Subsurface salt concentration profiles and pore water density measurements from Owens Lake, central California, measured in 2018 (Version 2)

The data set characterizes the subsurface of the salt deserts and is used together with other data sets (which characterize the surface) to explain the driving mechanism of salt polygon growth in salt deserts. For each site, the sand in a cross-sectional area of about 2 m x 1 m below a salt polygon was sampled with a horizontal and vertical resolution of 15 cm and 10 cm respectively.

Samples were then analyzed for their salt content to resolve salinity gradients present below the salt polygon patterns at the surface. Additionally, pore water at the sites was sampled from the surface and at a depth of ~1 m to measure the surface and background salinity. The pore water was then analyzed using a vibrating-tube densimeter with a measurement accuracy of 5 x 10^(-4) g/cm^3.