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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Rare salt formations have been documented for the first time on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, and they could yield insights about salt structures found on Mars before they disappear for good.

They're showing up now in part because water levels at the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi have been lowered by drought and water diversion, exposing more shoreline. It's a story that's playing out throughout the American West as a growing population puts more demand on scarce water resources.

Along the high-salinity waters [of] Great Salt Lake, the expanded shoreline means there are more places where water can bubble up to the surface from warm, sulfate-rich springs. When it hits the cold air, a mineral called Glauber's salt, or mirabilite, separates out.

"It has to be exposed to just the right conditions," said park ranger Allison Thompson, who first saw them in October.

[...] There are now four mounds at the Great Salt Lake beach, growing up to 3 feet (1 meter) tall and several yards wide.

Mirabilite mounds are seen more often in places such as the Arctic, bolstered by the constantly cold temperatures. There are also indications of similar structures on Mars, so study of the mounds in Utah could offer clues on how to examine salts found there.

Salt deposits on Mars could hold clues about whether groundwater or even life was ever supported on the red planet, said Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, a nonprofit group that runs a station simulating the planet in the Utah desert that isn't involved with studying the Great Salt Lake mounds.

"What would that look like? What would be the right detection instrument or technique?" he said.

-- submitted from IRC

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