Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1903-12-03
VALUABLE SALT
AND ALkALI LAKES
Those in Eastern Valencia County,
Tributary to the Santa Fe Central
Railway, Hold Very Large Indus
trial and Commercial Possibilities.


eastern Valencia County, tributary to
the Santa Fe Central Railway, hold
very large industrial and commercial
possibilities, is manifest from a report
by Professor Charles r. Keyes, presi-
dent of the New Mexico School Of
Mines at Socorro, who visited the
lakes in April of this year and exam
ined them from a scientific standpoint.
The New Mexican is privileged to pub
lish the following resume of the inter-
esting report made by Professor
Keyes:
The group of lakes in question is
situated in the Estancia plains and not
one lake of the group is in any way
connected with another The lakes
are from one-half to one mile wide.
North and south they extend for a dis
tance of fifteen miles and east to west
eight miles. The nearest of these
lakes is about six miles east of Estan-
cia station. The nearest point to the
Santa Fe Central Railway is about four
miles at Willard. The principal lake,
known as the Big Salt Lake, has sup
piled salt for many years to people n.y.
ing within a radius of 100 to 200 miles.
Even today some of the salt is hauled
by wagon as far as southern Colorado.
Very rarely day passes without
dozen or a score of teams hauling
away salt. AS at present obtained, the
salt crystallizes in small cubes, like
the coarsests grades of commerce. The
salt layer is about half an inch thick
living in a we'll saturated brine. 1t Is
scraped together in small piles with
hoes and then shoveled into wagons.
Where the salt has been scraped s'Tay,
brine fills in and in short tine
leaves another layer of salt. This
method has been followed by the ma
tives for the last 300 years. At the
present time the Big Salt Lake is dry,
it being nothing but snowy field OF
salt. The natives say that such COM
plete drying up occurs rarely, more
than 80 years having elapsed since 1t
last happened. Usually, the lake has
from five to ten feet Of water. What
has been said of the salt lake can also
be said of the neighboring alkali
lakes.
Geology Of the Lakes.
The salt and alkali lakes occupy the
central and lowest part of the great
plain extending east from the Man
zano Mountains and commonly desig'
mated as the Estancia plain. These
bodies of water, curiously enough, lie
in the midst of group of hills rising
abruptly from the plain FULLY 200 feet
and more. These hills are dunes, the
material of which appears to have been
blown out, of the basins during the
dry seasons. The central part of the
great plain was at no distant day oc.
cupied by large saline lake. the
bottom of this great lake is probably
so feet below the bottom Of the pres
ent salt lake. Exposures of the sedi'
mentary layers of the old lake are fine,
ly shown in many places. They con
tain many beds of gypsum and gypsi'
ferrous sands. No salt beds are found
in these deposits.
The bottom of the present salt lake
was examined by Professor keyes to
q depth of two feet. Saline Quicksands
form the lower twelve inches. This is
followed by about ten inches of black
material, full of Jumps the size OF q
mans head. These, on washing are
found to be crystals, some Of these six
inches long, matted together, of the
mineral bloedite, hydrous double sui
phate of soda and magnesia. In this
is mingled large amount of rock salt
in pure, cubical crystals. as large as
dice. The black color leaves the mass
upon drying and the whole assumes
a whitish color. Above this Is q layer
of coarse salt and some sand an inch
or more thick, followed by half an inch
of dry, white salt.
The Waters Of the Lakes.
The waters of these lakes are satur-
ated with brine. In gallon OF the
water from the Big Salt Lake there
are 10000 grains Of sodium chloride
or common salt; 7,103 grains of potas-
stun sulphate, Abb grains Of magne-
sium chloride, 1904 grains Of magne-
sium sulphate, GA grains of alumina,
IS grains Of silica and 4,102 grains OF
volatile matter. The enormously high
amount of solid materials is due to
the extremely dessicated condition OF
the lake. The gypsum has long ago
been precipitated. A large amount OF
soda in the form of double sulphate
of magnesium sulphate, epson salts,
would remain largely in solution after
the salt had been precipitated and
could be drawn off and used CONNER
cially. The brine from the Big Salt
Lake is so nearly in saturated condi,
tion that the water in standing in a
bottle deposits large amount of salt.
On the shores of the nearby Dog Lake
are a number of brine springs, which
furnish considerable amount Of wa