﻿THE 
  SEA 
  AS 
  A 
  STOREHOUSE} 
  — 
  ARMSTRONG 
  137 
  

  

  long 
  been 
  a 
  significant 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  overseas 
  trade: 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  founda- 
  

   tion 
  stone 
  of 
  the 
  heavy 
  chemical 
  industry, 
  and 
  salt 
  and 
  the 
  "heavy 
  

   chemicals" 
  made 
  from 
  it 
  have 
  helped 
  to 
  make 
  Liverpool 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   world's 
  greatest 
  ports. 
  

  

  Less 
  favored 
  countries 
  where, 
  however, 
  evaporation 
  exceeds 
  precipi- 
  

   tation 
  of 
  water 
  are 
  driven 
  to 
  making 
  an 
  impure 
  salt 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  by 
  

   allowing 
  it 
  to 
  evaporate 
  in 
  basins 
  in 
  the 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  until 
  it 
  

   crystallizes. 
  This 
  is 
  termed 
  solar 
  salt. 
  

  

  In 
  England 
  the 
  deposits 
  of 
  salt 
  are 
  not 
  capped 
  with 
  beds 
  of 
  mag- 
  

   nesium 
  and 
  potash 
  salts, 
  but 
  at 
  Stassfurt 
  in 
  Germany 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  

   thickness 
  of 
  these; 
  and 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  that 
  in 
  geological 
  times 
  a 
  lake 
  

   approximating 
  closely 
  in 
  composition 
  to 
  sea 
  water 
  had 
  dried 
  up 
  

   completely 
  here 
  leaving 
  everything 
  behind. 
  Stassfurt 
  in 
  consequence 
  

   enjoyed 
  a 
  virtual 
  monopoly 
  in 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  potash 
  salts 
  and 
  of 
  

   bromine. 
  

  

  The 
  Dead 
  Sea, 
  and 
  certain 
  lakes 
  in 
  America, 
  represent 
  inland 
  seas 
  

   evaporated 
  almost 
  to 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  crystallization 
  in 
  which, 
  however, 
  

   the 
  salts 
  have 
  a 
  different 
  composition 
  than 
  in 
  sea 
  water. 
  Sulfates, 
  

   for 
  example, 
  are 
  absent 
  from 
  the 
  Dead 
  Sea, 
  a 
  fact 
  which 
  makes 
  the 
  

   isolation 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  salts 
  more 
  simple. 
  In 
  such 
  lakes 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  

   to 
  assume 
  that 
  the 
  salt 
  is 
  derived 
  from 
  rivers 
  or 
  underground 
  springs, 
  

   which 
  themselves 
  pass 
  through 
  and 
  leach 
  out 
  earlier 
  deposits. 
  

  

  At 
  Seales 
  Lake 
  in 
  California, 
  where 
  evaporation 
  is 
  nearly 
  complete, 
  

   the 
  salt 
  crust 
  has 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  a 
  frozen 
  waste 
  and 
  is 
  so 
  hard 
  

   that 
  a 
  motorcar 
  may 
  be 
  safely 
  driven 
  over 
  it. 
  At 
  first 
  potash 
  and 
  

   borax 
  were 
  made 
  from 
  the 
  deposits 
  ; 
  a 
  byproduct 
  is 
  burkeite, 
  a 
  remark- 
  

   able 
  double 
  salt 
  of 
  sodium 
  carbonate 
  and 
  sodium 
  sulfate. 
  This 
  lake 
  

   also 
  serves 
  as 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  the 
  world's 
  very 
  tiny 
  pro- 
  

   duction 
  of 
  lithium 
  salts. 
  Lithium 
  is 
  an 
  odd 
  element; 
  it 
  is 
  allied 
  to 
  

   sodium 
  and 
  is 
  beginning 
  to 
  find 
  commercial 
  applications 
  which 
  will 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  multiply 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  available 
  in 
  quantity 
  at 
  an 
  attractive 
  price. 
  

   Sea 
  water 
  contains 
  about 
  1 
  part 
  in 
  10 
  million 
  lithium. 
  

  

  BROMINE 
  

  

  Apart 
  from 
  the 
  quite 
  minor 
  amount 
  of 
  solar 
  salt 
  produced, 
  the 
  

   mineral 
  reserves 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  tapped 
  until 
  a 
  start 
  was 
  

   made 
  with 
  the 
  recovery 
  of 
  bromine 
  in 
  1924. 
  There 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  element 
  

   of 
  romance 
  in 
  tapping 
  the 
  resources 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  as 
  in 
  turning 
  to 
  

   practical 
  use 
  the 
  rare 
  gases 
  of 
  the 
  atmosphere: 
  in 
  both 
  the 
  elements 
  

   sought 
  are 
  present 
  in 
  minute 
  proportions, 
  both 
  are 
  all 
  around 
  us 
  in 
  

   unlimited 
  quantities. 
  

  

  Bromine 
  in 
  the 
  past 
  was 
  largely 
  a 
  Stassfurt 
  monopoly 
  and 
  ex- 
  

   pensive; 
  it 
  was 
  used 
  in 
  photography, 
  drugs, 
  and 
  dyestuffs 
  in 
  quan- 
  

   tities 
  measured 
  in 
  pounds 
  rather 
  than 
  tons. 
  The 
  need 
  for 
  it 
  in 
  

  

  