The Washington bee., 1911-09-30
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 Dinin-
ishing Arsa-The MaeIstrom Near
Antelope island.

The Great Salt lake of Utah con-
| tinues to be one Of the greatest mys-
tertes 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 it's 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-
cepdon OF 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, 1t 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
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 a greater
depth, his body being lifted up as d
strip Of wood thrown into the water
in vertical or ObIique direction like a
dart is returned tC the surface in a
horizontal position.
Indeed, it is believed the Great Salt
lake will support more weight to
given volume of water than even the
Dead sea, to which In many respects
ii 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 in Utah or even larger.
It is known that the Great Salt lake
! loses large quantity of water yearly
by evaporation. but estimates of this
quantity Indicate that it 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 irrigat-
ing system in the country adjacent
that requires 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 1t through its feeders. so the
l scientists know the water escapes in
, some other manner than Oy the irri-
: cation canal or by eyapOra ton.
p This is proved by the fact that the
5 increase in the quantity that enters
: the lake at Il rainy season at times
: does not increase its depth. and the
: records show that actually it has fallen
: Immediately after the Jordan and
T other streams have contributed q
, | larger volume than usual.
e Near what is called Antelope island
r is an indication that a subterraneaI
e opening exists. Frequently the waters
e near the island are 50 violently dis
e turbed that people in the vicinity cal
q this place the ''maelstrOm" and care
fully avoid il when on the lake il
boats.
A number Of years ago, it is said. 1
n sailing vessel loaded with sheer
D chanced to approach too near tn,
D 'maelstrOm," and despite the stron:
: breeze that was blowing the force o.
/ the water was greater than the powe
. Of the sails. the vessel being drawn
p into the middle of the disturbance ant
: capSized. Although sheep are natural
Iy strong swimmers and land was bu
r a few hundred feet away, not one o
,, he animals escaped and most of tn
4 | carcasses went under never to appea
,, again.
II While the buoyancy of the water i
II ~ great that it will support a persOl
>, without aid. the boats designed for US
upon the lake must be constructed es
p>cially to couuteract this feature. Th
, ordinary wucG,u vessel when empt,
is actually too light to be navigate,
- with safety upon it, since such = smal
portion Of il would be immersed Car
: must therefore he taken, especially il
;, the building of sailbOats, lest they b
top heavy. For this reason navigation
is dangerous on the lake even whel
there is only a moderate wind, unles
the sailing vessel is loaded heavily 8
Il that 1t sits deep enough in the waite
to counteract the buoyaIs tendency
New York Press.