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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
Sep 18, 2008
Description:
“Cool patterns.”
“Yeah. Bet you don’t know how they are formed.”
“Bet you don’t either, and I don’t want to hear any crazy Indian stories.”
“Fine. You’ve heard of soil polygons, right?”
“Sure. Moist soil contracts when it freezes forming cracks with polygonal patterns.”
“Yep. And the fractures can fill with rocks and pebbles, further accentuating the pattern.”
“So what? The salt is not going to freeze.”
“No, but it might dry out and crack just like mud.”
“Oh, sure. Then why weren’t there cracks back there on the flats?”
“Hasn’t been dry enough long enough yet. Don’t forget we’re at the end of the monsoonal season and afternoon thunderstorms here.”
“Okay, but even if the salt flats crack up, how did they fill up with salt?”
“Hmmm…well, it’s a similar sort of thing as the soil. Debris blowing over the salt flats collects in the cracks. The detritus gets coated with salt and accents the pattern.”
“Did you just make that up?”
“Yep.”
“Well, it is nothing but a wild guess, but that is better than another wild tale.”
Date Taken:
Sep 18, 2008
Place Taken:
Great Salt Lake, UT
Owner:
Dan Nickens
File Name:
34_Crusty_Crawlers.jpg - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZT9W0000h">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZT9W0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZT9W0000s">
Category:
329, Taking Peli Home
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Dan Nickens - Dec 02,2008
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My wild guesses are not necessarily supported by scientific analysis. This is a report from examination of a salt deposit in England: “The polygons were formed by desiccation of the salt solutions, with the vertical cracks so formed subsequently infilled with irregular masses of coarsely crystalline salt. These vertical masses, of variable thickness, delineated the margins of each polygon. The saucer shapes observed in vertical section represent the repeated cycles of flooding, evaporation and crystallisation of the salt in small ponds that developed across a broad shallow lagoon environment.”<br /><br />North Staffordshire Group Geologists’ Association, Bulletin 78, June 2006<br /><br />I suppose it is possible, however, that the 'coarsely crystalline salt' formation was enhanced by some nucleus of detritus. The beaches around the lake often consist of oolites formed around brine shrimp feces (hint: don't eat the sand).<br />
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