Wayne Wurtsbaugh
Registered: January 2000
Posts: 497
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The Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA) is divided in half bay a railway causeway where the lake is about 8.5 meters deep. Culverts and a breach in the causeway allow waters to flow from the south arm (Gilbert Bay) into the north arm (Gunnison Bay). The water in Gunnison Bay, which receives negligible fresh water inflows, evaporates to near saturation (30% salt). This very dense water then seeps back through the causeway and the lower parts of the culverts to form a deep brine layer (monimolimnion) beneath the less saline (15%) waters of Gilbert Bay. The deep brine layer begins at a depth of approximately 6.2 m (20 feet). Turbulence in the mixed layer is believed to continually erode the top of the monimolimnion, but this layer is continuously replenished with flows from Gunnison Bay.
In this photo the water is entering Gunnison Bay, and the green waters from Gilbert Bay are mixing with the pink waters of Gunnison.
Photo: 24 June 2009
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