highest possible packing configuration, called close cubic packing. Many of these minerals therefore have isometric (cubic) crystal structures.

These are soft minerals, many of them soluble in water and many are very important economically. Because of their solubility, most Halides are found in environments associated with water. For example in deposits of hydrothermal origin, near hot springs, and most commonly, in evaporite deposits. However the high solubility means that often the minerals are often washed away when the local aqueous environment changes. Consequently many species are transient and therefore very rare. Even so, some like halite are so abundant that they are common despite their solublity.

Occasionally halide minerals may be confused with nitrates and sulfates. However the isometric (cubic) crystal structure is what defines the differences.

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