GSL Spatial Survey

Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA was augmented by the construction of a rock-filled railroad causeway in 1960, creating two separate parts. The north arm is isolated from water input and is saturated with salts (250-340 g/L). The south arm has moderate salinity (90-190 g/L) and is a significant ecosystem for ten million birds who eat brine flies (Ephydra gracilis) and brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana), which feed on the microbialite mats and planktonic microalgae. At the north arm at Rozel Point, halite crystals precipitate in the salt-saturated lake water, calcium sulfate precipitates to form gypsum crystals embedded in the clay, and high molecular weight asphalt seeps from the ground. These data sets represent a spatial survey of taxa at these sites at Great Salt Lake.