Asia Rock Salt Atlas: Pakistan, India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Major Halite Basins

Asia Rock Salt Atlas is the regional section of the World Rock Salt Atlas documenting the continent’s natural halite deposits, bedded rock-salt formations, salt diapirs, and active and historical underground mines by country and mine.

Rock Salt Geology in Asia

Asia contains evaporite systems of remarkably different ages and tectonic settings. The very old rock-salt masses of Pakistan’s Salt Range, the Mandi halites of the Indian Himalaya, rock-salt beds in China’s large continental sedimentary basins and Jurassic evaporites of Central Asia represent distinct geological systems.

Pakistan Salt Range

The Salt Range in Pakistan’s Punjab region is one of the world’s best-known rock-salt districts. Major mines including Khewra, Warcha, Kalabagh and Makrach occur within the same broad salt belt.

The Indian Himalaya

Commercial rock-salt resources in India are very limited relative to the country’s overall salt industry. The Indian Bureau of Mines records rock-salt occurrences mainly in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh.

China’s Continental Rock Salt Basins

Underground salt resources in China are distributed across extensive sedimentary basins. The Jianghan Basin and Yingcheng-Yunmeng area in Hubei Province are notable for very large rock-salt resources and a long history of well-based extraction.

Central Asian Jurassic Halite Belt

Jurassic bedded halite systems extend across parts of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. In some areas salt bodies crop out within mountain belts, while in other basins they are buried several kilometres deep.

First Asia Country Files

Pakistan Mine Files

Why Is the Middle East a Separate Atlas?

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman and neighbouring countries are geographically part of Asia, but the enormous salt domes of the Zagros and Arabian Plate form a distinct and exceptionally extensive geological system. For this reason, they are also treated separately in the Middle East Rock Salt Atlas.

Scope of the Atlas

This atlas covers only natural halite, or rock-salt, deposits. Salt lakes, modern lake crusts, marine saltworks and natural saline springs whose connection to a rock-salt body has not been verified are excluded from this series.

Primary Sources

Eurasian Countries Added to the Asia Atlas

Asia Atlas – Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Armenia

Thailand and Laos Rock Salt – Khorat Evaporite Belt

Rock Salt in Yemen

For the Sab’atayn, Shabwa and Salif rock-salt systems of Yemen, see Yemen Rock Salt Deposits.

Yazar

Bilal ÖZKAN