The above link goes to a time-lapse elevation change movie,
and may require the viewer to download a browser plug-in.
File size is 6.3 megabytes.
Video images courtesy of Utah Reclamation,Great Salt Lake is located on a shallow playa. Consequently, small changes in the water-surface elevation result in large changes in the surface area of the lake. This is particularly evident when the lake spills into the west desert at an elevation of about 4215 feet, greatly increasing its area. The satellite imagery shows changes in the area of the lake from 1972, through the high-runoff period of 1983-87, and ending in 1996. At the historic average (1847-1986) surface elevation of 4,200 feet (1975 is an "average year" shown in the images), the lake covers an area of about 1,700 square miles. At the historic low elevation of 4,191.35 in 1963, the lake covered only 950 square miles. The drop of about 8.5 feet in elevation resulted in a loss of about 44 percent in surface area. During 1986 and again in 1987, the lake reached an elevation of 4,211.6 feet and had a surface area of about 3,300 square miles. The relation between water-surface elevation and corresponding surface area and volume of the lake is shown on an elevation-area-volume curve, also called a hypsographic curve (from the Greek, hypsos, meaning height).
The hypsographic curve shown below can be used to determine area and total volume of Great Salt Lake (Gilbert and Gunnison Bays) by using the water-surface elevation from the Saltair Boat Harbor USGS gage located at the south end of Gilbert Bay. The data include diked areas for salt extraction located at the south end of Gilbert Bay.
Data were obtained primarily by digital planimetry of paper maps. The following data sources used to compile this curve: The 4,170- and 4,180-foot contour data for Gunnison Basin (north of causeway) were recorded from a map prepared by A.J. Eardley, University of Utah, April 1961.
The 4,170-, 4,180-, and 4,190-foot contour data for Gilbert Basin were recorded from Map 38, Navigational Chart of the Great Salt Lake South Arm, 1975, scale 1:80,000, compiled by W.M. Katzenberger, Utah Geological and Mineral Survey.
The 4,193-, 4,195-, and 4,200-foot contour data for Gilbert and Gunnison Bays were recorded from map Great Salt Lake and Vicinity, Utah, 1974, scale 1:125000, U.S. Geological Survey.
The 4,205-, 4,209-, and 4,212-foot contour data for Gilbert and Gunnison Bays were recorded from Satellite Image Map, Great Salt Lake and Vicinity, Utah, 1984, scale 1:125000, U.S. Geological Survey.
The 4,216-foot contour data was provided by the State of Utah, Division of Water Resources, as digital and paper copies.