How did the salt lakes in the U.S get to be so salty.?

Question

Could they be the evaporated remnant of the Global flooding described in the story of Gilgamesh and the Bible?

Answer 1

In times of old, when giant sabertoothed gerbils roamed the prehistoric landscape, the Great Universal IT needed a drink but mistakingly dropped 3 lumps of salt in there instead of sugar. IT never threw anything away, so IT gave itself a foot bath instead... The end.

Answer 2

Basically the lakes are simply large temporary holding spots in the path of a river, creek, bayou or stream. The water flows out at the same rate the water flows in. So whatever is the salinity of the water supply will be the salinity of the lake/pond. Whenever there is a blockage (dam) and the water cannot flow out the water will evaporate leaving whatever minerals, etc to gradually increase in the lake ... think Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea in the middle east. Oceans are the final destination of the water in the rivers and over time behaves simply as a huge lake.

Answer 3

A lake become salty when it has no outlet to drain it. Water that flows into such a lake stays there until it evaporates, leaving behind any dissolved minerals (salts). Over time, the salts build up, and the lake becomes increasingly salty.

Answer 4

There use to be in ancient times a gigantic Pringles Potato Chip factory, owned by people who were allowed to marry many woman. Due to incest they were eradicated from the Garden as stated in the Bible by evaporating laser plasma gamma rays.
Now there is only a sorryass lake of salt left.

Answer 5

That is a possibility but it is unlikely. I believe that the most generally accepted theory is that they are bodies of water which were "trapped" as the tectonic plate raised. It is still rising today which is why there are earthquakes in CA. These bodies of water were part of the ocean and, since there is not enough rain to keep them "full", the salt content of the remaining water has increased due to evaporation. Their current salt content is above the typical salt content of the oceans. The Bonniville Salf flats (where speed records are set) are "lakes" that have completely evaporated.

The bible makes very interesting reading but you may not want to take it as a literal historical document.

Answer 6

It doesn't empty to the sea so it builds up. The entire region was under the ocean before the North American plate collided with the Pacific plate. The Pacific plate subducted underneath and that caused the area to rise up. It probably has more salt than normal just from that but salt is also available from decomposition of minerals if there weren't large salt deposits in the region.

Answer 7

Glaciers...

When they retreated...

They left a giant salt lake from the frozen sea water that used to trickle down to that region of North America...(if I'm remembering my college geology correctly...but I graduated with a Journalism/English B.A....so don't hold me to that...I'm only an expert at using a "comma" and other complicated punctuation, such as the 3 dots I put at the end of all my sentences...for the "effect," dontcha' know...)

Answer 8

A lot of beer drinking Mormons all peeing into the same basin.

Answer 9

Nah...it was just Buk soaking his sausages. All the salt they contain adds up after years of sausage soaking.

Answer 10

BUSH FELL IN AND USED CERTAIN WORDS , WHILE GETTING OUT.