Earth from Space - Image Description

STS074-711-018 Great Salt Lake, Willard Bay, and Bear River Bay, Utah, U.S.A. November 1995
A railroad causeway through the middle of the Great Salt Lake and color variations of the lake caused by differences in salt concentration in the two halves are discernible in this northeast-looking, low-oblique photograph. The bluer northern half of the lake has a higher salt concentration, and the more sediment-filled southern half receives more runoff from neighboring mountains, thereby making it less salty. To the east of the north-south-trending Promontory Mountains are Willard Bay, Willard Reservoir, and Bear River Bay. Desiccation ponds and large evaporite pans are visible east of Willard Bay. The rugged peaks of the cloud-covered Wasatch Range lie east of the Hansels Mountains (lower left).

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.