Bonneville Salt Flats facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bonneville Salt Flats |
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Sunset at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2015. Unique hexagon patterns are formed by the freezing and thawing of brackish waters.
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 Bonneville Salt Flats
Location in Utah
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| Floor elevation | 1,291 m (4,236 ft) |
| Length | 12 mi (19 km) |
| Width | 5 mi (8.0 km) |
| Area | 40 sq mi (100 km2) |
| Geography | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Utah |
| County | Tooele |
| Borders on | Interstate 80 in Utah (south) West Wendover, Nevada (west) |
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a huge, flat area covered in salt in Tooele County, Utah, United States. This amazing place is what's left of an ancient lake called Lake Bonneville, which existed during the Pleistocene Ice Age. It is the biggest salt flat west of the Great Salt Lake.
The Bonneville Salt Flats are public land. This means anyone can visit them. They are managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Flats are famous for setting land speed records at the Bonneville Speedway.
The salt flats are about 12 miles (19 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide. The salt crust can be almost 5 feet (1.5 meters) thick in the middle. It gets thinner towards the edges. Scientists believe the flats hold about 147 million tons of salt. Most of this salt is the same kind you use on your food.
Contents
History of the Salt Flats
How the Salt Flats Got Their Name
A geologist named Grove Karl Gilbert gave the area its name. He named it after Benjamin Bonneville. Benjamin Bonneville was a U.S. Army officer who explored the western United States in the 1830s.
Early Uses and Records
In 1907, some local businessmen tested the salt flats. They drove a car on the surface to see if it was good for driving fast. It turns out, it was!
A railway line was built across the Flats in 1910. This was the first time people could cross the area permanently. The very first land speed record was set here in 1914 by Teddy Tetzlaff.
Salt Flats in Pop Culture
The Bonneville Salt Flats have been used in many movies and TV shows. Some of these include Knight Rider, Independence Day, and The World's Fastest Indian.
Several famous things are also named after the Flats. These include the Pontiac Bonneville car and the Triumph Bonneville motorcycle.
Flight Archery Championships
The Bonneville Salt Flats also host the yearly US Flight Archery Championships. In flight archery, people shoot arrows as far as they can. They don't aim at a target. The huge, flat area of the salt flats is perfect for measuring how far the arrows travel. World records in flight archery have been set here.
Protecting the Salt Flats
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The thickness of the salt crust is very important. It needs to be thick enough for racing and other uses. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) studies the salt flats. Recent studies show that the salt crust is getting thinner. This is especially true in the area where races happen.
The total size of the salt flats has also gotten smaller over the years. Many people think this is because of nearby mining for potash. Potash is a type of salt used in fertilizers.
To help the salt flats, racing groups, the mining company, and the BLM are working together. Since 1998, they have been pumping extra salty water back onto the flats in winter. They hope that adding more salty water will stop the crust from getting thinner. It might even help it grow back where it's too thin.
Land Speed Racing Events
Many land speed records have been set on the Bonneville Salt Flats. In 2018, a car set a record here, reaching 449 miles per hour!
Motorcar racing has been happening at the salt flats since 1914. The racing takes place at a special part called the Bonneville Speedway. There are five main land speed events held here each year.
- Bonneville "Speed Week" happens in mid-August.
- "World of Speed" takes place in September.
- "World Finals" are held in early October.
These three events welcome cars, trucks, and motorcycles. The "Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials" are just for motorcycles. World records are also challenged at the Mike Cook ShootOut in September.
Sometimes, events like "Speed Week" have to be canceled. This happened in 2015 and 2022. Heavy rains had flooded the flats. The rains also caused mudslides from nearby mountains. This made parts of the racing courses unsafe.
Stardust Spacecraft Landing
In 2004, a special event happened at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Stardust spacecraft returned to Earth. It released a capsule containing samples from space. This capsule landed safely in the Bonneville Salt Flats. The samples were from an asteroid and a comet.
See also
In Spanish: Salar de Bonneville para niños
