The Washington bee., 1911-09-23
GREAT SALT LAKE.
PuzZIing Aspects of Utah'S Won
derfuI Saline Sea.
ONE OF NATURES MYSTERIES
Science Unable to Solve the Problem
Of Its Escaping Waters and Dimin-
ishing Area-The Maeistrom Near
Antelope Island.

The Great Salt lake Of Utah CON
tinues 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 the
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 a few shallow pools of wa
ter. Then perhaps the mystery con-
nected with it will be solved.
In its dimensions the lake is really a
sea, it being above seventy-five 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 a
distance of a mile, yet will not be i'm
mersed up to his shoulders.
The buOyancy of the water is such
that it is almost impossible for one
to remain on his feet at greater
depth, his body being lifted up as a
strip Of wood thrown into the water
in a vertical or Oblique direction like a
dart is returned to the surface in
horizontal position.
Indeed, it is believed the Great Salt
lake will support more weight to a
given volume of water than even the
Dead sea, to which in many respects
it bears a striking similarity.
The large quantity of salt in sOlu-
ton is the principal reason for the
buOyancy. As the lake recedes its
bottom is shown to be composed of a
heavy crust of salt, which is almost
pure, lying upon a stratum 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 i'm Utah or even larger.
1t is known that the Great Salt lake
loses a large quantity of water yearly
by evaporation, but estimates Of this
quantity indicate that it is far less
than that annually poured into the
% ,.iv-
ing it.
So far as is known no natural outlet
exists, but the lake supplies an irrigat-
ing system in the country adjacent
that requires a quantity Of water year
ly equal to a depth of four inches of
the present area. This is a very small
proportion of the volume of water that
enters ii through its feeders, so the
scientists know the water escapes in
some other manner than by the irri-
cation canal or by evaporation.
This is proved by the fact that the
increase in the quantity that enters
the lake at a rainy season at times
does not increase its depth, and the
records show that actually it has fallen
Immediately after the Jordan and
other streams have contributed a
larger volume than usual
Near what is called Antelope island
is an indication that a subterranean
opening exists. Frequently the waters
near the island are so violently dis
turbed that people in the vicinity call
this place the 'maelstrOm" and care,
fully avoid it when on the lake in
boats.
A number of years ago, it is said, a
sailing vessel loaded with sheer
chanced to approach too near the
'maelStTOm,' and despite the strong
breeze that was blowing the force OF
the water was greater than the power
of the sails, the vessel being drawn
into the middle of the disturbance and
capSized. Although sheep are natural
ly strong swimmers and land was but
few hundred feet away, not one OF
the animals escaped and most OF the
carcasseS went under never to appear
again.
While the buOydnCy of the water is
SO great thut it will support a person
without aid, the boats designed for use
upon the lake must be constructed es
pecial Y to cOunteract this feature. The
ordinary wooden vessel when empty
is actually too light to be navigated
with safety upon it. since such small
portion Of it would be immersed Care
must therefore be taken, especially in
the building of SailbOatS, lest they be
top heavy. For this reason navigation
is dangerous on the lake even when
there is only a moderate wind, unless
the sailing vessel is loaded heavily Sc
that it sits deep enough in the water
to counteract the buoyant tendency
New York Press