A few days ago, I wrote about the Little Salt Lake. I called it a "salt flat." That is not correct. The LSL is, in fact, a "playa," which sounds much better. The salt on the bed of the playa comes from minerals that precipitated from the lake water as it evaporated, probably thousands of years ago. The authors of "Geology Underfoot in Southern Utah" are the source of my new information (Orndorff, Wieder, and Futey). They believe that the Little Salt Lake was caused by freshwater snowmelt becoming trapped in the Parowan Valley from the emergence of the Red Hills ridge about two million years ago. This was during a cool, wet period, which eventually gave way to a hotter, dryer climate, reducing the fresh-water input to the lake and evaporating the rest.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Correction
A few days ago, I wrote about the Little Salt Lake. I called it a "salt flat." That is not correct. The LSL is, in fact, a "playa," which sounds much better. The salt on the bed of the playa comes from minerals that precipitated from the lake water as it evaporated, probably thousands of years ago. The authors of "Geology Underfoot in Southern Utah" are the source of my new information (Orndorff, Wieder, and Futey). They believe that the Little Salt Lake was caused by freshwater snowmelt becoming trapped in the Parowan Valley from the emergence of the Red Hills ridge about two million years ago. This was during a cool, wet period, which eventually gave way to a hotter, dryer climate, reducing the fresh-water input to the lake and evaporating the rest.
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Interesting, I'm a playa too. You can hate the game but don't be hating the playa.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, the internet has an urban dictionary. So, for those of us who don't speak city slang, I looked it up. A playa is "a person who is competitive and gregarious by nature. The skill of a playa is measured by the extent of his or her 'game.' The more 'game' a playa has, the more respect they command in their community."
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