Today is ABC Wednesday and we have arrived at the Letter " T ".
" T " is for Tufa Towers. I took this picture a few weeks ago when we visited the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve, which is located in California.
This Reserve was established to preserve the calcium-carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs with the alkaline lake waters. The Lake is about 65 square miles and is considered over 1 million years old, one of the oldest lakes in North America. Mono Lake has no outlet. Salt and minerals washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. The freshwater evaporated leaving salt and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty and 80 times as alkaline as the ocean.
What you see in this late afternoon photo are Tufas. They are essentially common limestone.
Tufa Towers grow exclusively underwater and some even grow to heights of more than 30 feet. As the Lake has evaporated the Tufa Towers have become visible and look almost like a moonscape.
In all my years of living in California I had never been to Mono Lake and its Tufa Towers. It is definitely a must see amazing creation of nature.
This picture looks best enlarged.
For other ABC Wednesday posts just click on Mrs. Nesbitts link on my sidebar.
20 comments:
Beautiful lake and interesting info on the tufa towers. Great photo. Good T!
very cool shot!
Cool shot.
These limestones are so unique looking in this excellent photograph
What an interesting lake! You probably can compare it to the Dead Sea in Israel! Thanks for this information! And for your visit. Have a nice day!
This is beautiful and informative post. I like your photo very much; it is really beautiful and attractive. The more I look at those nature creations the more they remind me of human's silhouettes. For example, in the middle of the photo I can see a man standing with a child in his arms while a lady is standing next to them and faced to them both. :-)
This is an eerie image. Strange and beautiful.
Very nteresting landscape and beautiful as well!
I read about it from Wikipedia, because I wanted to know a diffence with a karst.
I learned new things again, thank you :)
Very happy day to you, Sue!
That's beautiful. I would love to see that some day in real life.
Great choice for t!
The geologist must love this area, and so would I. The GBs on my camera would be hard pressed.
Oh, how beautiful and fascinating! Yet another place I want to go when I come back to your West Coast!
Fascinating info, Sue. I've never seen anything like it in the US. The photo definitely enhances the commentary you provided.
I love the look of this photo...the tufa towers are amazing natural formations....beautiful with the mountains in the background...and the lake is so clear....
I've been there...it was great! Did you see all the flies and birds scooping them up to eat?
I never knew this existed.
Thank you for all the info on Tufa Towers. Very interesting. Very cool photograph.
Sherry
These are gorgeous. Amazing what the power of moving water can do.
I've never heard of Mono Lake but it looks like a very interesting spot to visit and take photos.
Thanks for sharing
oh wow!!! simply wow!!!! thanks for the info........great post!!!!! :)
These are very fascinating. Isn't nature amazing? I love the shots.
Post a Comment