The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-01
THE GREAT SALT LAKE.
NESTLED IN THE BOTTOM OF A IA
SIN WITHOUT OUTLET.
Ancient Shore Lines That Reveal
Great Changes That Have Taken
Place in the Historic Past.
Ralph S. Tarr in the Independent.

thHh-tF
Place in the Historic Past.
Ralph S. Tarr in the Independent
The Great Salt lake is a very shallow
but extensive sheet of water on the sur
face Of a desert plain. Surrounding it in
part are mountain ranges, themselves bar
rem and desolate The lake is nestled in
the bottom Of true basin without out
let, part of the Great Basin. SO slight
is the rainfall that the basin cannot fill
and overflow to the sea The rain water
evaporates in the dry air, and the streams
that flow down from the mountains suf-
fered the same fate even before the Nor
mons came to spread their waters out
over the land to transform it from desert
to garden.
Each stream on the land gathers a lit
tie sat on its journey, and since this can
not evaporate as the water does. it re-
mains behind. From the mountains and
from the light rains of the desert enough
water is supplied to transform a part Of
the plain TO a lake: but in the dry air
the evaporation is so great that only a
small part of the supply remains TO form
the lake. Thus little by little the lake wa
ter receives It's supply of salt and there
fore becomes sater and salter This is
the cause of most salt lakes.
But the Great Salt lake has not always
been salt. From almost any point in Salt
Lake City and along the shores of the
lake one can easily detect lines extending
along the mountain slopes. They are eS-
sentially horizontal, and extend one above
the other in parallel belts 1t is easy 60
visit some of these lines; i'm fact some
of them may be reached by the electric
Trnn y44s, -.
to be in the main gravel terraces linear,
nat-topped benches on the mountain
hanks, reaching the mountains in the
rear and ending in the opposite direction
In steep terrace slope. They are made
of sand and gravel from water-worn and
Well-rounded pebbles. Where streams
come down from the mountain the ter
races broaden markedly, and in places
they are partly replaced by steep cliffs
OF rocks on some projecting spur of the
mountain. Such cliffs are usually faced
by a narrow terrace of gravel
The cowboys riding over these ter
races recognized them as beaches: early
explorers also referred to them as evil
dence of former higher water in the Salt
Lake basin; and Gilbert, as a result of
his careful study of them, proved that this
Interpretation was correct. Any who wish
TO know the details of this history must
refer TO Gilbert's works previously mem
tichtbs anu may duu lHdt MS account
OF his studies is so clearly and beautifully
written that any educated man can read
and understand his description.
These ancient shore lines are almost as
perfect as one would find along the coast
OF one OF our great lakes. If the waters
could be withdrawn from it, so as 10 re-
veal not only the beaches and cliffs that
rise aboTe water, but also the wave built
forms below The broad terraces opposite
the streams are detas. the narrow ter
races are beaches bars and spits, while
the cliffs represent the cutting work Of
the waves on exposed points. In the arid
climate they have wasted away so slight
ly that they stand to-day in almost as
much projection of form as when the
waters first withdrew from them One
cannot mistake their meaning They ten
of former great lake to which Gilbert
has given the name Lake Bonneville, i'm
recognition of the work of the explorer
Bonneville.
When this expanded ancestor of Great
salt Lake reached its highest stage il
overlooked across Red Rock Pass
through Marsh Creek valley into the Co
lumbia and its waters were fresh The
area of Lake Bonneville was then about
1880 square miles, and it's maximum
depth about ], $50 feet the present Nor
mon temple now standing where the wa
ter was $50 feet deep and the entire low
land in the neighborhood of Salt Lake
City being under water
The tiers Of shore lines, together with
other phenomena of the region show
that this stage of rise to a place Of over
flow was but one Of a succession of events
in the recent geological history OF the
region. In the first place the basin was
dry and contained little, If any, water
The basin then began to fill; but the wa
ter did not rise to point Of overflow. An
other period Of aridlty succeeded this,un-
Ill the basin was again nearly, If not en-
tirely. dry. Then came the rise. which
continued until the rim of the basin was
reached and an overflow to the sea es-
tablished. Since then the climate has
been growing progressively more arid
even TO the very present. In fact, IL seems
from good evidence that the lake is still
diminishing in area
Little can be said about the time involy-
ed I'm these changes. Gilbert hnds evidences
that the first arid period was longer than
either Of the two succeeding periods OF
aridity, and that the second was longer
than the present arid period, while the
first rise Of water appears to have lasted
fully five times long as the second dur
ing which the lake overlooked. What this
means In years cannot be stated but It
is doubtless to be estimated in tens OF
thousands of years. The last rise cannot
nave been far in the past. for the shore
lines which record It are now so distinct:
ana all Of the changes belong to the re-
cent stages Of geological history.
nor can we at present tell much about
The reason for these remarkable changes