Salt Rocks: Processes, Fluid Migration and Mineralogy

Dear Colleagues,

Salt rocks are part of large geological sequences and have gained much interest in recent years as potential energy storage sites in underground caverns, as waste repositories, and as an essential fertilizer source.

Against this background, this Special Issue invites contributions on these research trends and future perspectives of mineralogical, geochemical and petrological aspects of salt rocks as well as their formation, diagenesis, geological and structural history and characteristic geomechanical properties.

A major focus is on understanding and quantifying the effects of secondary processes such as fluid–rock interactions in the course of conventional or solution mining. In addition to exploration for economic potash deposits as a fertilizer source, there is increasing interest in the use of salt caverns for energy storage in the context of the transition to renewable energy. This requires knowledge of the integrity of salt structures during storage and repeated loading and unloading. In addition, salt formations are the focus of the search for a safe repository for heat-generating radioactive waste and critical industrial waste.

To ensure sustainability and low environmental impact, critical inputs from laboratory and in situ observations and robust numerical models are needed for reliable assessments.

This Special Issue aims to collect assessments of new developments in all scientific and applied areas of salt rock research as well as reviews of existing studies.

Dr. Bettina Beeskow-Strauch
Guest Editor

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• salt caverns
• underground storage
• mineralogy
• fluid migration
• geomechanical characterization
• salt solution mining
• salt integrity
• geological barrier system
• gas storage
• fertilizer production