Terminal Mirage

From his series Terminal Mirage, aerial photos of the Great Salt Lake in northwestern Utah.

At times, it is the fourth largest terminal lake in the world, with its status changing with the rise and fall of its depth and square acreage. The lake’s most distinctive aspect is, of course, its exceptional richness in five major elements (sodium, magnesium, potassium, chloride, and sulfate) as well as other elements in lesser quantities. The naturally occurring minerals in the soil, leach into the water, and are concentrated in varying strengths in the lake. As each mineral element has its own color, the density of the colors of the lake relate in part to the levels of concentrations present at any given time of specific elements.

David Maisel, photographer