Brine Is the Demon That Stirs Dust in the Wind

Why does Owens Lake generate severe dust storms when other dry lake beds scattered through the desert don’t?

Owens has been dry only about 60 years, and a large pool of brine still lies just below the surface.

Most of the time, a thin crust seals the surface salts and clay silt on the lake bed. But when rains wet the salt pan, followed by dry, cold winter winds, the crust ruptures. Brine is drawn to the surface and evaporates, leaving a fine white dust, or fluff, that is blown across the flat lake bed.

When winds blow stronger than 20 m.p.h., the alkali fluff is kicked up in huge, thick clouds that can travel hundreds of miles.

More than half of the 100-square-mile lake remains damp or is caked to a hard surface, so fluff won’t form. But the large reservoir of subterranean brine ensures that the phenomenon will continue to occur over an area of lake bed the size of San Francisco.