There are quite a few names for these types of lakes, Dry Lake, Salt Lake, Playa or Endorheic basin.
An Endorheic Basin is basically a very shallow lake closed within itself (no inlet or way out). It’s also known as a Terminal basin as it only exists during rains and then only as long as it takes to drain down into the ground (Seepage) or when evaporating during the heat of the day.
We first ran into this type of lake in the dry Lakebed of Bonneville Salt Flats watching old movies of some of the fastest Cars on Earth running across its flat surface. We’ve also got to experience one in Death Valley last year called “The Devil’s Golf Course” Where the Salts have built up to almost 2 feet thick. If you’ve driven to Las Vegas from the Los Angeles or Southern California area, there are a few near the border that you can see. They’ve used one of these for a few solar sun towers with acres of solar reflectors. Quite a few of these are used for recreational uses, four wheel drive, wind sailors etc.
The surface of these Playas varies a little, but consists mostly of Sand, Clays, some silt. Quite a few of these contain salts and you can see the White as they evaporate.
If they contain a lot of clays when they dry out, you’ll see the cracking and sometimes they can be a few inches to a few feet deep if the clay is rich with Smectite clays. (Mars is rich in this type)
Wind actions particularly effect these playas and sweep material from one area to another and can form little islands when the playa is a lake. These typically are very small in height and start when the material runs into brush or a slopping mountain side.
The following Material were used for Reference:
- https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1459e/report.pdf
- U.S. Department of the Interior, Professional papers and Geological surveys
- Wikipedia
- Geology.com
Logging Requirements: Please E-Mail me the answers, don't post any pictures of the site itself.
1. Type in GC74PM4 Rabbts Endorheic basin or Dry Lake Playa.
2. How many visitors with you today?
3. Do you see any river or creeks that this could drain into?
4. Do you see any remnants of Salt?
5. Can you see any cracks from this vantage point?, describe them.
6. Can you notice any sloping? In what direction and estimate the angle.