Bario is famous for its rice. However, one of Bario’s hidden treasures is its salt, made from salt spring but sold in very little quantities at the local marketplace that its existence is not commonly known outside of Miri, even for the Sarawakians.
From a geological prospective, the more intriguing question is - where is the origin of the salt? The Late Charles Hutchison had suggested an evaporate origin but I believe so far there is no detail scientific investigation has been conducted on the mineral and isotopic composition of the salt, nor the brine that may have geological and climatic implications and shed some light on the tectonic evolution of the complex Sarawak hinterland.
Therefore, it would be greatly appreciated if friends and colleagues in RG can share some thoughts on the subject, or point to any publication available for references of other altiplano or highland salts found in Latin America’s Bolivia, Mexico or in Tibet.
There are, unfortunately, hardly any data about the Bario Salt found on the web. There are no data about its composition, only some ideas about its origin.
A bit of data and discussion is shown in Bario, the Kelabit highlands of Sarawak ; a scientific journey through Borneo (24 pages).pdf / 24 by Ghazally Ismael and Laily Bin Din, Publ. Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, University Malaysia Sarawak, Pelanduk Publications. It proposes the salt particles caught as flocculated grains within clay deposits of marine or brackish origins, and inferring a supratidal origin.
Any solid compositional and geological settings data would be strongly appreciated.
The above cited paper also refers to a report by ? Jordi (unpublished report of Sarawak Oilfields Ltd.). It records that near another salt spring, at a place called BaKelalan, a rhythmic alteration of sandstone, siltstone and shale was logged. The sequence contains concretions of gypsum which can be a probable source of salts in the salt spring area.
Hi Dr Jong, a good resource is :
Garrett 1998; Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium Chloride. Elsevier
It contains many data tables (under copy protection)
I got a little further in my research. Old analysis data not only mention a content of lithium, but also a high content of borate, as well as strontium and barium.
Yes there is barium in Bario.
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