CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE WATER OF SALTON SEA AND ITS 

 ANNUAL VARIATION IN CONCENTRATION, 1906-1911. 



By W. H. Ross. 



PRELIMINARY ANALYSES.' 



Before undertaking a complete analysis of the water of the Salton Sea a prehminary 

 examination was first made of samples taken at intervals from different points in the 

 lake. These samples not only showed to what extent the lake varied in concentration in 

 different parts as it approached its maximum volume, but they also served as a guide to 

 the rate at which the concentration of the lake became uniform when the inflow of water 

 from the Colorado River was finally stopped on February 10, 1907. In this way informa- 

 tion was gained on the shortest time following this date which must elapse in order that 

 a sample collected for complete analysis would be representative of the whole lake. 



As might be expected, those samples were found most salty which were taken from 

 shallow regions overlying saline flats, while samples taken from the surface in deep parts 

 of the lake contained less amount of salts. Thus, on June 10, 1906, when the greatest 

 depth of the lake was about 60 feet, a sample taken V/i miles from shore near Mecca was 

 found to contain 401.6 parts of total solids in 100,000; a second sample, taken at the same 

 time from a point 100 feet from shore, contained 697.4 parts of solids; and a third sample, 

 collected a short time before within a few feet of the shore near Travertine Point, showed 

 a salt content of 1,152.8 parts. The water at this point was very shallow and covered 

 a saline deposit. 



Within the next few months a marked increase in uniformity took place, as shown by 

 the analysis of two samples collected on October 11. One of these taken from shallow 

 water near the shore contained 363.2 parts of solids in 100,000, while a half-mile from 

 shore a sample yielded 359.6 parts. 



1 All samples collected before June 3, 1907, were analyzed by Dr. A. E. Vinson and Mr. E. E. Free, Arizona 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. 



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