Natron
Encyclopedia
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate
decahydrate (Na
2C
O
3·10H2O
, a kind of soda ash) and about 17% sodium bicarbonate
(also called nahcolite
or baking soda, NaH
CO3) along with small quantities of household salt
(halite
, sodium chloride
) and sodium sulfate
. Natron is white to colourless when pure, varying to gray or yellow with impurities. Natron deposits are sometimes found in saline lake beds which arose in arid environments. Throughout history natron has had many practical applications which continue in the wide range of modern uses of its constituent mineral components.
In modern mineralogy
the term natron has come to mean only the sodium carbonate decahydrate (hydrated soda ash) which makes up most of the historical salt.
word natron is a French
cognate
derived from the Spanish
natrón through Greek
νιτρων nitron, which derived from the Ancient Egyptian word netjeri, meaning natron. The modern chemical symbol for sodium
, Na, is an abbreviation of that element's New Latin
name natrium, which was derived from natron which refers to Wadi El Natrun
or natron valley in Egypt from which natron was mined in ancient Egypt for use in burial rites.
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
. It softens water
while removing oil and grease. Undiluted, natron was a cleanser for the teeth and an early mouthwash
. 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
because it absorbs water and behaves as a drying agent. Moreover, when exposed to moisture the carbonate in natron increases pH
(raises alkalinity
), 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
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 making a distinct color called Egyptian blue
. It was used along with sand
and lime
in ceramic and glass-making by the Romans and others at least until 640
AD. The mineral was also employed as a flux
to solder precious metals together.
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.
of 1.42 to 1.47 and a Mohs hardness of 1. It crystallizes in the monoclinic-domatic crystal system
, 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
Na2CO3·H2O.
. The mineral natron is often found in association with thermonatrite
, nahcolite
, trona
, halite
, mirabilite
, gaylussite
, gypsum
, and calcite
.
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
.
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
from the atmosphere by a highly alkaline, sodium-rich lake brine
, 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
usually produces mixtures of bicarbonate
and carbonate
in solution. From such mixtures, the mineral natron (and also the historical one) will only be formed, if the brine
temperature during evaporation is maximally ca. 20 °C (68 °F) - or the alkalinity
of the lake is so high, that little bicarbonate
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
(sodium bicarbonate
), resulting in salt mixtures like the historical natron.
Otherwise, the minerals trona
or thermonatrite
and nahcolite
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:
Sodium carbonate
Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 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. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...
decahydrate (Na
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
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 is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
3·10H2O
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, a kind of soda ash) and about 17% sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate
Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula Na HCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . The natural mineral form is...
(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. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
CO3) along with small quantities of household salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
(halite
Halite
Halite , commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral form of sodium chloride . Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray 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 inorganic 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. When 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 since the 17th century. Another solid is the...
. Natron is white to colourless when pure, varying to gray or yellow with impurities. Natron deposits are sometimes found in saline lake beds which arose in arid environments. Throughout history natron has had many practical applications which continue in the wide range of modern uses of its constituent mineral components.
In modern mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of 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 utilization.-History:Early writing...
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 EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
word natron is a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
derived from the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
natrón through Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
νιτρων nitron, which derived from the Ancient Egyptian word netjeri, meaning natron. The modern chemical symbol for sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
, Na, is an abbreviation of that element's New Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...
name natrium, which was derived from natron which refers to 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. In Christian literature, the region is also referred to as the Nitrian Desert...
or natron valley in Egypt from which natron was mined in ancient Egypt for use in burial rites.
Importance in antiquity
Historical natron was harvested directly as a salt mixture from dry lake beds in Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
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
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
. It softens water
Water softening
Water softening is the reduction of the concentration of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. These "hardness ions" can cause a variety of undesired effects including interfering with the action of soaps, the build up of limescale, which can foul plumbing, and...
while 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. Some manufacturers of mouthwash claim that antiseptic and anti-plaque mouth rinse kill the bacterial plaque causing cavities, gingivitis, and bad breath. Anti-cavity mouth rinse uses fluoride to protect against tooth decay...
. 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 body, human or animal, 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, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
because it absorbs water and behaves as a drying agent. Moreover, when exposed to moisture the carbonate in natron increases pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
(raises alkalinity
Alkalinity
Alkalinity or AT measures the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the equivalence point of carbonate or bicarbonate. The alkalinity is equal to the stoichiometric sum of the bases in solution...
), 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/m3...
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 making 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.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
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
Year 640 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Tulga succeeds his father Suinthila as king...
AD. The mineral was also employed as a flux
Flux (metallurgy)
In metallurgy, a flux , is a chemical cleaning agent, flowing agent, or purifying agent. Fluxes may have more than one function at a time...
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 detergentDetergent
A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with "cleaning properties in dilute solutions." In common usage, "detergent" refers to alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are less affected by hard water...
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 gravitySpecific gravity
Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance. Apparent specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a volume of the substance to the weight of an equal volume of the reference substance. The reference substance is nearly always water for...
of 1.42 to 1.47 and a Mohs hardness of 1. It crystallizes in the monoclinic-domatic crystal system
Crystal system
In crystallography, the terms crystal system, crystal family, and lattice system each refer to 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....
Na2CO3·H2O.
As a source of soda ash
Sodium carbonate decahydrate is stable at room temperature but recrystallizes at only 32 °C (89.6 °F) to sodium carbonate heptahydrate, Na2CO3·7H2O, then above 37–38 °C (98.6–100.4 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 thermonatriteThermonatrite
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....
. 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....
, 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 ; Na3•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.- Etymology :The word "trona" comes to English by way of either...
, halite
Halite
Halite , commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral form of sodium chloride . Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on the amount and type of impurities...
