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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: Mono Lake


Mono Lake is located just off Highway 395, 13 miles east of Yosemite National Park, near the town of Lee Vining, California. Fed by huge glaciers during the last Ice Age, Mono Lake was 60 times larger than the 66 square miles it covers today. Mono Lake is naturally salty and alkaline because it has no outlet. The only way water leaves is via evaporation. The Sierra streams that flow into Mono contain only trace amounts of minerals and salts but those minerals and salts stay and their concentrations, over the years, grow.

Mono Lake is a lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in a basin that has no outlet to the ocean. Mono Lake is a desert lake with an unusually productive ecosystem, based on brine shrimp that grow in the lake, and is a critical nesting habitat for two million migratory birds that feed on the shrimp.
Mono Lake is very salty and has tufa towers made from calcium deposits Perhaps the most intriguing of Mono Lake's phenomena are the tufa (pronounced "toofah") towers visible along much of the shoreline. Tufa are made from calcium carbonate which makes its way into the lake from underground springs. The calcium and carbonate combine to form limestone which builds up over time around the lake bottom spring openings. Declining lake levels have exposed the tufa towers we see today. Some of these tufa towers are up to 30 feet high.

Upon first glance, it would seem that Mono Lake is lifeless. Far from it, Mono supports a simple but amazingly productive food chain. At the bottom of that chain are microscopic, single-celled algae.

The algae serves as food for two other species--brine shrimp and brine flies which, in turn, serve as the major food source for literally millions of water birds. It's estimated that some 85% of California's seagulls started their life here at Mono Lake. There are at least 80 species of water fowl that call Mono Lake home.
Mono Lake is a geologist's paradise. It is ringed by volcanoes, new and old. Two of the islands on the lake are volcanic domes. No area volcanoes are active at the moment but the area shows many signs of potential eruptions.

In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began diverting Mono Lake's tributary streams 350 miles south to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles. In 1962, Mono Lake had already dropped almost 25 vertical feet. Deprived of its freshwater sources, the volume of Mono Lake halved, while its salinity doubled. Unable to adapt to these changing conditions within such a short period of time, the ecosystem began to collapse. Islands, previously important nesting sites, became peninsulas vulnerable to mammalian and reptilian predation. Photosynthetic rates of algae, the base of the food chain, were reduced while reproductive abilities of brine shrimp became impaired.
Mono lake has algea and plankton that feeds area birds The Mono Lake Tufa Reserve was established to preserve the spectacular "tufa towers," calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. It also protects the lake surface itself as well as the wetlands and other sensitive habitat for the 1 to 2 million birds that feed and rest at Mono Lake each year.

Winter is a particularly beautiful time at Mono Lake. The crowds are gone, a quiet stillness prevails, and snow crystals sparkle on the tufa towers. The road to South Tufa is kept plowed, when staffing permits, allowing year round access except immediately after large storms.

Two and a half miles of the river were opened to the public in 1976; the remainder of the preserve is managed as a natural area and a locale for scientific research.
Mono Lake and the adjacent basin are open for year-round recreation. Hiking, swimming, boating, bird watching and photography are very popular outdoor activities. One of the oldest lakes in the western hemisphere, Mono Lake is hauntingly beautiful, reflecting the snow-capped Sierra Nevada in its shimmering blue waters. An immense inland sea, the 70 square-mile lake fills a natural basin, 700 square-miles in size. Together with nearby volcanoes, ghost towns and trout-filled streams, this area is a natural wonderland for the entire family.

The Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center is a great place to start your visit to this area. The center is located just off Highway 395, north of Lee Vining and includes exhibits about both the natural and human history of the Mono Basin. Visitor center staff will also help you plan your explorations of this great region.
 
 
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