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Tufa formation along the South Shore of Mono Lake near sunset.

Mono Lake is one of the few remaining inland lakes in the Great Basin between the Rocky mountains and the Sierra Nevada mountains. Mono Lake is fed primarily from snow pack runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountains in the form of streams and under lake springs. The only way for water to leave Mono Lake is through evaporation. Mono Lake has a chemistry unique in all the world. Within MonoÕs waters are large concentrations of dissolved sodium salts of chlorides, carbonates and sulfates.

Springs opening into the lake on the lake bottom bring runoff water that is rich in calcium. As the calcium from the spring comes into contact with carbonates in the lake, a chemical reaction occurs that creates limestone around the mouth of the underwater spring. This limestone deposit slowly grows around the mouth of the underwater spring building an underwater tower called a "tufa". These Tufas continue to grow as long as the spring brings water in contact with the lake. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater, and some grow to heights of over 30 feet.

Beginning in 1941, water that would normally flow into Mono Lake was diverted to supply water for the increasing needs of the Los Angles area. This caused the water level in Mono Lake to drop dramatically and exposed groups of tufas along the shores of the lake and creating tufa islands.

The exposed tufas are no longer growing. They are very delicate structures that are slowly being eroded by the weather.

Mono Lake, California