Ice Shove at the Great Salt Lake

Have you heard of the crazy cool phenomenon that happens on the Great Salt Lake during winter?

It’s called Ice Shove.

It happens when the fresh water from the Jordan River, enters the Great Salt Lake and freezes on top of the salt water. I mean, we all know the Great Salt Lake is salty water right?! ;) Salt water is more dense than fresh water, so it freezes at a lower temperature. High winds cause the frozen fresh water and ice to the shore.

If you catch it while it’s happening live, it seriously looks like the ice is alive and moving on it’s own. For real, it is so cool. You can see if happening here on a quick video from the weather channel.

Earth is so cool, right? And in my best Bill Nye the Science Guy voice, Science Rules!

A couple of places you can see the ice build up, or if you’re really lucky, see if happen in real life:

• Davis County causeway on the way to Antelope State Park. There are several places to safely pull over the side.

• Great Salt Lake State Park

Happy exploring!