The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere, and the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. The lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its shallowness. For instance, in 1963 it reached its lowest recorded level at 2,460 km², but in 1988 the surface area was at the historic high of 8,500 km². The lake is the largest remnant of Lake Bonneville, a prehistoric pluvial lake that once covered much of western Utah.
The three major tributaries to the lake, the Jordan, Weber, and Bear rivers together deposit around 1.1 million tons of minerals in the lake each year. As it is endorheic (has no outlet besides evaporation), it has very high salinity, far saltier than seawater, and its mineral content is constantly increasing. Its shallow, warm waters cause frequent, sometimes heavy lake-effect snows from late fall through spring.
Categorically stating the number of islands is difficult, as the method used to determine what is an island is not necessarily the same in each source. Since the water level of the lake can vary greatly, what may be considered an island in a high water year may be considered a peninsula in another. As a result, there are eight named islands in the lake that have never been totally submerged during historic time. Although it has been called "America's Dead Sea", the lake provides habitat for many forms of life.
About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), is part of the series Songbirds, about which I wrote here. About the second, issued to mark the 150th birthday of the U.S. Naval Academy, I wrote here.
The third stamp, issued on September 10, 1973, depicts Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim.
The fourth stamp is part of the series Apples, about which I wrote here. The last stamp, depicting California gull (Larus californicus) and Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii), the bird and the flower of the state of Utah, is part of the series State Birds and Flowers, about which I wrote here.
References
Zimbabwe - Wikipedia
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 01.12.2015
Photo: Mike Jones
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