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Great Salt Lake's ancient past reveals how quickly fresh water can disappear
From a mountainside overlooking Utah's Great Salt Lake, a time traveler turning back the clock 20,000 years would watch a dramatic transformation of the landscape.
AI Summary
Researchers from USC Dornsife College used lake‑bed sediments to reconstruct 240,000 years of Great Salt Lake history. The study shows that during the last glacial period the lake expanded into a fresh‑water basin nearly 1,000 feet deep, covering more than ten times its current area. Mountain ranges that now lie on the lake’s shore became islands when the shoreline pushed far beyond today’s limits. The lake’s hypersaline state was the norm, with the large, fresh‑water phases being brief, transient events.
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