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Mono Lake ( ) is a saline
soda lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complex ...
in
Mono County, California Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...
, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an
endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...
. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water alkaline. The desert lake has an unusually productive
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
based on
brine shrimp ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia L ...
, which thrive in its waters, and provides critical habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp and alkali flies ('' Ephydra hians''). Historically, the native Kutzadika'a people ate the alkali flies' pupae, which live in the shallow waters around the edge of the lake. When the city of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
diverted water from the freshwater streams flowing into the lake, it lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. The
Mono Lake Committee The Mono Lake Committee (MLC) is an environmental organization based in Lee Vining, California in the United States. Its mission is to preserve Mono Lake, by reducing diversions of water from the Eastern Sierra watersheds by the Los Angeles Depart ...
formed in response and won a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially replenish the lake level.


Geology

Mono Lake occupies part of the
Mono Basin The Mono Basin is an endorheic drainage basin located east of Yosemite National Park in California and Nevada. It is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada, to the east by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the north by the Bodie Hills, and to the sou ...
, an
endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...
that has no outlet to the ocean. Dissolved salts in the runoff thus remain in the lake and raise the water's pH levels and salt concentration. The tributaries of Mono Lake include Lee Vining Creek, Rush Creek and Mill Creek which flows through Lundy Canyon. The basin was formed by geological forces over the last five million years:
basin and range Basin and range topography is characterized by alternating parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is a result of crustal extension due to mantle upwelling, gravitational collapse, crustal thickening, or relaxation of confining stresses. The e ...
crustal stretching and associated
volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called ...
and faulting at the base of the Sierra Nevada. Five million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was an eroded set of rolling hills and Mono Basin and Owens Valley did not yet exist. From 4.5 to 2.6 million years ago, large volumes of
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
were extruded around what is now Cowtrack Mountain (east and south of Mono Basin); eventually covering and reaching a maximum thickness of . Later volcanism in the area occurred 3.8 million to 250,000 years ago. This activity was northwest of Mono Basin and included the formation of Aurora Crater, Beauty Peak, Cedar Hill (later an island in the highest stands of Mono Lake), and Mount Hicks. Mono Lake is believed to have formed at least 760,000 years ago, dating back to the Long Valley eruption. Sediments located below the ash layer hint that Mono Lake could be a remnant of a larger and older lake that once covered a large part of
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
and
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, which would put it among the oldest lakes in North America. At its height during the most recent ice age, the lake would have been about deep. Prominent old shore lines, called strandlines by geologists, can be seen west of the Lake. Currently, Mono Lake is in a geologically active area at the north end of the
Mono–Inyo Craters The Mono–Inyo Craters are a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows in Mono County, Eastern California. The chain stretches from the northwest shore of Mono Lake to the south of Mammoth Mountain. The Mono Lake Volcanic Field forms the ...
volcanic chain and is close to
Long Valley Caldera Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the Earth's largest calderas, measuring about long (east-west), wide (north-south), and up to deep. Long Valley was formed ...
. Volcanic activity continues in the Mono Lake vicinity: the most recent eruption occurred 350 years ago, resulting in the formation of
Paoha Island Paoha Island is a volcanic island in Mono Lake, an endorheic lake in the U.S. state of California. The island was formed by a series of eruptions in the 17th century. It is composed of lakebed sediments deposited above volcanic domes. It is one ...
. Panum Crater (on the south shore of the lake) is an example of a combined rhyolite
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
and cinder cone.


Tufa towers

Many columns of
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
rise above the surface of Mono Lake. These limestone towers consist primarily of
calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar t ...
carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
minerals such as
calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
(CaCO3). This type of limestone rock is referred to as
tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertin ...
, which is a term used for limestone that forms in low to moderate temperatures.


Tufa tower formation

Mono Lake is a highly alkaline lake, or
soda lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complex ...
.
Alkalinity Alkalinity (from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is the capacity of water to resist acidification. It should not be confused with basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strength ...
is a measure of how many bases are in a
solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Soluti ...
, and how well the solution can neutralize acids.
Carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
(CO32-) and
bicarbonate In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate (IUPAC-recommended nomenclature: hydrogencarbonate) is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid. It is a polyatomic anion with the chemical formula . Bicarbonate serves a crucial biochem ...
(HCO3) are both bases. Hence, Mono Lake has a very high content of
dissolved inorganic carbon Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is the sum of the aqueous species of inorganic carbon in a solution. Carbon compounds can be distinguished as either organic or inorganic, and as dissolved or particulate, depending on their composition. Organic ...
. Through supply of
calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar t ...
ions (Ca2+), the water will precipitate carbonate-minerals such as
calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
(CaCO3). Subsurface waters enter the bottom of Mono Lake through small springs. High concentrations of dissolved calcium ions in these subsurface waters cause huge amounts of calcite to precipitate around the spring orifices. The tufa originally formed at the bottom of the lake. It took many decades or even centuries to form the well-recognized tufa towers. When lake levels fell, the tufa towers came to rise above the water surface and stand as the majestic pillars seen today (see Lake Level History for more information).


