Mono Lake USA Postcard

Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake. These salts also make the lake water alkaline. This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp that thrive in its waters, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies. Mono Lake is perhaps most famous for its dramatic tufa towers, which are calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed when freshwater springs containing calcium meet the alkaline lake water rich in carbonates. The withdrawal of water from the lake by Los Angeles in the mid-20th century lowered the lake level and exposed many of these once-submerged formations, leading to environmental concerns and legal battles to protect the lake.