In the eastern parts of the arid Great Basin region, that is located between the Rocky Mountains, the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada mountains of western USA, we find the Great Salt Lake, the largest salt lake in the Western Hemisphere. The shallow lake is divided into two parts by a causeway that was constructed in the 1950s and supports a railroad. As the northwestern part has less intake of freshwater, it is substantially more saline.his results in the distinct colours in the PROBA-V 100 m image, captured last June. In the northeastern part, close to a bird refuge, we spot solar evaporation ponds (blue) used to extract valuable minerals. To the southeast of the lake, we find the capital of the state of Utah, Salt Lake City, in between two mountain ranges and the largest manmade excavation in the world, the Bingham Canyon Mine.