Purple geometric shapes when flying over Salt Lake City?

Question

Both times when I flew into/out of Salt Lake City, I noticed large, purple geometrical shapes around the lake from the plane. I have never acutally been to SLC, only used the airport as a layover, so I am not familiar with the layout of the land. Any idea what type of landform I am looking at from the sky? Or is it just the way the water appears?

Answer 1

Are you sure they weren't in the lake? Purplish red in the water denotes area raising brine shrimp.

Answer 2

There are many different industries around Salt Lake and my understanding is they are pools for different chemical processes such as making magnesium is one that I have heard mentioned. Maybe someone with a science or chemistry background can give an answer as to what you can make out of salt. But you are correct that there are many different colored "pools" around the lake and it is not just the way it appears from up in the air.

Answer 3

They're probably the salt evaporation ponds, where they evaporate salt out of the Great Salt Lake.  They are usually rectangular, and can be anything from a blue to a purple color.  If you saw patches of red in the lake, those were brine shrimp like someone else mentioned.