Mid Day Daily

Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Log in
  • Home
  • National & International
  • Business & Financials
  • Technology
  • Health
  • Science
  • About Us
    • Our Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
    • Terms of Use
  • Latest News
    • Sloths Were Declared the Slowest Animals on Earth
    • Facebook’s Messenger Will Give You the 411 on Non-Friends
    • Fun Facts About the Coconut Crab
    • The Coyote Hunting in Wisconsin might be Banned
    • Autism Was Genetically Introduced In Monkeys
    • Tully Monster Has Many More Mysteries Left To Offer
    • Mom Claims Daughter Was Forced To Get Naked To Pass Exam In School
    • What Happens When Two Planets Collide?
    • FDA Approves the BrainPort Vision Device That Gives Hope To The Blind
    • Two Cretaceous Plankton-Eating Fish Species Were Discovered
    • Columbia University Researchers Store Computer Information on DNA Strand

Pages

  • About Midday Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Our Staff
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Indiana Jones 5 Won’t Open in 2020 After All June 29, 2018
  • ‘Oumuamua is Actually a Comet, Not an Asteroid (Study) June 28, 2018
  • Best Evidence of Alien Life on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus, Found (Study) June 28, 2018
  • Jeremy Irons to Star in HBO’s Watchmen Reboot June 27, 2018
  • The Fermi Paradox: We Might Be Alone in the Universe (Study) June 26, 2018
  • The Strawberry Moon and Who It Will Affect June 26, 2018
  • Tom Holland Reveals Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel Title June 25, 2018
You are here: Home / Science / Utah’s Great Salt Lake Reaches an All-time Low In Its Northern Arm

Utah’s Great Salt Lake Reaches an All-time Low In Its Northern Arm

December 30, 2015 By Amilia Allport Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow
"great salt lake"

The difference between the northern and southern sections of the lake can be clearly seen in this picture taken by the ISS.

Following its previous depth assessment of 5 feet in 2014, Utah’s Great Salt Lake reaches an all-time low in its northern arm, decreasing by 1 foot in 2016. This is due to a variety of factors, and it seems that this decrease will not stop next year as well, continuing its plummet that started last year.

The Great Salt Lake is extremely important to both the environment as well as the industry of Utah. Because of this, more severe regulations have been made by the state’s officials, blocking any illegal motorized transport on the exposed lakebed. Dredging operations have also gained a massive boost in speed regarding approvals in order to somewhat circumvent this unfortunate phenomenon.

This decrease is thought by hydrologists and researchers to stem from an event that occurred back in 1984 when the Union Pacific Railroad Causeway breach started to be used as a flood control mechanism. This effectively stopped water from flowing freely between the southern and northern regions of the lake.

Utah’s drought from recent months has also greatly impeded the lake’s return to normal levels. The Great Salt Lake Marina has been swamped in mud and sludge, making it unable to function properly. Odds are that other marinas, like the one on Antelope Island, will remain unusable by the public for the following years as well, because the docks have been sinking into the muddy landscape.

The impact on air quality will be severe as well, especially if the southern arm of the lake will reach low levels too. If snowpacks and precipitations will not increase in the following months of winter and spring, the effects will be devastating.

Water erosion has also affected the railroad causeway that began its construction back in Fall. The bridge that was constructed is now suffering from eroded pillars that may eventually lead to a collapse. This problem came because of the switch from the original plan of closing off two rock-filled culverts, with water salt levels urging the construction of the 150-foot bridge.

In regards to its environmental impact, the Great Salt Lake houses over 5 million migratory birds that use the Pacific Flyway each year, being the Great Basin hub of the North American region. The industry part is linked to 8 major salt extracting companies that benefit from the lake’s salt levels, which are 5 times more than the ocean’s.

Because of the causeway breach, fresh water no longer flows from the southern region into the northern one, leading to an increase in salt concentration. The remaining water simply evaporates due to the recent drought, causing islands to not be classified as islands anymore and lakebed exposure.

But the fact that Utah’s Great Salt Lake reaches an all-time low in its northern arm is hoped to be quelled once the railroad gets completed, as well as dredging starts to become more widespread. With the complete construction of the railroad, the southern arm will diminish while the northern one will get filled up. True, this will lead to an equalization between the two, but if the climate will remain the same, this problem will arise once again in the near future for both arms, not just the northern one.

Image source:Wikimedia.org

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Science

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 10 other subscribers

Recent Articles

USPS van

Chinese Drug Dealers Shipping Drugs to U.S. via Postal Service

January 28, 2018 By Dean Lamori

Marlboro cigarette packs

Philip Morris Wants to Help You Quit Smoking

January 6, 2018 By Dean Lamori

Drugs and money

Drug Company Sued for Bribing Doctors to Prescribe Potent Opioid

December 24, 2017 By Dean Lamori

Smartphone user sitting on sidewalk

Calif. Health Dept: Excess Smartphone Use Can Cause Brain Cancer

December 17, 2017 By Dean Lamori

jared kushner

Kushner Plans to Revamp 666 Fifth Avenue Skyscraper, Partner Isn’t Supportive

November 2, 2017 By Tom Hager

elon musk

Elon Musk Shares Progress He Made with Boring Company on Twitter

October 30, 2017 By John Cooper

starbucks mugs

Starbucks Takes Halloween Seriously with New Zombie Frappuccino

October 28, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

ecigarette

New York to Treat eCigarettes Same Way as Regular Cigarettes in Public Indoor Areas

October 26, 2017 By Tom Hager

amazon box

Amazon Warehouse Delivered Couple’s Requested Storage Containers with 65 Pounds of Weed

October 25, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

ibm offices

IBM’s Q3 Report Encourages Greater Sales Expectations for the First Time in Years

October 19, 2017 By Kurt Cottrell

dubai police supercars

Dubai Police to Patrol the City from Above Thanks to Multirotor Hoverbikes

October 16, 2017 By John Cooper

marketing stunt for rick and morty

Woman Received Volkswagen Car for One Legendary Szechuan Sauce Pack from McDonald’s

October 14, 2017 By Amanda Lane

honeywell center

Honeywell to Turn Two Units into Publicly Traded Companies by 2019

October 12, 2017 By Tom Hager

self-driving car

New AI Project Will Help Autonomous Cars See What’s Around Corners

October 11, 2017 By Sam Doliente

Related Articles

  • ‘Oumuamua in space

    ‘Oumuamua is Actually a Comet, Not an Asteroid (Study)

    Jun 28, 2018
  • View of Enceladus

    Best Evidence of Alien Life on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus, Found (Study)

    Jun 28, 2018
  • person alone on the street

    The Fermi Paradox: We Might Be Alone in the Universe (Study)

    Jun 26, 2018
  • strawberry moon

    The Strawberry Moon and Who It Will Affect

    Jun 26, 2018
  • dolphins in water

    Dolphins and Whales Grieve Their Dead (Study)

    Jun 21, 2018
  • dinosaur in nature, in 3D

    Most Dinosaurs Couldn’t Stick Out their Tongue (Study)

    Jun 21, 2018
  • rock formation

    Mysterious Mars Rock Formation Finally Explained (Study)

    Jun 20, 2018
  • planet Venus

    The Reason Why Venus Spins So Weirdly (Study)

    Jun 19, 2018
  • portrait of Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein’s Travel Diaries Reveal His Racist Views

    Jun 14, 2018
  • Easter Island giant statues

    The Clever Way Easter Island Statues Got Their Hats (Study)

    Jun 13, 2018

Categories

  • Business & Financials
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National & International
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • World

Copyright © 2021 MidDayDaily.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.