Great Salt Lake: Saltier Than the Ocean

Salinity Champion

Utah's Great Salt Lake averages ~12% salinity—over three times seawater's ~3.5%. It's the Western Hemisphere's saltiest major water body.

Why So Salty?

• Endorheic basin: No outlet; water leaves only by evaporation.
• Mineral inflow: Bear, Weber, and Jordan Rivers carry dissolved salts.
• Concentration: Evaporation leaves salts behind, steadily increasing concentration.

Life in the Brine

Halophiles thrive: brine shrimp (Artemia), brine fly larvae, salt-tolerant algae (Dunaliella), and specialized microbes. Migratory birds (eared grebes, Wilson's phalaropes) feast on the invertebrates.

Human Use

Mineral extraction (magnesium, potassium, salt), recreation (sailing, floating—high buoyancy), and a unique ecosystem studied for astrobiology analogs.