What is mined from beneath Lake Erie?
About 2,000 feet under Lake Erie, 30 miles east of Cleveland in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, you’ll find a vast site called the Morton Salt Mine. Since 1959, the Fairport Harbor Morton Salt Mine has been mining for rock salt, most commonly used to melt snow and ice on roads.
How deep is the salt mine under Lake Erie?
about 1800 feet
The 12-square-mile mine lies just offshore of downtown Cleveland. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes with a depth of about 56 feet near Cleveland – the salt mine lies about 1800 feet under the lake. A system of conveyor belts and elevators bring the salt to the surface.
Why is there salt beneath Lake Erie?
Natural gas and anthracite coal exploration led to the accidental discovery of salt along the Lake Erie shoreline in the later half of the 19th century. Private citizens had searched for oil since the Civil War.
Which Great Lake has a salt mine under it?
Lake Erie
Have you ever wondered where road salt comes from? One source is the Whiskey Island Cargill Salt Mine, which lies far below the floor of Lake Erie.
Are there salt mines in Lake Erie?
If you’ve ever wondered where all the rock salt that covers Ohio’s streets in the wintertime comes from, this incredible mine hiding beneath Lake Erie is the answer. Whiskey Island’s Salt Mine is a 12 square-mile mine beneath Lake Erie you’ve likely never even heard of.
What happens to salt after it is mined?
After harvest, the salt is washed, drained, cleaned and refined. This is the purest way to harvest salt, often resulting in nearly 100 percent sodium chloride.
Who discovered salt mines?
Alexander the Great
2. Khewra Salt Mines in Pakistan. The Khewra Salt Mines were said to be discovered by Alexander the Great in 326 BC.
Is there salt under Lake Erie?
Where do salt mines occur?
Most domes in North America are located in the south from Alabama to Texas with many out under water in the Gulf of Mexico. To enter a salt mine, miners go down a shaft from the Earth’s surface to the salt bed.
How do salt mines work?
Many salt mines use the “room and pillar” system of mining. In solution mining, wells are erected over salt beds or domes (deposits of salt forced up out of the earth by tectonic pressure) and water is injected to dissolve the salt. Then the salt solution, or brine, is pumped out and taken to a plant for evaporation.
What is the world’s largest salt mine under Lake Erie?
Both Cargill and Morton have salt mines under Lake Erie. Evidently it is the Cargill mine that is the worlds largest. They mine under the lake because then they have to deal with only one land owner, Ohio State. The working face of the Morton mine is three miles under the lake and 2000′ under. It produces 1.3m tons/year.
Where is Cargill’s mine under Lake Erie?
The mine could be anywhere in the Great Eastern Salt Basin, under a huge area stretching from Michigan to New York, through Ontario. Under Lake Erie, though, Cargill has to lease land from only one owner – the state of Ohio.
Who owns the mine under Lake Erie in Ohio?
Since about 1958, a year after the Morton salt mine in Grand River, under Lake Erie in Lake County. Cargill Deicing Technology bought the Cleveland mine in 1997. Why is the mine under Lake Erie?
Where does the rock salt in Ohio’s Streets come from?
About 1,800 ft. below Lake Erie just offshore of Cleveland is Cargill’s Salt Mine—and it truly looks like another planet. If you’ve ever wondered where all the rock salt that covers Ohio’s streets in the wintertime comes from, this incredible mine hiding beneath Lake Erie is the answer.