Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University
of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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| Rest stop at the junction of California 120 (Tioga Pass Highway) and US 395. | |
| Left and below: views of Mono Lake from the southwest. | |
| Left and below: tufa pinnacles | |
| The black mound is a rare example of a tuff ring on dry land: it was erupted under water during a Pleistocene high stand of Mono Lake. | |
| Left and below: looking south along the Sierra Nevada front. | |
| Wide-angle view looking southeast across Mono Lake | |
| Looking south. The Sierra Nevada front is in shadow on the far right. The distant peaks are the south wall of the Long Valley Caldera. | |
| Cirque in the Sierra Nevada overlooking Mono Lake. | |
| Looking southeast across Mono Lake. The snow-capped mountains are Montgomery and Boundary Peaks. | |
| Looking south along the Sierra Nevada front and the western shore of Mono Lake | |
| Boundary Peak and Montgomery Peak | |
| White Mountain Peak | |
| Looking east along the north shore of Mono Lake. | |
| Left and below: views of Mono Lake from Panum Crater, northernmost of the Mono Craters. At left is a view north along the Sierra Nevada front. | |
| Looking east along California 120. | |
| View of the Sierra Nevada front from Panum Crater. |
| Left and below: Mono Lake from the tufa area. | |
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The tufa pinnacles are a blend of natural wonder and human blunder. The
pinnacles formed from springs emerging beneath saline Mono Lake. They are
visible because water from snowmelt has been diverted south to Los Angeles,
causing lake levels to drop about 15 meters. As they say out west, whiskey's for drinking, water's for fighting. Court challenges by environmentalists resulted in a settlement that stabilizes the lake levels. | |
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Created 14 July 2003, Last Update 04 September 2006
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