Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1898-01-20
THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
RAPIDLY TURNING INTO AN INLAND
SEA OF FRESH WATER.
cloxEing OF the Salt Rocks Canses Loss
Of Saline Strength IN Ctah's Natural
wonder-An Underground Eessrroir
Of SurfnCs-Pecuffnrf of the Lake

Of Saline Strength In Ctah's Natural
wonder-An Underground Reservoir
Of springs-Pecufiarity OF the Lake.
The Great Salt Lake is two feet
lower to-day than ever before known
in the history of Utah, and, according
TO competent observers, 1t IL rapidly
changing its chief characteristics and
turning into an inland sea Of fresh
water. Every fall the lake is several
feet lower than in the spring. but this
year the waters have subsidized TO such
an extent that many Of the. hataisg
pavilions and koathonsss are Mt - -
and dry upon the beach. u has al
ways been believed by expertat hat the
lake had an underground ole. bns
no explorer has yet been 9faainate
enough t6 discover any. 1Ss sup
posed, however. thak oQtieta anil
that during the last sir. NOR a they
have gained noticeablS hron thu
springs which supply. the
On the northern slopet ef III ka'a
shores and down the @xSa border
are numberless springs hay I
always run pure brine intp b inlAri
sea. These springs evid <,s g
through immense rocks 10 IA tan
earth, and by washing Them
they make the spring NJ lisusely
briny by the time il read ! sur-
faces. There hare hee 1is of s.
change in these sprlt socnl
years. Several times th4 NSa @ased
to fow as rapidly Is ~ arsss tne
water they poured up opp e9 ftssher
They have now become fly eassa
up, either with rocks Of 16lt, rr.ss ley
no longer give the hama suppl ii -
water as they did years aeo. Iii ssr-
eral other pisces nothly a.ast
Antelope. witiin fifteen feet of tho
brimming lake basin there rre iass,y
fresh water springs th1t 1ueh up nj al
seasons of.the gear md ponr into thu
lake. These flesh waiter SPRINGS h.1yo
become larges and more pcvea1ai
since the bali water springs became
clogged up, md il Is supposed the
underground reservoir ofvafer, divert
ed from its usual codrse4 IS now sock
ing an adequate outlet through the
springs where no salt rocf exist.
IT this theory iszccrrecf Ne freat
Salt Lake will gradually arm TO frssh
water, and the surface i'll cont ne
to fall until the Nfntpr and spring
treshets from tha ,siilta5ns fill ID
again. This additia. sxassr { s
no salt to tho great ssa.' but maze Ii
fresher than ever It has been well
known for many years that the Great
Salt Lake is fresher in the early spring
than in the summer, and the phenom-
enon is probably caused by the addi-
tion of great quantities of water from
The SHOWS and streams Of the mount
aims. Those engaged in manufactur-
ing salt on the lake say that it takes
six gallons of water to make one gal
on of salt in the summer and fall. but
that in the early spring it often takes
seven and even eight gallons to make
the same quantity.
There are three large streams emp
tying into tthe Great Salt Lake1the
Bear, Weber and Jordan Rivers-Atbut
they make no appreciable difference
in the saltiness Of the lake. except
early in the spring, when they carry
the melting SHOWS Of the mountains
down to the lake. So long as tho
underground springs of salt continued
10 pour their brine into the lake it re-
1uired an immense volume OF fresh
water to neutraiize them.
The Great Salt Lake is seventy
miles long and fifty miles across in its
widest part, and it has al area of 1000
square miles. Another peculiar change
that has taken place in the lake Is the
gradual upheaval Of the bottom. In
recent years its greatest depth has
not exceeded forty feet, while the
average depth is only from twelve to
twenty. Fifty years ago the bottom
could not be sounded In places, and
lines 100 feet long failed to strike bot
tom.-Philadelphia Times.