Is the Great Salt Lake polluted?

The quantities of harmful contaminants in the lake, such as industrial organic wastes, copper, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead are very low. This is contrary to what one might expect since rivers, waste-water treatment plants, and industrial facilities discharge into the lake.

The lake ecosystem appears to cleanse itself of certain types of contaminants through chemical and biological processes. More study is needed to understand these cleansing processes, however.

Where are the Bonneville Salt Flats and how did they form?

Bonneville Salt Flats located west of the Great Salt Lake.
Photo by Monson W. Shaver III.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are located west of Great Salt Lake near the town of Wendover on the Utah-Nevada border, about 115 miles west of Salt Lake City. The flats are a broad, salt-covered lake bed, and one of the flattest areas on earth. They were formed during the final evaporative stages of Lake Bonneville.

The salt flats are the site of high-speed car-racing events. In 1970, Gary Gabolich of the U.S. piloted the Blue Flame (rocket-powered) racer to a speed of 622.407 miles per hour, a Bonneville Salt Flats speed record which still stands as of 1995.

In the past 30 years, there has been an apparent deterioration of the racing surface. This has become a controversial issue involving the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, those who race on the salt flats, and a company that produces potassium chloride salt and magnesium chloride (brine) from salt-flat brine. Studies are underway to determine why the salt is disappearing, if the loss can be stopped, and if the salt can be replaced.