Bonneville Salt Flats
Bonneville Salt Flats, salt flats in the desert area near the Nevada border in Utah, USA; approx. 260 km2. The flat, vegetation-free plain forms the remains of a lake, which for approx. 2 million years ago covered large parts of Utah. Since 1935, the plain, which has a cementitious surface, has been used for speed records for racing vehicles.
- Timedictionary: Offers a list of largest cities in Utah.
Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake, the shallow, drainless salt lake west of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; 1280 masl The area (2000-6000 km2) and the salt content (15-25%) are both seasonal and strongly fluctuating from year to year in step with changes in the supply of water and salts from especially the Jordan River in the south. The salt content, which in some years is as high as in the Dead Sea, makes the lake almost lifeless, but in combination with a hot and dry climate suitable for the extraction of salts from shallow evaporation basins. The lake and the surrounding plains of the Great Basin are remnants of a 300 m deep prehistoric lake, Lake Bonneville, which in the Late Glacial period covered an area of over 50,000 km2.
Great Basin
Great Basin, desert-like and sparsely populated plateau in the western United States between the Sierra Nevada in California and the Wasatch Range in Utah; approx. 500,000 km2, of which the majority in Nevada and Utah. The landscape is characterized by drainless salt lakes and flat plains, which are separated by steep north-south mountain ranges (fracture mountains) of an average of 900-1500 m. Great Salt Lake, are remnants of freshwater lakes from the last ice age. Apart from the mountains that receive the most precipitation, the area is characterized by sparse vegetation, which is dominated by drought- and salt-resistant plants. The mountains are used for grazing cattle and sheep, while irrigated fodder crops are cultivated in places on the plains. At Wheeler Peak in Nevada (3982 m), the Great Basin National Park was established in 1986, housing impressive limestone caves and over 3,000-year-old specimens of brush cone pine. The lowest point is the Death Valley burial ground in California (-86 m).
- Transporthint: Overview of Utah, including population, history, geography and major industries.
Monument Valley
Monument Valley, dry plateau on the border between Arizona and Utah in the United States. The landscape with characterful, 300-600 m high erosion mountains is known as a picturesque backdrop in a large number of westerns, including John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939, Diligence).
Since the creation of the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in 1960, the area has been a tourist destination and an important source of income for the Indians of the Navajo Reservation.
Zion National Park
Zion National Park, a nature park with erosive landscapes on the Colorado Plateau in southwestern Utah, USA, created in 1919; 593 km2. Central to the area is the up to 800 m deep gorge of Canyon Canyon, which is formed by the erosion of the Virgin River in the surrounding sedimentary rocks. The gorge is flanked by waterfalls and colorful rock formations, many of which got their biblical names from the first Mormons who arrived in the area in 1858.
