Tufa at Mono Lake
by Jeff Burgess
Title
Tufa at Mono Lake
Artist
Jeff Burgess
Medium
Photograph - Giclee Print Fusion Photography
Description
A fusion work from a photograph taken at Mono Lake March 2016. This is a very interesting lake with projections resulting from fresh water entering the bottom of the lake through vents forming chemical spires when the lake was higher.
Per WikiPedia, 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 annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and blackflies (that also feed on the shrimp).
The human history of Mono Lake is associated with its productive ecosystem. The native Kutzadika'a people derived nutrition from the pupae of the alkali flies that live in the lake. When the city of Los Angeles diverted water from the lake, it lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. The Mono Lake Committee formed in response and won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
The human history of Mono Lake is associated with its productive ecosystem. The native Kutzadika'a people derived nutrition from the pupae of the alkali flies that live in the lake. When the city of Los Angeles diverted water from the lake, it lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. The Mono Lake Committee formed in response and won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
Mono Lake is believed to have formed at least 760,000 years ago, dating back to the Long Valley eruption. Sediments located below the ash layer hint that Mono Lake could be a remnant of a larger and older lake that once covered a large part of Nevada and Utah, which would put it among the oldest lakes in North America. At its height during the most recent ice age, the lake would have been about 900 feet (270 m) deep.[7] Prominent old shore lines, called strandlines by geologists, can be seen west of the Lake.
Currently, Mono Lake is in a geologically active area at the north end of the Mono�Inyo Craters volcanic chain and is close to Long Valley Caldera. Volcanic activity continues in the Mono Lake vicinity: the most recent eruption occurred 350 years ago, resulting in the formation of Paoha Island. Panum Crater (on the south shore of the lake) is an excellent example of a combined rhyolite dome and cinder cone.
Uploaded
March 29th, 2016
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