Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake. . , As evidenced by visible shorelines along the east mountains and Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake is the remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville. Lake Bonneville existed from about 14,000 to 32,000 years ago and covered 20,000 square miles of Utah, eastern Nevada, and southern Idaho. The ancient freshwater lake was over 1,000 feet deep. Notice the shoreline terraces left by Lake Bonneville: the Provo terrace at 4,840 feet above sea level and the Bonneville terrace at 5,220 feet., Stories to tell , Mysteries surrounding this salty body of water included connecting it to the Pacific Ocean, a mythical lake monster, a huge whirlpool, and a submarine village. Considering the speculation about Great Salt Lake, Captain Howard Stansbury's map of 1849 was scientifically accurate in defining the lake's shoreline and its river tributaries., Great Salt Lake is salty because it has no outlet. Water from the mountains flows into the lake and evaporates, depositing minerals, including salt. Several commercial companies located around the lake harvest these minerals and salt., Did you know? , Elevation: 4.200 feet above sea level , Length: 75 miles , Width: 30 miles , Surface area: 2,000 square miles , Greatest depth: 34-40 feet , Mean depth: 13 feet , Shoreline: 200 miles approximately , Historic low: 4,193 feet in 1963 , Historic high: 4,212 feet in 1873, 1986, and 1987 ,