Great Salt Lake

Great Salt Lake is a large, shallow, terminal salt lake in northern Utah. Its salinity and shoreline vary with inflows, evaporation, and water use.

Endorheic basin: A drainage basin whose waters do not flow to the ocean. The lake has no outlet to the sea, so dissolved salts accumulate as water evaporates.
Brine shrimp: Small crustaceans adapted to highly saline waters, including the Great Salt Lake. Their eggs are harvested commercially, and the shrimp feed lake-dependent birds.
Bonneville Salt Flats: A broad salt-crusted playa in western Utah, formed on the floor of ancient Lake Bonneville. The flats and the Great Salt Lake are separate remnants of Bonneville’s retreat.
Antelope Island: The largest island in Great Salt Lake, connected to the mainland by a causeway. Its shoreline, wildlife, and salt flats offer a concentrated view of the lake’s landscapes.
Migratory birds of the Great Salt Lake: Birds that use Great Salt Lake and its wetlands as feeding, nesting, or stopover habitat. Shrinking wetlands and altered food supplies can disrupt their migration and breeding.
Evaporation: The transition of liquid water into vapor at a surface. Evaporation removes water while leaving most dissolved salts behind.
Brine shrimp fishery: The commercial harvest of brine shrimp eggs from Great Salt Lake. This fishery depends on the lake’s brine shrimp population and changing salinity.
Bonneville shoreline: A prominent former shoreline marking the high stand of prehistoric Lake Bonneville. Its visible benches show how far water once extended beyond the modern lake.
Spiral Jetty: A large spiral earthwork sculpture built by Robert Smithson on Great Salt Lake’s northeastern shore. Its visibility and submergence change with the lake’s water level.
Great Salt Lake ecosystem: The interacting organisms and habitats of Great Salt Lake and its surrounding wetlands. Water levels and salinity shifts reshape the lake’s food web and habitat.

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