Calcium and chlorine are rarer than on earth, sodium is somewhat
commoner. As a result of the shortage of calcium there is a higher
ration of silicates to carbonates than exists on earth. The water is
slightly alkaline and resembles a very dilute solution of sodium
silicate (water glass). It would have a pH of 8.5 and tastes slightly
soapy. Also, when it dries out it leaves a sticky, and then a glassy,
crackly film. Rocks look fairly earthlike, but the absence or scarcity
of anything like limestone is noticeable. Practically all the
sedimentary rocks are of the sandstone type.
All rivers are seasonal, running from the polar regions to the central
seas in the spring only, or until the polar cap is completely dried
out.