Formation of New York's Bedrock Salt Deposits: Evaporation

During the Silurian Period (~440–420 million years ago), a shallow, restricted sea covered much of present-day New York. In a warm, arid climate, intense evaporation concentrated seawater, precipitating thick layers of halite (rock salt) and other evaporites. These deposits were later buried by sediment, lithified, and incorporated into the bedrock—now mined near Syracuse and elsewhere.