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Geologic Trip, Mono Lakes
Area Mono Lake Mono Lake occupies a low
spot in one of the many basins in the Basin and Range Province. The Mono
Basin was formed when a large block of the earth’s crust subsided along a
major fault that goes through Lee Vining. The lake gets most of its water
from the Sierra, but has no outlet. Evaporation has increased the
salinity so that the lake is more saline than seawater. At
several places along the shoreline there are clusters of spectacular
white towers of tufa. The towers
form where fresh water springs feed into the bottom waters of the lake. The
fresh water contains calcium in solution and
as the fresh water
rises, the calcium in the spring water combines with carbonate in the lake water to form the tufa
towers. Although tufa
is found in other alkaline bodies of water, the quantity, size, and variety
of the tufa towers at Mono Lake is unique. Exterior Websites California State Parks: Mono County: Mono Lake Committee: USGS: Wikipedia: _____ |