The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1891-11-12
The New Desert Lake.

MAJOR John W. Powell, director Of the
United States Geological Survey, gives
some Interesting facts about the new lake
which has recently been growing In the
Colorado Valley just above the Gulf Of
California.
The cause Of the inundation, namely,
the Overlooking Of the Colorado River
through a newly-made mouth, had been
correctly stated 10 the Times, he said,
some time ago, and while this had cleared
away all the sensational stories Of sub.
terranean channel and stripped the phe
nomenon Of all It's mysterious elements
still there are many facts which were OF
interest IN connection with the occurrence
because what mad happened In this case
might happen at the mouth Of any river
which had delta.
The traditions OF the Indians are By
no means the only evidence that this Das.
in has been filled, wholly or practically
before" he said. "Snce the delta was
formed and that portion of the Gulf OF
California was cut If and left TO eyapor.
alton under the terrible heat OF the sun
the Colorado has been playing pranks OF
this sort on several occasions. Along the
hills which form the sides Of this basin
there are shore marks which indicate that
At d ifferent times the basin has been food
ed 10 different heights, and then when the
river cut back through the old chanD.
evaporation has again changed the lax 4 Q
parched desert. Along these 49,
lines shells have been found which
firm this theory. The action of the'9 are
RADIO IN cutting new mouths for itself Gnd
then stopping them up is comparatively
rapid, because Of the quantity OF silt
which the stream carries. 1t Ia not un-
likely that the supposed traditions Of the
Indians are facts within the memory of
some of the older ones Of the scattering
bands that live on the hillsides along the
basin, for indications are that the valley
has been inundated within fifty years,
and certainly it has at least once or twice
since this continent was discovered.
There is no immediate danger of the
basin being filed, because it requires a
large volume of water to I'LL it to the riv.
er level and the evaporation is something
wonderful. At the present time, accord
ing to reports, only a fraction of the wa.
er in the Colorado is flowing from the
new outlet. 1t is possible that the chan
mel may be enlarged as the stream flows
through it SO that all the water in the riv-
er will pour into the basin. Even If that
We're to happen the evaporation is great
enough to take up fully one.h half of the
Colorado as 1t spreads over the basin, and
1t would probably require from two to
three years for the balance to fill the hole
up to the level. At times, when essenti-
ally the same thing has happened, flood
in the main body of the river has washed
away the deposits at the mouth and the
river has emptied itself from the natural
mouth again, leaving the basin half filled.
At such times as the river filled the basin
to its level the flow to the Gulf of Cali
fOrnia has been through channel which
begins at the lower end of the basin and
makes a short cut directly south to the
salt water. This is called Hardy's Colo
RADIO, and ii is usually simply dry chan
mel or ditch 1t may have been formed
under circumstances similar to those ex-
listing at present. 1t is large enough to
accommodate the entire volume of the
Colorado after the evaporation which is
sure to take place while the water is
spread over the basin.
Some idea of the terrible heat may be
had from the evaporation which takes
place. If the basin were filed to the riv-
er level, the lake would present a surface
of about GOO square miles. This would
be lowered at the rate of six feet a year
by evaporation. The salt which is now
being mined at Salton, was deposited in
the valley by the previous evaporations.
The original salt deposit from the water
which was a part of the Gulf of Californ-
ia is not responsible for all that is found
there. The waters of the Colorado are
saline, for the river flows through bed:
of rock salt at places many miles up from
It's mouth, and the successive deposits
from the water of this river as they hav'
flooded the valley and then dried up hay,
added largely to the original deposit"