<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/mortonsaltmine_rickyrhodes_011.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/mortonsaltmine_rickyrhodes_011.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/mortonsaltmine_rickyrhodes_011.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > 1 of 12 Morton Salt is dyed blue and stored above ground after being mined. (Ricky Rhodes)

It has been estimated that more than 22 million tons of salt are scattered on U.S. roads every year. You sprinkle it on your driveway each winter, and salt trucks spread it on icy roads during snow storms. But do you know where rock salt comes from?

Most of our country's rock salt is mined in Ohio, where a massive inland sea dried up more than 400 million years ago, leaving behind a vast salt deposit 2,000 feet below Lake Erie.

Ohio produces over 5 million tons of salt yearly, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. 1.3 million tons of that salt comes from the Morton Salt Mine, 30 miles east of Cleveland. Photographer Ricky Rhodes ventured underground to capture images of this extremely productive mine.

"Road salt is used all over the country and helps to keep our economy running in even the harshest conditions," Rhodes told weather.com. "It's amazing to see what goes into making this product."

Rhodes was inspired by the mine, and even saw a beauty in the cavernous, underground environment.

(MORE: Haunting Images of Mines from Above)

"The vastness of the raw materials right underneath our feet is amazing, and the process that the miners carry out to bring those raw materials are truly amazing when one takes a mintue to think about what is actually happening."

Rhodes said that the mine was pitch dark, and in many locations, the only light came from his headlamp. The ceilings can range anywhere from 18 feet to 100 feet in height. He ran into few people while he was photographing.

"The miners take an elevator ride down 2,000 feet under Lake Erie early in the morning and then get to their jobs, whether that be drilling new holes for blasting, driving a front loader to transport salt or building new machinery to be used down in the mine," Rhodes explained.

Rhodes told Wired.com that the machinery is all assembled underground, as it's brought down piece by piece. Any machinery that breaks is abandoned within the mine.

"The contrast between the white and grey of the raw salt with the colors of the machinery and sometimes the eerie lighting produced by the ambient lighting down in the mine, the contrast of lightness and darkness and the texture of the mine is just amazing," said Rhodes.

MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: A Look at an Abandoned Salt Mine Transformed into Museum