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Mono Lake
Sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) are just two of the substances which make Mono Lake three times as salty as the ocean. The lake is salty because it has no outlet. Salts and minerals washed from the surrounding lands stay behind as lake water evaporates and they become concentrated.
Tufa = salty lake water (carbonates) + freshwater springs (calcium). Mono Lake's tufa towers are estimated to be between 200 and 900 years old. These unusual spires and knobs are formed when calcium-bearing freshwater springs happen to well up through alkaline lake water, which is rich in carbonates. Calcium and carbonate combine, precipitating out as limestone. Over many years, a tower forms around the mouth of the spring. This tufa-forming reaction happens only in the lake itself : as lake level drops and exposes the tufa towers, they cease to grow. |
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