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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

calcium carbonate, precipitate, chemical composition, water, Blue Lake

College

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Department

Geological Sciences

Abstract

Blue Lake is located in a remote area of Western Utah, about 25 km south of Wendover, Utah. The lake has a year-round temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. This is due to the lake being fed by warm springs located at a depth of 15 m within the lake. The bottom of the lake is covered with a fine carbonate mud. The multiple inflows, however, are filled with fine sand, predominately quartz, much of which is kept in constant motion by the inflowing groundwater. Contained within this sand, and located directly within the inflows, sometimes actually suspended in them, are small, irregularly shaped nodules of calcium carbonate. These nodules are white, and contain some grains of sand within their matrix.

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