These are mountains of naturally-evaporated sea salt and are part of the Cheetham Salt Fields north of Adelaide and adjacent to St Vincent's Gulf.
I'd not really thought much about salt previously, but a little research reveals that it is used for supressing dust (being sprayed on in liquid form), as an essential part of stockfeed, as a method of curing hides and skins from spoilage prior to the remaining tanning process, as a vital ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry (whether used in preparation of dialysis solutions, cosmetics or health products), as swimming pool additive, as well as being used in the food industry and consumed by us locally as well as being exported overseas.
The salt you see above is double washed, dried, sieved and graded (to give consistent particle sizes) before it ends up in our pantries.
Here you can see the "fields" of salt water prior to evaporation
Sunset over the salt fields (posted earlier this year)
and dusk
Joining others appreciating sky scenes at Skywatch Friday
Visit http://skyley.blogspot.com.au/ to see many more.
Wow, lovely shot Valerie and very interesting. If I had been shown the last photo alone I wouldn't have known what I was looking at!
ReplyDeleteThe photos Master J took were just before sunrise and at sunrise (we are on the east coast of Australia). Makes me appreciate his photos all the more as he was the only one to get up so early both mornings.
Wow, that's a lot of salt, very interesting. Beautiful sunset and I like the pale lavendar dusk.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, didn't realise there were salt fields in Australia!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos.
Never seen anything like that as in the first shot.
ReplyDeleteGreat series.
What gorgeous shots! Those salt hills are amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe salt fields are interesting and a neat sight to see. And your sunset is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your skies, happy skywatching!
ReplyDeleteThose mountains of salt are amazing!!
ReplyDeleteThose salt piles look ripe for some "trick" pictures - they look remarkable.
ReplyDeleteStewart M - Melbourne
Salt is a simple compound but it plays a big role in our lives. I read a book about Salt by a Hartford-raised writer named Mark Kurlansky.
ReplyDeleteYour photography is stunning. These are all so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots, Valerie.
ReplyDelete