Learn how lake water is spread in shallow basins to extract halite and other minerals from the Great Salt Lake
Learn how lake water is spread in shallow basins to extract halite and other minerals from the Great Salt Lake
Extraction of salt from the waters of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
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News •
Scientists Find Ancient Air Bubbles in 1.4 Billion-Year-Old Salt Crystals
• Dec. 23, 2025, 2:25 AM ET (Sci.News)
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• Dec. 17, 2025, 12:32 AM ET (NPR)
Transcript
NARRATOR: The waters that run into the Great Salt Lake carry a variety of dissolved mineral salts. These deposits are obtained by spreading out the lake water in shallow basins. As the Sun's energy evaporates the water, the mineral salts crystallize. The most abundant mineral produced from the lake is halite, the mineral form of table salt. It crystallizes from the sodium chloride dissolved in inflowing river waters.
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