Lake Bonneville

Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperatures. The lake covered much of what is now western Utah and at its highest level extended into present-day Idah…
Lake Bonneville was the largest Late Pleistocene paleolake in the Great Basin of western North America. It was a pluvial lake that formed in response to an increase in precipitation and a decrease in evaporation as a result of cooler temperatures. The lake covered much of what is now western Utah and at its highest level extended into present-day Idaho and Nevada. Many other hydrographically closed basins in the Great Basin contained expanded lakes during the Late Pleistocene, including Lake Lahontan in northwestern Nevada.
  • Location: Utah, Idaho and Nevada
  • Etymology: Benjamin Bonneville
  • Surface area: ~20,000 sq mi (51,000 km²) (at max. lake level)
  • Max. depth: over 980 ft (300 m)
  • Type: pluvial lake (a paleolake created by a change in water balance in the basin)
Data from: en.wikipedia.org