Tufa morphology

Description of the Mono Lake tufa dates back to the 1880s, when Edward S. Dana and Israel C. Russell made the first systematic descriptions of the Mono Lake tufa.Russell, I. C. (1889). Quaternary history of Mono Valley, California: ''U. S. Geol. Survey 8th Ann. Rept. for 1886- 1887'', 261-394 The tufa occurs as "modern" tufa towers. However, there are tufa sections from old shorelines, when the lake levels were higher. These pioneering works in tufa morphology are still referred to by researchers today and were confirmed by James R. Dunn in 1953. The tufa types can roughly be divided into three main categories based on morphology:Russell, I. C. (1883). Sketch of the geological history of Lake Lahontan: ''U. S. Geol. Survey 3rd Ann. Rept. for 1881-1882'', 189-235. *Lithoid tufa - massive and porous with a rock-like appearance *Dendritic tufa - branching structures that look similar to small shrubs *Thinolitic tufa - large well-formed crystals of several centimeters These tufa types vary interchangeably both between individual tufa towers but also within individual tufa towers. There can be multiple transitions between tufa morphologies within a single tufa tower. Through time, many hypotheses were developed regarding the formation of the larg
thinolite
crystals (also referred to a

in thinolitic tufa. It was relatively clear that the thinolites represented a calcite
pseudomorph In mineralogy, a pseudomorph is a mineral or mineral compound that appears in an atypical form (crystal system), resulting from a substitution process in which the appearance and dimensions remain constant, but the original mineral is replaced b ...
after some unknown original
crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macro ...
. However, the original crystal was only determined when the mineral
ikaite Ikaite is the mineral name for the hexahydrate of calcium carbonate, CaCO3·6H2O. Ikaite tends to form very steep or spiky pyramidal crystals, often radially arranged, of varied sizes from thumbnail size aggregates to gigantic salient spurs. It ...
was discovered in 1963.Pauly, H. (1963). " Ikaite", a New Mineral from Greenland. ''Arctic'', ''16''(4), 263-264. Ikaite, or hexahydrated CaCO3, is
metastable In chemistry and physics, metastability denotes an intermediate energetic state within a dynamical system other than the system's state of least energy. A ball resting in a hollow on a slope is a simple example of metastability. If the ball i ...
and only crystallizes at near-freezing temperatures. It is also believed that calcite crystallization inhibitors such as
phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
,
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
, and
organic carbon Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. TOC may also refer to the amount of organic c ...
may aid in the stabilization of ikaite.Council, T. C., & Bennett, P. C. (1993). Geochemistry of ikaite formation at Mono Lake, California: Implications for the origin of tufa mounds. ''Geology'', ''21''(11), 971-974. When heated, ikaite breaks down and becomes replaced by smaller crystals of calcite.Shearman, D. J., McGugan, A., Stein, C., & Smith, A. J. (1989). Ikaite, CaCO3̇6H2O, precursor of the thinolites in the Quaternary tufas and tufa mounds of the Lahontan and Mono Lake Basins, western United States. ''Geological Society of America Bulletin'', ''101''(7), 913-917.Swainson, I. P., & Hammond, R. P. (2001). Ikaite, CaCO3· 6H2O: Cold comfort for glendonites as paleothermometers. ''American Mineralogist'', ''86''(11-12), 1530-1533. In the Ikka Fjord of
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
, ikaite was also observed to grow in columns similar to the tufa towers of Mono Lake.Buchardt, B., Israelson, C., Seaman, P., & Stockmann, G. (2001). Ikaite tufa towers in Ikka Fjord, southwest Greenland: their formation by mixing of seawater and alkaline spring water. ''Journal of Sedimentary Research'', ''71''(1), 176-189. This has led scientists to believe that thinolitic tufa is an indicator of
past climates Paleoclimatology ( British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the study of climates for which direct measurements were not taken. As instrumental records only span a tiny part of Earth's history, the reconstruction of ancient climate is important t ...
in Mono Lake because they reflect very cold temperatures.


Tufa chemistry

Rusell (1883) studied the chemical composition of the different tufa types in
Lake Lahontan Lake Lahontan was a large endorheic Pleistocene lake of modern northwestern Nevada that extended into northeastern California and southern Oregon. The area of the former lake is a large portion of the Great Basin that borders the Sacramento Rive ...
, a large
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
system of multiple lakes in California, Nevada, and Oregon. Not surprisingly, it was found that the tufas consisted primarily of
CaO Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations * Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club *Canadian Assoc ...
and CO2. However, they also contain minor constituents of
MgO Magnesium oxide ( Mg O), or magnesia, is a white hygroscopic solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium (see also oxide). It has an empirical formula of MgO and consists of a lattice of Mg2+ ions and O2− ions ...
(~2 wt%), Fe/Al-oxides (.25-1.29 wt%), and PO5 (0.3 wt%).


