372 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. I, No. s 
Geological Survey show that within the last 40 years the lake has under¬ 
gone a fluctuation in level of 16 feet. 
The following determinations of the composition of the saline material 
in Great Salt Lake, which are quoted from a compilation by Clarke, 1 
are therefore of interest in showing what may be regarded as the typical 
composition of the saline material in this part of the area. 
Table II. —Analyses of water from Great Salt Lake. 1 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
Cl. 
Br . 
S 5-99 
Trace. 
6- 57 
56. 21 
55 - 57 
5 6 - 54 
55 - 69 
Trace. 
6. 52 
JS-2 5 
Trace. 
6- 73 
55 - 11 
53 - 72 
so 4 . 
C 0 3 . 
6. 89 
.07 
6.86 
5-97 
6. 66 
5 - 95 
hi. 
Trace. 
33-15 
1. 60 
•17 
2. 52 
. 01 
32. 92 
1. 70 
1.05 
2. 10 
. 01 
Trace. 
34 - 65 
2. 64 
. 16 
■ 57 
Na. 
K. 
Ca. 
Mg. 
(Fe 2 0 3 ,AJ 2 03, 
SiOo).... 
33-45 
. 20 
3.18 
33-17 
59 
. 21 
2. 60 
33 - 39 
1. 08 
.42 
2. 60 
32.97 
3 -13 
• i 7 
1. 96 
32. 81 
4 . 99 
• 3 * * 
2. 22 
Salinity, per 
cent. 
100. 00 
14. 994 
IOO. OO 
13.79O 
100. 00 
15.671 
100. 00 
i 9 - 558 
100. 00 
*23. 036 
100. 00 
27. 72 
100. 00 
22. 99 
100. 00 
17. 68 
1 More correctly 230.355 grams per liter. 
“A. By O. D. Allen, Rept. U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par., vol. 2, 1877, p. 433. Water collected in 1869. A 
trace of boric acid is also reported, in addition to the substances named in the table. Allen also gives analy¬ 
ses of a saline soil from a mud flat near Great Salt Lake. It contained 16.40 per cent of soluble matter much 
like that of the lake water. 
“B. By Charles Smart. Cited in Resources and attractions of the Territory of Utah, Omaha, 1879. Anal¬ 
ysis made in 1877. 
“C. ByE.vonCochenhausen,forC. Ochsenius,Zeitschr. Deutsch. geol. Gesell.,vol.34,1882, p.359. Sam¬ 
ple collected by Ochsenius April 16, 1879. Ochsenius also gives an analysis of the salt manufactured from 
the water of Great Salt Lake. 
“D. By J. E. Talmage, Science, vol. 14, 1889, p. 445. Collected in 1889. An analysis of a sample taken 
in 1885 is also given. 
“E. By E. Waller. School of Mines Quart., vol. 14,1892, p. 57. A trace of boric add is also reported. 
“F. By W. Blum. Collected in 1904. Recalculated to 100 percent. Reported by Talmage in Scottish 
Geog. Mag., vol. 20, 1904, p. 424. An earlier paper by Talmage on the lake is in the same journal, vol. 17. 
1901, p. 617. 
"G. By W. C. Ebaugh and K. Williams, Chem. Zeitung, vol. 32,1908, p. 409. Collected in October, 1907. 
“H. By W. Macfarlane, Science, vol. 32, 1910, p. 568. Collected in February, 1910. A number of other 
analyses, complete or incomplete, are cited in this paper by Ebaugh and Macfarlane.” 
It will appear from these analyses that sodium and chlorin together 
constitute about 90 per cent of the total soluble material. The quan¬ 
tity of chlorin is, in each analysis, slightly greater than that necessary 
to satisfy the basic requirements of sodium. The rest of the soluble 
material is made up almost wholly of potassium, magnesium, and the 
sulphate radical. Concerning these analyses Clarke 2 says: 
Although the salinity of the lake is very variable and from four to seven times as 
great as that of the ocean, its saline matter has nearly the same composition. The 
* Clarke, F. W. Data of geochemistry. U. S. Geol. Survey Bui. 491, ed. 2, p. 144. 1911. 
* Clarke, F. W. Op. cit. 
