Bass Lake (Marin County, California)
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Bass Lake is a small lake in the southern portion of the
Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricult ...
, northwest of
Bolinas Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line dist ...
. The lake sits at an elevation of and flows out south to the ocean via a creek. Bass Lake is the largest of the five Coast Trail Lakes, which also include Pelican Lake,
Crystal Lake Crystal Lake or Crystal Lakes may refer to: Lakes Canada * Crystal Lake (Saskatchewan) * Crystal Lake (Ontario), drain into the Lynn River, which drains into Lake Erie United States * Crystal Lake, California, a mountain lake in Nevada Co ...
, Ocean Lake and Wildcat Lake.


Geology

Much like the other nearby lakes in the southeast portion of the Point Reyes peninsula, Bass Lake occupies a natural synclinal depression formed behind blocks of rock displaced by landslides within the past 10,000 years. The depressions forming Crystal, Pelican and Bass lakes appear to have been caused by the Double Point Slide, which covers an area of about . The rocks involved in the landslide are
shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
,
chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
and
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
, some similar to
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
rocks of the
Monterey Formation The Monterey Formation is an extensive Miocene oil-rich geological sedimentary formation in California, with outcrops of the formation in parts of the California Coast Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and on some of California's off-shore islands ...
and others to
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Central Coast Ranges. The process that caused these slides is ongoing, with several nearby slides caused by the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
and others happening as recently as 1956.


Ecology

The lake is within the Southern Inverness Ridge region of the Point Reyes National Seashore, in an area of coastal scrub and grassland. In this coastal zone there are open stands of coyote brush (''
Baccharis pilularis ''Baccharis pilularis'', called coyote brush (or bush), chaparral broom, and bush baccharis, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae native to California, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California. There are reports of isolated populations in New Mexi ...
''), often with native grasses such as California oatgrass (''
Danthonia californica ''Danthonia californica'' is a species of grass known by the common name California oatgrass. This plant is native to two separate regions of the Americas, western North America from California to Saskatchewan, and Chile. Description ''Danthonia ...
'') and purple needlegrass (''
Nassella pulchra ''Nassella pulchra'', basionym ''Stipa pulchra'', is a species of grass known by the common names purple needlegrass and purple tussockgrass. It is native to the U.S. state of California, where it occurs throughout the coastal hills, valleys, an ...
''). The other dominant plants in this ecosystem are California sage brush (''
Artemisia californica ''Artemisia californica'', also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the sunflower family. Description ''Artemisia californica'' branches from the base and grows out from there, becoming rounded; it gro ...
''), black sage (''
Salvia mellifera ''Salvia mellifera'' (black sage, also known as seel by the Mahuna) is a small, highly aromatic, evergreen shrub of the genus ''Salvia'' (the sages) native to California, and Baja California, Mexico. It is common in the coastal sage scrub of Sou ...
''), sticky monkeyflower (''
Mimulus guttatus ''Erythranthe guttata'', with the common names seep monkeyflower and common yellow monkeyflower, is a yellow bee-pollinated annual or perennial plant. It was formerly known as ''Mimulus guttatus''. ''Erythranthe guttata'' is a model organism f ...
''), poison oak (''
Toxicodendron diversilobum ''Toxicodendron diversilobum'' (syn. ''Rhus diversiloba''), commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak, is a woody vine or shrub in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting coni ...
''), California coffeeberry (''
Frangula californica ''Frangula californica'' (previously classified as ''Rhamnus californica'') is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family native to western North America. It produces edible fruits and seeds.http://honest-food.net/2014/08/13/california ...
'') and tree lupine (''
Lupinus arboreus ''Lupinus arboreus'', the yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK), is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. Description ''Lupinus arboreus'' is an evergreen shrub growing to tall (hence the alternative common name, tree ...
''). Around Bass Lake and the neighboring lakes are thick growths of
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
(''Salix'' sp.) In the lake margins there is common tule (''
Schoenoplectus acutus ''Schoenoplectus acutus'' ( syn. ''Scirpus acutus, Schoenoplectus lacustris, Scirpus lacustris'' subsp. ''acutus''), called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the pl ...
''), California bulrush (''
Schoenoplectus californicus ''Schoeneoplectus californicus'' is a species of sedge known by the common names California bulrush, southern bulrush and giant bulrush. It is also sometimes called "tule", but the closely related ''Schoenoplectus acutus'' is the species most oft ...
''), cat-tail (''
Typha latifolia ''Typha latifolia'' (broadleaf cattail, bulrush, common bulrush, common cattail, cat-o'-nine-tails, great reedmace, cooper's reed, cumbungi) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus '' Typha''. It is found as a native plant species in North a ...
'') and sedges (''
Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of more than 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of genus ''Carex'' ...
'' sp. including ''Carex senta''). The lake has been stocked with warm-water
game fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish pursued by recreational anglers, and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, or released after capture. Some game fish are also targeted commerciall ...
. Research in 1976 found that the lake supported a range of
phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. Ph ...
from the genera ''
Anabaena ''Anabaena'' is a genus of filamentous cyanobacteria that exist as plankton. They are known for nitrogen-fixing abilities, and they form symbiotic relationships with certain plants, such as the mosquito fern. They are one of four genera of cyanob ...
'', ''
Cryptomonas ''Cryptomonas'' is the name-giving genus of the Cryptomonads established by German biologist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1831. The algae are common in freshwater habitats and brackish water worldwide and often form blooms in greater depths o ...
'', '' Cymbella'', ''
Fragilaria ''Fragilaria'' is a genus of Fresh water, freshwater and Saline water, saltwater diatoms. It is usually a colonial diatom, forming filaments of cells mechanically joined by protrusions on the face and in the center of their valves. The individua ...
'', ''
Oocystis ''Oocystis'' is a planktonic genus of mostly freshwater green algae of the family Oocystaceae.See the NCBIbr>webpage on Oocystis Data extracted from the The type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is th ...
'', '' Schroederia'', '' Sphaerocystis'' and '' Staurastrum'', as well as the species ''
Ceratium hirundinella The genus ''Ceratium'' is restricted to a small number (about 7) of freshwater dinoflagellate species. Previously the genus contained also a large number of marine dinoflagellate species. However, these marine species have now been assigned to ...
'', '' Elakatothrix gelatinosa'' and '' Pseudokephrion conicum''. On the slopes above the coastal lakes, the flora is characterized by stands of
Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
(''Pseudotsuga menziesii''). Bass Lake is inland from the Double Point Area of Special Biological Significance, established in 1974 primarily to protect the large population of
harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...
s (''Phoca vitulina'') that raise pups on the beach between April and June each year.


History

Prior to geological research in the 1960s that revealed the many pre-historic landslides, the area was considered to be sufficiently stable for the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
to construct an underground artillery control facility within the North Point headland directly west of Pelican Lake in 1944. These concrete structures were filled in by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
after it assumed control of the area, but they could be exposed by future landslides. The barracks for this facility were located near Bass Lake.


See also

*
List of lakes in the San Francisco Bay Area This list of lakes in the San Francisco Bay Area groups lakes, ponds, and reservoirs by county. Numbers in parentheses are Geographic Names Information System feature ids. Alameda County * Almond Reservoir () * Berryman Reservoir () * Bethany ...
*
List of lakes in California There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California. Largest lakes In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occupies ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{authority control Lakes of Marin County, California Lakes of California Wetlands of the San Francisco Bay Area