The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-10-24
Terrace Effects.

tnat, or else tney were enIlrelN SUP
| merged In the latter event the sur
| face has fallen more than 1000 feet,
how much more no standard is left by
which to judge. The line of the top
| terrace is near enough to the summit
of the range to permit the theory that
| once there was still higher level,
| above the crest.
That the belief is not illogical is
| shown by "a comparison of the appear
ance Of hilly islets I'm the lake. with the
mountains back from the shore line
| Frequently an island shows a single
| terrace on the line, generally, of the
| lowest of the markings of the coast
range. The level of the second terrace
! comes above the top of the hill, fur
! nishing proof that the island, at least,
was once far under water.
No imaginary description can give
an adequate idea of what must have
! been the size of the primeval sea. Many
| geOgraphers have asserted that origin
| ally it filled the entire great basin Of
which the so-called Great American
desert is but a part.
A Mystery of Science.
The greatest mystery about the tide
|
1T subsidized. BY the mountain mark
ings it would seem that some un-
known agency made its force felt at
| regular intervals, turning a portion Of
| the contents of the basin with the pre-
| cisiOn of a man emptying a bucket
| The power never was eXerted in its
entire force else there would be not so
much as a strip of water remaining.
6 g
tion i'm all probability, was made on the
region to the northward and north
westward of the shore each disturb
ance opening a wider and deeper way
to the sea.
That the lake drained at one time
into the Pacific Ocean long has been a
general belief, though geologists as a
rule have insisted that the opening did
not exist when the surface was at its
| highest level. They have asserted for
the most part the conviction that the
body of water was as free from outlet
| then as now, and that the sinking of the
earth's crust to connect the lake with
| what are now the Snake and Columbia
rivers was the first sign of decadence.
A few have demurred and have pointed
out that the lake was a fresh water
body in the prehistoric era, a state
which would not have obtained long
had there been no rivers to drain its
flow into the ocean. The issue Is one
which must ever go unsettled.
Reaching Lower Levels.
At a rough estimate the first depres-
sion lowered the lake upwards of 300
feet, assuming that the highest terrace
hiphpCt a
a torrent which must have torn its
way through mountains as if they
were reeds, leaving plains where lofty
peaks had been, digging into the bow
els of the earth, perhaps quenching for
the time being the subterranean fires
which set it free-until finally it bored
it's path to the Pacific, 1000 miles from
the starting point of it's mad career.
None may guess the interval between
the first depression and the second. The
mountain handwriting tells of three
separate falls, but gives no limit of the
time which elapsed before one followed
the other After the third outpouring
a different disturbance must have
raised the boundary walls and blocked
the former outlets. Three Gateways
may have closed at once: there is nc
|
the identical routes to the ocean. In
deed, the contrary is more within the
range of probability The volcanic
theory fits nearly every hypothesis.
An Abundance of Salt.
The lake became salt after it's fna
egress was cut off. Were outlets to he
formed at this late period it would re.
main salt for ages, so deep has be,
come the salt bed i'm the centuries
since stagnatiOn has been the fate OF
the waters above. A few months age
a professor who made a series of ex-
periments, in the interest of salt in.
duStry of the lake, announced that II
every other source of salt supply ir
the world We're cut off. the Great Sail
Lake would be able to furnish the in.
gredient as long as the world should
endure. In that statement he made nC
calculations for the possibility that the
lake itself should cease to exist, bu'
even in that event, ii is estimated thai
the solid deposits on its bottom would
} he sufficient to prevent salt hunger
anywhere on the earth for as long &
period as the mind can grasp.
1t did not take the lake long TO be-
come intensely saline after it was
locked in. For its eXpanse, it wa.
shallow even then, not more than 1fC
feet deep at its deepest place probably
not that. The maximum depth today
is sixty feet. and the average is no
half that figure, At some points one
may wade a mile and more from shor,
without getting in water over tn,
knees. 1t was as if a huge and shall
low basin had been spread out in tn,
sun. The ratio of evaporation, fal
greater than at sea level, hurried tn,
chemical action and in a comparative
ly short time the fresh water lake wa,
a salt sea. What may have been tn,
effect of the alkali in the surroundinl
soil is problematical Some persons
have credited it with being the funda
mental cause of the exceptional salinI
tv.
In the proportion of solid matter in
its contents, the Great Salt Lake /,
surpassed only by the Dead Sea. II
the former the ratio is Sc parts o
water To IA of solids, in the latter Z
parts of water to "a of solids.
The Salt Industry.
The lake had been long time an
adjunct of Salt Lake City before tn,
Mormons set about to profit from tn,
opportunity for salt making. In lat
years the industry has increased t,
such a degree that 1t is not improbabl
that the water pumped out has con
tributed somewhat to the lowering q
the lake. The process of salt making
is simplicity itself Pipes are run ou
| into the lake and the water is pumDe,