Utah State Parks Ranger Allison Thompson examines a mound of rare mirabilite, or Glauber's salt, she discovered on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. Scientists are rushing to research the mounds before wind or water destroys them.
(Utah State Parks via Twitter)- They're made from a type of salt called mirabilite.
- Such formations have only been seen in a few other places on Earth, mostly in the Arctic.
- Scientists are rushing to study them before they are destroyed by changing weather conditions.
Utah State Parks Ranger Allison Thompson noticed four strange white mounds on the shore of the Great Salt Lake in October.
Thompson took note as the formations grew larger, and contacted the Utah Geological Survey to unravel the mystery of what exactly the mounds were.
Turns out they're salt, but a very rare form usually only found in a few locations around the world, mostly in the Arctic, according to a press release from Utah State Parks. They also resemble similar features on Mars, so scientists are keen to study them before they are destroyed by water or higher temperatures.
The substance is called mirabilite, or Glauber's salt.
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Seasonal low water levels at the lake have left more shoreline exposed, meaning warm, high-salinity water bubbles up from underground. The mirabilite separates out from the water at the surface and forms the mounds.
The phenomenon has never been recorded at the Great Salt Lake before.
"It has to be exposed to just the right conditions," Thompson told the Associated Press.
The mounds can also provide scientists with clues to what's underground below them without the need for expensive drilling.
"The mounds are bringing things up from below – that’s the beauty of those mounds," said Richard Socki, who studied the mirabilite mounds in the Antarctic as a NASA geochemist in the mid-2000s.
The mounds are composed of a series of built-up crystalized terraces, and are up to 3 feet tall and several yards across, according to the press release. They were formed one after another as each one grew large enough to seal off its spring source and a new mound formed a few dozen yards away.
As the weather warms, the mounds will stop growing and the salt will dry up into a fine powder.
"That powder will eventually get blown away or dissolve into the lake," Elliot Jagniecki, a geologist with the Utah Geological Survey, told the AP.
Park rangers conducted guided tours to the mounds last weekend and asked the public not to disturb the formations.
A close-up look at the crystalline structure of one of four rare mirabilite mounds that formed at the Great Salt Lake.
(Utah State Parks via Twitter)The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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January 14, 2020 at 04:00AM
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