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Show 203 Maps of the Utah area during Bonneville time usually draw the lake in a lighter blue over dark Great Salt Lake as we know it and the white Salt Lake and Utah valleys. Compared to the map of Utah I'm accustomed to, that light blue always looked a little ominous, like a descending cloud or, well, a flood. For a long period of its history, Lake Bonneville was a terminal lake with no rivers draining from it. Even though Lake Bonneville was fairly fresh, it contained salt that concentrated as its water evaporated. Approximately 16,800 years ago, the lake rose to the elevation of Red Rock Pass and began to flow northward into the Snake River drainage. The flow of water through the pass began a rapid down-cutting process that caused Bonneville's relocation. After Lake Bonneville flooded out toward the ocean, the Great Basin gradually became stiffer and drier, like a body drained of blood. Great Salt Lake is the most notable remnant of Lake Bonneville, along with the surrounding salt flats. There is more evidence of the lake in the Provo and Bonneville shorelines in the form of terraces and benches. As soon as I learned about Bonneville as I kid I imagined that everything I saw was once underwater. Anything that looked like it might be found in a beach, from snail shells to light-colored sand, was an ancient relic from Lake Bonneville. I used to think about the lake returning often, and imagining Bonneville's return still stirs mystical excitement in my body, makes me forget other things. |
