In arid landscapes, the most significant process is the accumulation of soluble minerals. These commonly include carbonates (calcite, Mg-calcite, dolomite), sulfates (gypsum, bloedite, thenardite, mirabilite, hexahydrite, epsomite, konyaite, eugsterite, glauberite, anhydrite, bassanite, and others), chlorides (halite), nitrates, iodates, chromates, borates, and even perchlorate. Primary controls on the amount and type of soluble minerals are climate, source of ions, and/or biota. Carbonates require root respiration and other salts require a source of ions. Sources of ions include original parent material, eolian/fluvial input, sea spray, weathering of sulfide minerals, volcanic gases, industrial pollution, and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. With increasing time, carbonates and sulfates accumulate in soils in specific morphologic stages. At all scales, water is the most important factor and therefore these minerals can be used to interpret paleoclimate, and landscape evolution. Salt minerals can also play an active role in soil morphology, controlling the type and distribution of life (and thereby regional climate), shaping the landscape, and affecting human health. An extreme example of this is in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Currently, the only process known to form both vertical sediment-filled cracks and patterned ground is frost heave. New data shows that repeated salt mineral dissolution/precipitation and differential thermal expansion, produces expansion and contraction that over extended time periods forms patterned ground and vertical sediment-filled cracks. Such features found in paleosols can no longer be contributed only to periglacial processes. Some polygonal features on the hyperarid sulfate-cemented surface of Mars may be the result of salt heave processes.