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Mono Lake is a remarkable and much-photographed body of water just east of the central Sierra Nevada, in eastern California. It's an ancient lake with no outlet, and consequently its water is very mineral-rich: not strictly salty (sodium chloride) as in the ocean, but full of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, plus various sulfates and carbonates. Springs under the lake floor sometimes cause rapid precipitation of some of these chemicals, forming the famous tufa towers. Tufa forms underwater, and the only reason the towers are visible today is that during the last half-century, the lake level fell dramatically due to diversion of its feeder streams to the city of Los Angeles. After a long series of court fights, environmental groups were victorious and LA is required to keep a sufficient flow into the lake to stabilize its level high enough to keep the two major islands from being joined to the mainland. It's still lower than historic levels, which exposes the towers. These photos show a cluster of three such towers out in the lake near the South Tufa reserve, which offer very different moods throughout the day. Ospreys can be seen nesting on them in the spring and summer. |
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