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Shallow saline lake in California, United States
Photo: Philkon Phil Konstantin, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California, covering 376 square miles It is about 227 feet below sea level. Its salinity level is 44 parts per thousand versus 35 parts per thousand for the Pacific Ocean. The sea's salinity level has been rising, putting the ecosystem at serious long-term risk.
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These "volcanoes" vent subterranean carbon dioxide, and are a geologic anomaly resulting from geothermal activity caused by the movement of the North American plate to the east and the Pacific Plate to the west. They are not hot and can be easily, though muddily approached. Nearby is one of the numerous geothermal energy facilities dotting the southern end of the sea. Take Schrimpf Road from Highway 111 rather than Wister Road unless you're not fond of your car.
It's at the southern end of the Salton Sea and 227 feet below sea level. This wild life refuge is also part of the Pacific Flyway host to heavy migrations of waterfowl, marsh and shorebirds during spring and fall, with the greatest number of species present from November to May. Over 400 species of birds have been recorded. The Refuge has two separate managed units, 18 miles apart. Each unit contains wetland habitats, farm fields, and tree rows.
Two highways, California State Routes 86 and 111, run the length of the Salton Sea and cross each other in both Mecca and Brawley. CA 86 is a major four-lane route on the west side of the sea and is heavily traveled.
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Imperial · Regional · IPL
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Brawley is a city in Imperial County near the Salton Sea.
Niland is a small town near the Salton Sea.
Salton City is a community along the shores of the Salton Sea in Imperial County in the California Desert. Despite being developed as a planned resort town with infrastructure meant to support 40,000 residents, fewer than 1,000 people lived in the area as of the 2000 census, leading some to refer to it as a modern ghost town.
Slab City is a remote corner of the desert built on the foundations (slabs) of the former World War II US Marine Camp Dunlap. It is home to permanent and itinerant residents consisting of snow birds, artists, military veterans, anarchists, neo-libertarians and others living in motorhomes and camping trailers who have formed an informal off-grid community. Salvation Mountain, a brightly colored religious artwork that covers an entire hillside, is the most prominent of many artistic works that visitors will encounter while driving through the area.
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