Focus on Sedimentary Environments

A large saline lake

The Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Space Shuttle view	lake shore	lake margin	beach sand	beach sand	photomicrograph

This short virtual field trip visits a locality on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. In spite of its size, the lake is a small remnant of a much larger Pleistocene lake, Lake Bonneville, which covered much of western Utah. The visit starts with the Great Salt Lake as seen from space, and ends up examining the sediment using a petrological microscope.

Links

• Great Salt Lake FAQ - Utah Geological Survey
• The Great Salt Lake: Geology, History, Ecology, Climate Change - University of Utah
• Earthshots - Impacts of Climate Change - US Geological Survey. Dramatic photos of changing lake levels
• The Greater Salt Lake Ecosystem - Online Learning Module and Virtual Field Trip, University of Colorado
• Sand from the Great Salt Lake

Page © ; last updated 30 July, 2002