The Lucin cutoff is what its called.
Its what happens when you bisect a lake by a 12 mile rock causeway separating the salty part of the lake from the part of the lake that gets fresh water annually. Since 1950 the great salt lake has been cut in half by this causeway and the effects are that the north arm has since been evaporating and becoming saltier while the south arm has been replenished from runoff and becoming fresher and fresher. The result is this really goofy line from blue to red. here, check it out on a map.
As a result the north arm was 6 inches lower than the south and WAY saltier. So salty that semi permanent salt “waves” form on the surface. It isn’t actually wavy, its just ridges of salt on top of the water. I say “was” because as of 2016 they breached the causeway when they installed a bridge to allow the arms to balance out.
I’d never seen it from the air before. Very cool. They say that eventually the lake will not only come to a level balance (which it already has) but a salinity balance.
Filed to: neat