salttine

Salttine is a fictional mineral described in speculative geology and worldbuilding. It is presented as a halide mineral associated with evaporite environments, particularly salt flats and saline caves in imagined geologies. In most renderings, salttine appears as translucent to pale-colored crystals that form cubic to prismatic habits and exhibit a glassy luster. The material is typically described as primarily sodium chloride with minor trace impurities, which can impart color or luminescence under certain lighting.

The composition is often left intentionally vague in many sources; some worldbuilders specify a hydrated form or a chloride-phosphate complex to account for color diversification and brittleness. Physically salttine is described as soft and highly soluble in water, with a low Mohs hardness that mirrors other common evaporite minerals. It is sometimes depicted as fluorescing faintly blue or green in dark environments, a fictional property used to convey mineral value.

Occurrence is described as forming through prolonged evaporation of saline waters in closed basins, where saline crystals gradually precipitate. It is commonly depicted alongside real minerals such as halite, gypsum, and sylvite in illustrative maps of fictional regions.

Applications within fiction typically include jewelry, ceremonial artifacts, and alchemical curiosities. In worldbuilding contexts, salttine is used to convey mineral wealth from salt-rich environments and can serve as a plot device due to its fictional properties, such as luminescence or fragility.

Etymology: the name salttine is a neologism combining salt with a -tine suffix to evoke a mineral-like substance.

See also: Halite, Evaporites, Fictional minerals.