Michigan’s Salt Basin Has Enough To Last The World 70 Million Years

Some people may not realize where all that salt for our winter roads comes from and the truth is our state sits on top of a ginormous salt mine which contains over 71 Trillion tons of salt. Some people estimate that given the amount of salt in the mine, based on the average consumption amount for the world, it's suspected there may be enough salt to last the world 70 million years.

How the heck did so much salt get under the freshwater-surrounded Great Lakes state? The Detroit Salt Company sheds some light on the story of the mine:

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Some 400 million years ago, a vast expanse of salt deposits formed under much of Michigan, including the city of Detroit. Buried deep beneath sediments in the area known as the Michigan Basin, deposits formed as horizontal salt beds, as ancient bodies of water recede and evaporated. The basin was an arid area of Michigan’s lower peninsula separated from the ocean by a natural bar of land. As the basin continued to sink lower into the earth, salt-laden ocean water repeatedly poured into the depression, where it gradually evaporated, forming miles of salt beds.

A Sinking Feeling

Call me crazy but something about this not only interests me a LOT, but I also have this innate fear of the entire state crumbling and collapsing into the salt mine, even though that's completely illogical.

Either way, the fact that the state has THAT much salt pretty much guarantees that we won't have any shortage of salt for the crazy Michigan winter days.