, mirabilite
Mirabilite
Mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt, is a hydrous sodium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula 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 playa lakes...
, 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 is formed as an evaporite from...
, gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
, 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 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
.
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 ; Na3•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.- Etymology :The word "trona" comes to English by way of either...
.
Geological occurrence
Geologically, the mineral natron as well as the historical natron are formed as transpiro-evaporiteEvaporite
Evaporite is a name for a water-soluble mineral sediment that result from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporate deposits, marine which can also be described as ocean deposits, and non-marine which are found in standing bodies of...
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 naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
from the atmosphere by a highly alkaline, sodium-rich lake brine
Brine
Brine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
, 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 naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
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 of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, . The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group 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 salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
temperature during evaporation is maximally ca. 20 °C (68 °F) - or the alkalinity
Alkalinity
Alkalinity or AT measures the ability of a solution to neutralize acids to the equivalence point of carbonate or bicarbonate. The alkalinity is equal to the stoichiometric sum of the bases in solution...
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 Na HCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . The natural mineral form is...
), resulting in salt mixtures like the historical natron.
Otherwise, the minerals trona
Trona
Trona ; Na3•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.- Etymology :The word "trona" comes to English by way of either...
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....
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
- ChadChadChad , 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 ChadLake ChadLake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
- shores of Lake Chad
- EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
- Wadi El NatrunWadi El NatrunWadi 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. In Christian literature, the region is also referred to as the Nitrian Desert...
- Wadi El Natrun
- EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
- Showa ProvinceShewaShewa is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire...
- Showa Province
- Chad
- EuropeEuropeEurope 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 watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
- HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
- Bács-Kiskun CountyBács-KiskunBács-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 the southern parts of 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...
, (Great Hungarian Plain) - Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg CountySzabolcs-Szatmár-BeregSzabolcs-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)
- Bács-Kiskun County
- ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- Campania, CampaniaCampania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
- Province of NaplesProvince of NaplesThe 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
- Campania,
- RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(Northern Region)- Murmanskaja Oblast
- Kola PeninsulaKola PeninsulaThe Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
- Khibiny MassifKhibiny MassifThe Khibiny Massif, Khibiny Mountains, Khibinsky Mountains or Khibins, Khibinsky tundras, Khibiny is one of the two main mountain ranges of the Kola Peninsula, Russia, within the Arctic Circle, located between Imandra and Umbozero lakes.The massif is of oval shape of about 1,300 sq.km...
- LovozeroLovozeroLovozero may refer to:*Lovozero Massif, a mountain range in the center of Kola Peninsula, Russia*Lake Lovozero, a lake in Murmansk Oblast, Russia*Lovozero , a rural locality in Murmansk Oblast, Russia...
MassifMassifIn 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... - Alluaiv Mountain
- Umbozero Mine
- Kedykverpakhk Mountain
- England, UK
- CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
- St Just DistrictSt Just in PenwithSt 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...
- BotallackBotallackThe Botallack Mine is a former mine in Botallack in west Cornwall, United Kingdom.The village is in a former tin mining area situated between the town of St Just in Penwith and the village of Pendeen....
- PendeenPendeenPendeen is a village on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is north-northeast of St Just and west of Penzance.The village has a community centre, a shop, a post office, a primary school, and a few small businesses. Community activities include an art club, silver marching band...
Area - Botallack, and Botallack Mine
- Cornwall
- Hungary
- CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
- Rouville CountyRouvilleRouville 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-HilaireMont-Saint-Hilaire, QuebecMont-Saint-Hilaire is an off-island suburb of Montréal in southeastern Québec, Canada on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-du-Richelieu...
- Rouville County
- Interior British Columbia, Canada
- Quebec
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
- Inyo CountyInyo County, California-National protected areas:* Death Valley National Park * Inyo National Forest * Manzanar National Historic Site-Major highways:* U.S. Route 6* U.S. Route 395* State Route 127* State Route 136* State Route 168* State Route 178...
- Inyo County
- NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
- Churchill CountyChurchill County, NevadaChurchill 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 DistrictSoda LakeSoda 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 CountyHumboldt County, NevadaHumboldt 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 CountyMineral County, NevadaMineral County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 5,071. In 2009, it was estimated to have dropped to 4,662. Its county seat is Hawthorne.-History:...
- Churchill County
- OregonOregonOregon 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 CountyLake County, OregonLake County is a county in the high desert south central region of the U.S. state of Oregon, so named for the many lakes found within its boundaries, including Lake Abert, Hart Lake Reservoir, and Goose Lake. While Lake is among Oregon's largest counties, it is sparsely populated with 7,895...
- Lake County
- PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
- KarnsKarns, PennsylvaniaKarns 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. Karns is situated along the Allegheny River at Pool 4 across from Jacks...
- NatronaNatrona, PennsylvaniaNatrona is an unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located in Western Pennsylvania within the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, approximately northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh...
- Karns
- Washington
- WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
- California
See also
- NahcoliteNahcoliteNahcolite is a soft, colourless or white carbonate mineral with the composition of sodium bicarbonate also called thermokalite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system....
- Natrona (disambiguation)
- SaltpeterSodium nitrateSodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as Chile saltpeter or Peru saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate, is a white solid which is very soluble in water...
- ShortiteShortiteShortite 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 named to honor Maxwell N...
- Sodium sesquicarbonateSodium sesquicarbonateSodium sesquicarbonate Na3H2, which is a double salt of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate, and has a needle-like crystal structure...
- ThermonatriteThermonatriteThermonatrite 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....
- TronaTronaTrona ; Na3•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.- Etymology :The word "trona" comes to English by way of either...