Mono Lake

We visited Mono Lake which is a very interesting place. It is a very big salt water lake. This picture was taken from a ridge several miles away. Most of the freshwater that fills Mono Lake comes from 5 streams fed by snow run-off from the Sierra Nevada Mountains snow pack. As these streams cross volcanic deposits and ancient sea beds, they pick up salts and carbonates and bring them to the lake. Water also enters the lake from undergound springs. Mono Lake has no outlet and so these chemicals become highly concentrated as the water evaporates. As a result, Mono Lake is 2 1/2 times saltier and 1000 times more alkaline than the ocean.

1962 Benchmark

1968 Benchmark

In 1941 the City of Los Angeles began diverting water from the streams that feed Mono Lake to meet their rising water demands. As a result, over the next 40 years the water level in Mono Lake dropped 45 feet, reaching its lowest point.

These pictures, on display at the visitors center, are taken from the same spot on the shore and show the changes in water level over a 46 year period.

In 1994 the California State Water Resource Control Board made a decision that caused the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to reduce the amount of water being diverted from 4 of the tributaries that feed Mono Lake. The goal was to bring the water level of the lake back up to a point 25 feet below its 1941 level.

1995 Benchmark

2008 Benchmark

The rock statues you see in the above pictures are actually columns of calcium carbonate, a type of limestone created when the calcium rich spring water flowing up from the bottom of the lake mixes with the lake water. This allows the calcium to bond with the carbonates in the water, creating these solid deposits. The deposits gradually build upon themselves creating the columns and formations found in the lake. When the water level drops and the deposits are exposed, the growing stops. These formations are called "Tufa" from the Latin word "Tofus" which means porous stone.

Mono Lake has a great many of these Tufa and mom took lots of pictures.

Click here to see more pictures of Tufa!

This is one of the springs near the lake. The water was warm and we could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of the pool. Mom thought it would be a nice place to soak in the warm water, but there is a sign that says it it illegal to get in the water.

On the opposite side of the lake is a pretty little park with a boardwalk out to the shoreline where people go to watch the birds and see more tufa.

Click here to see the birds common to the Mono Lake area.

A curious creature called the brine shrimp thrive in Mono Lake. The visitor's center has a hugely magnified model of a male and a female. They are actually so small they are hard to see in the water. (Ugly looking things aren't they? Well, not everything can be as cute as me!)

Brine Shrimp model

The Mono Basin has been occupied on and off over the past 10,000 years, depending on the volcanic activity in the area. Since about 1300 A.D. the Kuzedika people, part of the Paiute Nation, have been living in the area.
The museum at the visitor's center has some of their baskets and other works on display.