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Scientists race to save thinning Bonneville Salt Flats

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VIDEO COURTESY AP
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A visitor walks at the Bonneville Salt Flats Friday, Oct. 7, near Wendover, Utah.
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A visitor to Bonneville Salt Flats poses for a photograph pm Sunday, Oct. 9, near Wendover, Utah.
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A state geologist collects data from a weather station in the Bonneville Salt Flats on Tuesday, Sept. 13, near Wendover, Utah. The state is funding a study to determine if flooding the landscape with salty water helps maintain the size of the flats and combats the effects of climate change, mining and racecar driving.
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Record low water levels are observed at the Great Salt Lake marina Monday, Aug. 29, near Salt Lake City. Concerns are mounting about the future of the treeless expanse of salt crystals, and yet another study has been launched as researchers try to pinpoint the cause and solution.
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Jeremiah Bernau, a Utah State biologist, holds salt crystals at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah. The glistening white salt of the world famous area is shrinking near the Utah-Nevada line.
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Salt forms gather at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah.
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The Intrepid Potash canal is shown at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah. Potash is potassium-based salt primarily used throughout the world as a fertilizer for crops such as corn, soy, rice and wheat. It’s extracted in 13 countries throughout the world, mainly from prehistoric lakebeds like Bonneville's.
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Intrepid Potash pumps brine in to a canal at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Aug. 29, near Wendover, Utah. The mining company uses a process called solar evaporation mining, pumping water into the ground to dissolve minerals and then transporting it through canals to ponds where evaporation leaves behind a valuable potassium salt called potash.
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Patterns are visible in the Bonneville Salt Flats on Saturday, Oct. 8, near Wendover, Utah.
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Visitors watch sunrise at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Sept. 19, near Wendover, Utah.
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The Blue Flame performs a test run just before at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, on Nov. 4, 1970. The crust keeps tires cool at high speeds and provides an ideal surface for racing — unless seasonal flooding fails to recede or leaves behind an unstable layer of salt.
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A car rides along the Bonneville Salt Flats, near Wendover, Utah, on Aug. 13, 2016.
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Cars form a line near the race track at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, on Aug. 13, 2016. The crust keeps tires cool at high speeds and provides an ideal surface for racing — unless seasonal flooding fails to recede or leaves behind an unstable layer of salt.
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Tire tracks cut through the salt crust on the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats on Sunday, Oct. 9, near Wendover, Utah.
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Visitors watch the sunrise at the Bonneville Salt Flats on Monday, Sept. 19, near Wendover, Utah.

Related Story

Search for solutions drives race to save Utah salt flats