Salt Migration to the Northwest Body of Great Salt Lake, Utah

Interchange of saline lake water between the northwest body of Great Salt Lake, Utah, comprising about one-third of the lake area, and the main body of the lake, has been severely restricted by the completion of a railroad embankment across the lake in 1959. The northwest body has a relatively small volume of inflow and a somewhat greater rate of evaporation than the main body. As a result, there has been a net flow of saline water northward and accompanying deposition of a thick layer of salt over the bottom and shore of the northwest body. A unique set of hydrologic and physical-chemical influences are in action, and further important effects on the entire lake are expected.