Salt Beds, Great Salt Lake

This great dead sea, the largest in the world, is located 18 miles west of Salt Lake City. It covers an approximate area of 2,140 square miles, being 50 miles wide and 75 miles long, with an average depth of 13 feet. Like the Dead Sea in Palestine, it is fed by the Jordan River; but has no known outlet other than evaporation. The Salt Shrimp is the only living insect known to exist therein. The water is 21 per cent salt. The refining of Salt is an important Utah industry. The salt in the lake is obtained by pumping the brine into elevated flumes, that carry it inland to prepared ponds, where it deposits its mineral elements and crystallizes under the heat of the Sun.

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