The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1910-12-31
GREAT SALT LAKE
Puzzling Aspects OF Utah's Wen-
derful Saline Sea.
ONE OF NATURES MYSTERIES

ONE OF NATURES MYSTERIES
Science Unable to Solve tho Problem
Of It's Escaping Waters and Oir,in-
ishino Area-Ths Maeistrom Near
Antelope island.
The Great Salt lake Of Utah Con-
tlnues to be one Of the greatest mys-
teries Of nature. For sixty years Its
rise and fall have been studied by SCI
entists In an effort to account for tho
changes, but as yet they have reached
no satisfactory solution Of the prob
lem as to what Is the principal cause
Of the decrease in Its depth.
Those familiar with Its depth and
the shrinking in its size each year
assert that at the end OF twenty years
or so the bed Of the lake will be near
ly all exposed. with the possible ex-
ception OF few shallow pools Of wa
ter. Then perhaps the mystery con-
nected with 1t will be solved.
In Its dimensions the lake is really Z
sea. it being above seventy-fivc miles
in length and fifty miles across at its
greatest width, containing, therefore.
over 1000 square miles of surface.
Near the shores the water Is so shall
low that there are places where one
may wade out from the beach for q
distance of mile. yet will not be Inn
mersed up to his shoulders.
The buoynncy OF the water Is such
that 1t is almost impossible for one
to remain on his feet at a greater
depth. his body being lifted up as q
strip Of wood thrown into the water
in vertical or oblique direction like a
| dart Is returned to the surface In q
| horizontal position.
Indeed. 1t Is believed the Great Salt
lake will support more weight 10 a
given volume OF water than even the
Dead sea, to which in many respecl
| 1t bears striking similarity. III
! The large quantity of snlt In col
ton is the principal reason for {
| buoyancy. AS the lake reoedes itS
bottom Is shown to he composed of 4
heavy crust. Of salt, which is almost
pure. lying upon a stratums that con-
| sists chiefly Of sand. In this respect
the bed of the lake Is similar to some
OF the deserts in the southwest which
once contained bodies Of water equal
In size to that in Utah or even larger.
| 1t Is known that the Great Salt lake
loses large quantity OF water yearly
by evaporation. but estimates of this
| quantity indicate that II is far less
than that annually poured into The
lake from the rivers and creeks enter.
ing it.
So far as is known no natural outlet
| exists. but the lake supplies an irrfgnt
ing system in the country adjacent
that requires quantity OF water year
| Iy equal TO a depth of four inches ol
the present area. This is II very small
proportion Of the volume OF water thai
enters II through Its feeders, SO tt.
scientists know the water escapes ii
some other nanncr than by the irri
CATION canal or By evaporation.
/ This is proved by the fact that tn,
increase in the quantity that enter!
the lake at n rainy season at time.
does not increase It's depth. and thl
records show that actually 1t has falle1
Immediately after the Jordan ant
other streams have contributed /
larger volume thnn usuiI.
Near what Il called Antelope islans
is an indication that sslbterraneaI
opening exists. Frequently the water
near the island are so violently dis
turbed that people In the vicinity cal
this place the "EnaeistroE" and care
III.
boats.
A number OF years ago. II Is said, ,
sailing vessel loaded with sheel
chaDced to approach too near tn
"maelstro,n.' and despite the stron,
breeze tnat was blowing the force o
the water was greater than the p0we
OF the sails. the vessel l,eing draw
into the middle Of the disturbance an,
capsized. Although sheep are natural
ly strong swimmers and land was bu
few hundred feet away. not one o
the aEinals escaped and most OF th
carcasses went under never to appea
again.
While the buoyancy OF the water /
20 great that IT will support Z perso
without aid. the boats designed for =
: upon the lake must be constructed
pecialiy to counteract this feature.
, ordinary wooden vessel when em}{
is actually too light to be navizate
with safety upon it since such smal
portion Of it would be immersed. Car
/ must therefore be taken. especially 4
, the building Of sailboats, lest they b
, top heavy For this reason navigatio
/ IS dangerous ON the lake even whe
. there Is only a moderate wind. unles
, the sailing vesse. Is loaded heavily >
that It sits deep enough In the waite
, to counteract the buoyant tendency
, New York Press.