What is "brine spring"

Brine \Brine\, n. [AS. bryne a burning, salt liquor, brine, fr. brinnan, brynnan, to burn. See Burn.]

1. Water saturated or strongly impregnated with salt; pickle; hence, any strong saline solution; also, the saline residue or strong mother liquor resulting from the evaporation of natural or artificial waters.

2. The ocean; the water of an ocean, sea, or salt lake.

   Not long beneath the whelming brine . . . he lay.
   --Cowper.

3. Tears; -- so called from their saltness.

   What a deal of brine Hath washed thy sallow cheecks for Rosaline!
   --Shak.

   Brine fly (Zo["o]l.), a fly of the genus Ephydra, the larv[ae] of which live in artificial brines and in salt lakes.

   Brine gauge, an instrument for measuring the saltness of a liquid.

   Brine pan, a pit or pan of salt water, where salt is formed by cristallization.

   Brine pit, a salt spring or well, from which water is taken to be boiled or evaporated for making salt.

   Brine pump (Marine Engin.), a pump for changing the water in the boilers, so as to clear them of the brine which collects at the bottom.

   Brine shrimp, Brine worm (Zo["o]l.), a phyllopod crustacean of the genus Artemia, inhabiting the strong brines of salt works and natural salt lakes. See Artemia.

   Brine spring, a spring of salt water.

   Leach brine (Saltmaking), brine which drops from granulated salt in drying, and is preserved to be boiled again.

A brine spring or salt spring is a saltwater spring.

Brine springs are not necessarily associated with halite deposits in the immediate vicinity. They may occur at valley bottoms made of clay and gravel which became soggy with brine seeped downslope from the valley sides.

Brine springs have been early sources of salt production, see, e.g., Salt industry in Syracuse, New York.