Scientists race to save thinning Bonneville Salt Flats
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
A visitor walks at the Bonneville Salt Flats Friday, Oct. 7, near Wendover, Utah.ASSOCIATED PRESS
A visitor to Bonneville Salt Flats poses for a photograph pm Sunday, Oct. 9, near Wendover, Utah.ASSOCIATED PRESS
A state geologist collects data from a weather station in the Bonneville Salt Flats on Tuesday, Sept. 13, near Wendover, Utah. The state is funding a study to determine if flooding the landscape with salty water helps maintain the size of the flats and combats the effects of climate change, mining and racecar driving.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Record low water levels are observed at the Great Salt Lake marina Monday, Aug. 29, near Salt Lake City. Concerns are mounting about the future of the treeless expanse of salt crystals, and yet another study has been launched as researchers try to pinpoint the cause and solution.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeremiah Bernau, a Utah State biologist, holds salt crystals at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah. The glistening white salt of the world famous area is shrinking near the Utah-Nevada line.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Salt forms gather at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah.ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Intrepid Potash canal is shown at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah. Potash is potassium-based salt primarily used throughout the world as a fertilizer for crops such as corn, soy, rice and wheat. It’s extracted in 13 countries throughout the world, mainly from prehistoric lakebeds like Bonneville's.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Intrepid Potash pumps brine in to a canal at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah. The mining company uses a process called solar evaporation mining, pumping water into the ground to dissolve minerals and then transporting it through canals to ponds where evaporation leaves behind a valuable potassium salt called potash.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Patterns are visible in the Bonneville Salt Flats on Saturday, Oct. 8, near Wendover, Utah.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Visitors watch sunrise at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Sept. 19, near Wendover, Utah.ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Blue Flame performs a test run just before at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, on Nov. 4, 1970. The crust keeps tires cool at high speeds and provides an ideal surface for racing — unless seasonal flooding fails to recede or leaves behind an unstable layer of salt.ASSOCIATED PRESS
A car rides along the Bonneville Salt Flats, near Wendover, Utah, on Aug. 13, 2016.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cars form a line near the race track at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, on Aug. 13, 2016. The crust keeps tires cool at high speeds and provides an ideal surface for racing — unless seasonal flooding fails to recede or leaves behind an unstable layer of salt.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tire tracks cut through the salt crust on the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats on Sunday, Oct. 9, near Wendover, Utah.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Visitors watch the sunrise at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Sept. 19, near Wendover, Utah.