Postcard of crossing the Great Salt Lake by train over the Lucin cutoff, 1910

“The Great Salt Lake is one of the most asked-about tourist destinations in Utah. A remnant of the massive ancient Lake Bonneville, the lake is now landlocked and its waters are salty. It is the largest lake between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean, and is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

Legends abound about the lake. Early explorers thought the lake was an inland extension of the Pacific Ocean, or that a river connected the lake to the ocean. Some Indians and early settlers thought the lake was inhabited by a terrible monster with an enormous head. The lake and its legends are an intriguing part of Utah's landscape and history.” *

The Great Salt Lake (GSL) claims the tile of the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere. Though the lake is great in size (averaging 1,700 square miles), depth of the lake averages at 33 feet at its deepest when precipitation has been fair. The GSL is the largest remaining body of water that originated from Lake Bonneville.

Lake Bonneville covered much of Utah, as well as parts of Idaho and Nevada. Relatively speaking Bonneville did not have a long life span. Appearing about 32,000 years ago due to excessive precipitation and run off from the most recent ice age. The massive lake contained enough fresh water to support fresh water fish and other life. This lasted till about 14,500 years ago when the lake overflowed and washed away the natural dam holding it back, lowering the lake significantly. Over the next 4,000 years the lake continued to drop due extreme climate changes. As the weather stabilized we are left with the Great Salt Lake we have today.

Great Salt Lake as seen from the International Space Station

Unlike its parent lake Bonneville, the GSL has an extremely high salinity, averaging between 5% to 27%. To compare; the ocean’s salinity is about 3.5% and the Dead Sea about 33%. Even with this high salt content the lake is home to a massive variety of life, even in the lake itself. Brine shrimp make their home in the lake and are fished out providing about 40% of the worldwide supply. Local insects, algae and the surrounding marshes/wetlands created by the lake provide the critical habitat for millions of migratory birds.

More easily viewed from above the lake is the Lucin Cutoff railroad line that divides the lake in half (technically three parts). Other than a few bridges along the causeway that allow the water from both halves of the lake to mix, the parts are divided. The openings are not wide enough to allow the southern half to effectively mix with the northern half. With the southern half receiving more clean water from the rivers leading into it, the northern half is left significantly saltier. This can be seen very clearly with an overhead shot of the lake, as the coloration between the two halves is very distinct.

Antelope Island, Stansbury Island and Fermont Island are among the mess of islands that can fill the lake. However most of this islands vary between peninsulas, islands and for some lake bed depending on the level of the lake. The flux of the lake’s level impacts the surrounding environment. The GSL creates a “lake effect” that generates thunderstorms in the summer and causes massive snowfall in the winter (the snow falls in large amounts and is very light and dry), this effect is part of the reason why Utah is known for its snow quality.

The lake did cause some flooding and erosion problems back in the 1980’s when it reached record highs. To counter this a massive pumping station was installed on the west end of the lake. The pumped water was drained to a plateau west of the lake to allow the water to quickly evaporate. These pumps ran until 1989 once the lake was at a more manageable level. They remain there today in case the lake reaches those levels again.

Along with extensive life, a vast number of minerals are farmed from the lake. As expected, sodium chloride or common salt is a main resource. Though not used for food, the salt goes on to be used in water softeners, salt licks, road salt for most of Utah. Potassium sulfate used in fertilizer is also removed. One of the biggest materials extracted from the lakes brine is Magnesium. Around 14% of the worldwide supply is produced from the lake. Magnesium goes into many of the products we use every day, being added to base materials to make them stronger. One could say that the next soda can or metal fork you use may have some magnesium in it from the lake. However, it’s probably mixed with the magnesium from China who produces the rest of the world supply.