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FACTS ABOUT UTAHA'S
GREAT SALT LAKE |
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| Geography |
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A combination of size and
salt content makes Utah's Great Salt Lake
unique among lakes in the western hemisphere.
The current surface elevation of the Great
Salt Lake is 4,203 feet. It is 75 miles
long and 30 miles wide with a surface area
of 1,500 square miles. To emphasize its
size, the Great Salt Lake is the largest
lake west of the Mississippi River, larger
than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware.
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The greatest depth in the lake is 40 feet with
the average depth being 14 feet. The historic
low level of the lake has been 4,193 feet which
occurred in 1963 and the historic high elevation
is 4,212 recorded in 1987.
Antelope Island is the largest of the lake's ten
islands. Other islands include Fremont, Stansbury,
Carrington, Cub, Gunnison, Dolphin, Badger, Egg
and Bird Island. Antelope Island is also famous
for its wide variety of wildlife, including a
large herd of buffalo.
Major water sources for the Great Salt Lake include
the Bear River at 1,200,000 acre feet per year;
precipitation at 1,000,000 acre feet per year;
the Jordan and Weber Rivers at 400,000 acre feet
per year each.
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North &
South
The great body of briny water was an obstacle in the
path of completing the transcontinental railroad line.
The tracks were routed over the Promontory Mountains
where on May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven to
mark completion of the first transcontinental railroad.
This route was not easy because of the steep mountains.
In 1903, a twelve-mile bridge was built across the Great
Salt Lake. In 1959, a solid-fill causeway was built
to replace the old trestle. This causeway still separates
the north (Gunnison Bay) and south (Gilbert Bay) ends
of the lake.
This separation has caused the north end of the lake
to have a higher mineral and salt concentration as well
as higher purity as the industrial activity takes place
on the southern region of the lake. According to a geological
survey issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior,
the salinity of Gilbert Bay declined from nearly 15
percent in late 1995 to 11 percent in late 1997. The
salinity in Gunnison Bay fluctuated only 1 to 2 percent
(the average is 28 percent) during the same time.
FAQs About Great Salt Lake
How much salt is in the lake?
The total amount of salt dissolved in the Great Salt
Lake is about 4.5 to 4.9 billion tons. As the lake rises,
its salinity drops because the same amount of salt is
dissolved in more water. The lower the lake level, the
saltier it becomes. In the past, the lake's salinity
has ranged from a little less than 5 percent (which
is just above sea water) to nearly 28 percent (beyond
which water cannot hold more salt).
Why is the lake so salty?
As water flows over or moves beneath the Earth's surface,
it dissolves minerals from the soils and rocks. The
streams that originate in the Wasatch Range and other
nearby mountains all flow into the Great Salt Lake,
bringing in water with varying percentages of dissolved
minerals. Since the lake has no outlet, all of these
minerals remain in the lake.
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Science
Biology
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Due to the high salinity
of the water, most forms of aquatic life
cannot live in the lake. Certain species
have adapted and, in fact, have flourished.
Algae, bacteria, and protozoa all exist
in the lake and because of their simplicity
in make up, they thrive in the otherwise
harsh environment. The more advanced life
forms are called brine fly and brine shrimp.
Both exist in large numbers.
Gulls, pelicans, cormorants, terns, and
herons make Great Salt Lake their home during
the nesting season. The gulls and pelicans
are by far the most numerous.
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Weather
Locals call it the "lake effect." More
than 24 inches of snow have been known to fall
in a 24 hour period along the Wasatch Mountains
when a naturally intense storm passes over the
area. The warmer air from the lake rises, colliding
with the colder, stormy air, thereby resulting
in the heavy amount of snowfall particular to
the Wasatch front area. These "lake effect"
storms usually occur in the spring or fall and
can bring intense thunderstorms as well as the
heavy snowfall.
History
The origin of the Great Salt Lake can be traced
back to ancient Lake Bonneville which covered
most of Western Utah and small parts of Idaho
and Nevada during the Ice Age (between 23,000
and 12,000 years old). In the warmer, dry period
after the ice age, Lake Bonneville receded and
the Great Salt Lake is the remnant of that ancient
lake.
Recent History
Reports and rumors of the existence of a huge
salty lake somewhere in the west were heard of
for more than a hundred years before any white
man actually visited its shores.
The first authentic information about the lake
came from the Dominguez-Escalante expedition of
1776. Leaders of the group learned from area natives
of the lake which was extremely salty. The group
named it "Lake Timpanogos" but did not
actually travel to see the lake.
While James Bridger is the first white man known
to have seen the lake, John C. Fremont was the
first to scientifically examine the lake in 1843.
Fremont and his crew were the first to accurately
map the area and one of the ten islands bears
his name.
According to the Deseret News, one of Utah's daily
newspapers, Shoshone and Goshute Indians used
to live on or near Antelope Island. A son of Chief
Wanship and his family were living on Antelope
Island when Fremont explored the lake.
Source:http://ut.water.usgs.gov/salinity/index.html
http://deseretnews.com/misc/gsl/100013638.htm
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