Relationship of brines in the Kinnarot Basin,Jordan‐Dead Sea Rift Valley

Element ratios and water stable isotopes reveal the presence of only two independent deep brines in the Kinnarot Basin, Israel: the evaporite dissolution brine of Zemah‐1 and the inferred Ha’on mother brine (HMB) with low and high Br/Cl ratios, respectively. HMB is considered to be a representative of the Late Pliocene evaporated Sedom Sea. The freshwater‐diluted evaporation brine emerges as Ha’on brine on the eastern shore of Lake Tiberias and is also identified in the pore water of lake sediments. HMB is converted into Tiberias mother brine (TMB) by dolomitization of limestones and alteration of abundant volcanic rocks occurring along the western side of the lake. The Ha’on and Tiberias brines, both characterized by high δD and δ¹⁸O values, are similar in Na/Cl and Br/Cl ratios but are dissimilar in Br/K ratios because these brines were subjected to different degrees of interactions with rocks and sediments. Excepting the brine from KIN 8, all brines from the Tabigha area including the nearby off‐shore Barbutim brine are related to the TMB. The brine KIN 8 and all brines from the Fuliya and Hammat Gader areas are related to the HMB. The brine encountered in wildcat borehole Zemah‐1 is generated by halite‐anhydrite/gypsum dissolution and is independent from the HMB system.     

Methods for calculating brine evaporation rates during salt production

Salt is recognized by archaeologists as an important commodity due to the biological need for sodium and other cultural uses. Numerous studies have described the various techniques used in converting brine to crystallized salt, but few, if any, have attempted to quantify the physical processes of evaporation in pre-industrial societies. Apart from the few areas where salt mining is possible, nearly all forms of salt production require evaporation of water to concentrate brine and ultimately produce salt crystals. This study quantifies three of the most common evaporation techniques and provides insight into the production rates of salt and fuel requirements. Methods of calculation are provided for determining evaporation through (1) direct solar heating of brine, (2) applied external heat to a vessel, and (3) an immersed heated object (e.g., stone). These results provide physical constraints on the evaporation process and provide investigators with techniques for estimating efficiency and total production of prehistoric and historic saltworks.     

Lithium extractivism and water injustices in the Salar de Atacama,Chile: The colonial shadow of green electromobility

This paper analyzes the linkages and feedback between green electromobility, lithium extractivism, and water injustices affecting the Atacameño's indigenous communities in the Salar de Atacama basin (Atacama Salt Flats). Currently, lithium is in high demand in the international markets as a strategic resource for the green electromobility industry, which represents part of the Global North policies established by the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change's effects. Using both documentary and ethnographic methods based mainly on semi-structured interviews conducted with Atacameño people, public officials, and lithium companies' representatives and workers, we propose a decolonial interpretation of lithium extractivism in brine mining through the lens of Latin American political ecology combined with a decolonial and water justice approach. The results demonstrate how the linkages and feedback between global and local dynamics of lithium mining in the Salar de Atacama constitute a form of green extractivism that further replicates the historical inequalities between the Northern and Southern hemispheres and especially affects the indigenous Andean territories and the water ecosystems in the Global South. We call this phenomenon the colonial shadow of green electromobility. We conclude by exposing the need to rethink global proposals addressing climate change by reducing the commodity demand and aiming for water justice at global and local levels.