The lake contains brine shrimp (Artemia salina), alkali flies (Ephydra hians) and cyanobacteria (Anacystis) that are able to endure the extreme fluctuations in conditions between the wet and dry seasons.

[4] The lake fills a maar, a kind of shallow volcanic crater formed when magma (molten rock) comes into contact with groundwater.

Groundwater rises through the salt beds and emerges along fractures in the volcanic conduits beneath the maar.

The lake itself is considered sacred, home of the Salt Mother deity, known to the Zuñi as Ma'l Okyattsik'i.

[14][15] The proposal was withdrawn after several lawsuits, and is regarded as an important exercise of native rights in the United States.