sal-, sali-

(Latin: salt)

Don't confuse this sal-, sali-; "salt" unit with another sali-, salt- unit which refers to "jumping" and "leaping".

salination
The process of salting.
saline
1. Salty; pertaining to soil or water rich in soluble salts.
2. Containing or impregnated with salt.
3. In biology, a reference to plants and animals that grow in or inhabit salt plains or marshes.
4. Composed of or like salt.
5. In medicine, a sterile solution of sodium chloride used to dilute medications or for intravenous therapy.
saline-alkali soil, salina-alkali soil (s)  (noun); saline-alkali soils; salina-alkali soils (pl)
Earth that is unusable for agricultural purposes: Saline-alkali soil contains more than 15% exchangeable sodium, has a high content of soluble salts, and a pH of less that 9.5.
salinelle
A mud volcano that ejects saline mud.
saline-water reclamation
The demineralization of saline or brackish water.
salinification
The action or process of becoming, or causing to become, saline.
salinity
1. A measure of the total concentration of dissolved salts in sea water usually measured in parts per thousand.
2. The weight ratio between dissolved salts and water in seawater.
3. In chemistry, the amount of dissolved salts in any solution.
salinity current
A density current in the ocean whose flow is caused by its relatively higher salinity, and therefore its greater density, in comparison to the surrounding water.
salinity-temperature-depth recorder, CTD Recorder, STD Recorder
A device with sensors and a recorder, used to record salinity, temperature, and the depth of ocean water.
salinization
1. The process by which soluble salts accumulate in soil or water.
2. Becoming saline, or salty.
3. An accumulation of soluble salts in the soil of an arid, poorly drained region, as a result of the evaporation of the waters that carried them to the soil zone.
salinize
To treat or to contaminate something with salt.
salinometer, salimeter
A device or instrument used to measure the salt content of a solution; such as, brine, especially one based on electrical conductivity methods.
salinometric, salinometry
A reference to an instrument that is used to measure the concentration of salt in salt solutions.
salt
A substance, usually in the form of small white crystals (sodium chloride), with a sharp tangy taste that is used to season or preserve food comes to us from Latin sal, which evolved into French sel, Italian sale, Spanish sal, and Romanian sare.

It has also contributed an enormous range of vocabulary to English, including salad, salary, saline, sauce, saucer, and sausage. Its Germanic descendant was "salt", which produced Swedish, Danish, and English "salt", and Dutch "zout".

The North American Porcupine and Its Need for Salt

  • These vegetarians find an ample supply of staple calories from plants.
  • Why are these modest creatures, amply fed on wild bush and tree, regarded as pests? Because they now gnaw and damage much human property near or in the woods.
  • Whatever salty hands have touched, from ax handles to discarded wrappings, becomes the target of their needful gnawing.
  • The most common attraction for porcupines is the plywood in unattended outbuildings.

  • The curing compound used in plywood is sodium nitrate; so porcupines chew deligently at wooden walls for that scant, unseen prize.
  • Control experiments have shown that they seek the sodium ion only, not potassium, or other ions.
  • Two intrinsic systems set animal and plant life apart; namely, the muscles that power locomotion, and the intricate nerve network that controls the organism, including the muscle fibers themselves.
  • Sodium is an indispensable part of nerve and muscle function.
  • Green plants have neither nerves nor muscles; so, lacking these, generally they have little use for sodium, over the long or short term.
  • Except for special saline plants, vegetation has no need for salt; however, they must have sodium's sister atom, potassium.
-Morrison, Philip and Phylis. "The Needy Porcupine,"
Scientific American, March, 2001; page 77.

Links to salt history The history of salt and its impact on all living creatures.


salt cavern
A cavern in an underground salt formation that is created in a commercial mining operation through the injection of fresh water and the removal of the salt in solution.

Some of these caverns are then used to store hydrocarbons; such as, crude oil and natural gas; or oil field wastes; such as, drilling fluids.

Another related "salt" unit can be seen at this hal- link.