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Common salt, or sodium chloride, is the chemical compound NaCl. Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world as the mineral halite and as mixed evaporites in salt lakes. What is one of the best sources of this natural nutrient? Seawater. Containing lots of salt, it has an average of 2.6% NaCl (by weight), or 26 million metric tons per cubic kilometer. That's 120 million short tons per cubic mile, an inexhaustible supply (Note: Seawater also contains other dissolved solids; salt represents about 77% of the Total Dissolved Solids). Underground salt deposits are what is found in both bedded sedimentary layers and domal deposits. Salt deposits have been found to have encapsulated ancient microorganisms including bacteria. Some salt is on the earth's surface, such as the dried-up residue of ancient seas like the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Salt even arrives on earth from outer space, and its presence on the planet Mars has led scientists to think life may exist there (or at least be supportable). Amazingly, surface salt deposits and man-made saltworks can even be seen from space.