THE ZUNI SALT LAKE 



191 



gypsum beds, and sinking of overlying strata, notably at the 

 "Salt Lake" near Meade, Kansas, and the "Devil's Hole" near the 

 River Virgin in southwestern Utah. At the Zurli salt lake, how- 

 ever, volcanic phenomena appear to be connected with the 

 development of the depression, especially the presence of cinder 

 cones in the center and the mantle of stratified ejecta encircling its 

 rim. Probably the lava sheet capping the east rim is older than the 



Fig. 4. — Looking southwest across Zufli salt lake. Large cinder cone to the 

 right, small cinder cone to the left, rising out of salt fields. South rim of depression 

 in middle-ground, plateau of Cretaceous sandstone in distance. 



depression, and perhaps did not come from the same orifice as the 

 cinder cones. In the plateau region of New Mexico such cones are 

 usually built following an outflow of lava and mark the last stage 

 of the eruption. The cones in the depression appear to be very fresh 

 and recent, and while they may be connected with a lava flow under 

 the floor of the depression, there is no evidence on this point. The 

 following hypothesis as to the origin and history of the Zufii salt 

 lake depression lacks positive evidence along several lines, but it 

 is the most plausible one suggested. 



