Learn about the underground beds of potash deposits in Germany
Learn about underground beds of potash in Germany.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Zniehf/Dreamstime.com
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Johannes Gutenberg invented one of the first printing presses using movable type.Media Editor: Miranda Chabot
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzHow do the waxy coating on some fruits helps them survive different climates?
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Packing cans of fish in Prospect Harbor, Maine.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Extraction of salt from the waters of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
-
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzLearn how engineers extract crude salt from potassium mines in Germany.
-
© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)An overview of the chemical structure of water molecules.
Transcript
It's one of Germany's most important mineral resource exports - potassium salt, or potash - a basic ingredient of fertilizer. Although few are aware of its significance as a raw material, the price of potash has more than doubled in the past five years. It's extracted here in Germany in one of the world's biggest mines - the underground potash mine in the Werra valley would cover an area the size of Munich.
This subterranean world was a primordial ocean 250 million years ago. Sea water contains many salts and one of them is potash. Millions of years ago, the sun evaporated the waters of the inland sea that stretched between today's Hesse and Thuringia. A highly concentrated solution of salts was left. According to their solubility, the different salts were laid down in layers, one on top of the other, on the sea bed. The more water evaporated, the more concentrated the solution became until finally the readily soluble potassium salts were precipitated. Over millions of years, thick strata of sediments were deposited over the layers of salt. Where fault lines formed, the salt-containing deposits were pressed upwards like a viscous mass, creating these salt beds that have been mined for over 100 years.
Mining this white gold requires expert knowledge. The aim is to extract as little gangue, or rock containing little potash, from the mountain as possible. Over 70,000 tons of potash is blasted from the rock every day here at the Winters-hall mine.
A few decades ago, salt mines were being closed rather than expanded. Today, though, many abandoned mines are being reactivated now that salt has the value it had in the Middle Ages. Potash is not only used to produce fertilizer for depleted soils. High-purity potassium compounds are key ingredients for medical infusions, and it's a sought after raw material for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
This subterranean world was a primordial ocean 250 million years ago. Sea water contains many salts and one of them is potash. Millions of years ago, the sun evaporated the waters of the inland sea that stretched between today's Hesse and Thuringia. A highly concentrated solution of salts was left. According to their solubility, the different salts were laid down in layers, one on top of the other, on the sea bed. The more water evaporated, the more concentrated the solution became until finally the readily soluble potassium salts were precipitated. Over millions of years, thick strata of sediments were deposited over the layers of salt. Where fault lines formed, the salt-containing deposits were pressed upwards like a viscous mass, creating these salt beds that have been mined for over 100 years.
Mining this white gold requires expert knowledge. The aim is to extract as little gangue, or rock containing little potash, from the mountain as possible. Over 70,000 tons of potash is blasted from the rock every day here at the Winters-hall mine.
A few decades ago, salt mines were being closed rather than expanded. Today, though, many abandoned mines are being reactivated now that salt has the value it had in the Middle Ages. Potash is not only used to produce fertilizer for depleted soils. High-purity potassium compounds are key ingredients for medical infusions, and it's a sought after raw material for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.