Carbon and oxygen isotopes

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...
and
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
isotopic compositions of Mono Lake tufas have the potential to reveal many interesting things about how water bodies mix in Mono Lake, how the climate changed throughout time in the
Mono Basin The Mono Basin is an endorheic drainage basin located east of Yosemite National Park in California and Nevada. It is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada, to the east by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the north by the Bodie Hills, and to the sou ...
, and how biology may or may not play a role in tufa formation. Steps have been made to understand the isotopic compositions of "modern" tufa and water isotopic composition in Mono Lake. Mono lake water DIC has a δ13C composition of 2 ‰Peng, T.-H. and Broecker, W. (1980). Gas exchange rates for three closed-basin lakes. ''Limmol. Oceanogr., 25,'' 789-796. (relative to PDB), and a δ18O of -0.1 ‰ (relative to SMOW).Li., H.-C., Ku, T.-L., Stott, L. D. and Anderson, R. F. (1997). Stable isotope studies on Mono Lake (California). 1. d18O in lake sediments as proxy for climatic change during the last 150 years. ''Limmol. Oceanogr., 42,'' 230-238. Surrounding rivers feeding into Mono Lake have a δ18O of -14 to -17.5 ‰ and contains DIC with a δ13C composition of -14 ‰ . We observe that both the δ13C and δ18O compositions of Mono Lake are enriched compared to surrounding water. One explanation for the enrichment of δ18O in Mono Lake water is evaporation. The lighter isotope (16O) will preferentially be evaporated, leaving more of the heavier isotope (18O) behind. It is also important to note that tufa forms from a mixture between lake water and subsurface waters. Because the streams surrounding Mono Lake are depleted in δ18O compared to the lake water, combining the two sources will result in a water mixture that is more depleted than lake water. The figure above shows how δ18O of a water mixture changes with the fraction of lake water component. As the fraction of lake water decreases, the δ18O decreases.Li, H.-C. and Ku, T.-L. (1997). δ13C- δ18O covariance as a paleohydrological indicator for closed-basin lakes. ''Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 133'', 69-80. The total CO2 concentration (ΣCO2) is much higher in the lake than in surrounding streams. Hence, this isotopic dilution effect is less significant for δ13C, and water mixtures should be dominantly composed of δ13C with lake water signatures. In theory, Mono Lake tufa should have a δ13C composition reflecting the Mono lake water DIC composition, and a δ18O composition reflecting a mixture between Mono Lake and surrounding riverine water. This is only if we assume that the subsurface waters have similar compositions to riverine water. There is also a temperature-dependent fractionation between Mono Lake water and precipitating carbonates. The clumped isotope composition (Δ47, representing the amount of 13C18O16O in the carbonate) of Mono Lake tufa are 0.734-0.735 ‰. The temperature and δ18O of the corresponding water from which the tufa formed can be calculated using these Δ47-valuesKim, S.T., O'Neil, J.R., 1997. Equilibrium and nonequilibrium oxygen isotope effects in synthetic carbonates. ''Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61'', 3461-3475. From these values, it is calculated that Mono Lake tufa formed at a temperature of ~15 °C in water. For δ18O, the calcite-H2O fractionation is given by: ε=18.03(1000/T)-32.42Kim, S. T., & ONeil, J. R. (1997). Temperature dependence of 18O. ''Geochimica Cosmochima Acta'', ''61'', 3461-3475. ~ -30‰ (SMOW) For δ13C, the calcite-DIC fractionation is roughly given by: ε ~ 1-2 ‰ (PDB) at 25 °CChacko, T., Cole, D. R., & Horita, J. (2001). Equilibrium oxygen, hydrogen and carbon isotope fractionation factors applicable to geologic systems. ''Reviews in mineralogy and geochemistry'', ''43''(1), 1–81. The calcite-aragonite fractionation is roughly given by: ε ~ 2.7 ‰ (PDB) at 25 °C However, these fractionation effects do not account for salinity-dependency. The δ18O values of modern tufas are 28–32.5‰, which reflects a corresponding water mixture composition of -2‰ to 2‰. This range is similar to the composition of a mixture between Mono Lake and riverine waters. However, this mixture appears to be largely dominated by Mono Lake water. Mono lake tufa have δ13C values that range from 5–8 for tufa of
aragonitic Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...
composition and 7-9‰ for tufa of calcitic composition.Horton, T. W., Defliese, W. F., Tripati, A. K., & Oze, C. (2016). Evaporation induced 18 O and 13 C enrichment in lake systems: a global perspective on hydrologic balance effects. ''Quaternary Science Reviews'', ''131'', 365-379. These tufas are a little enriched compared to modern lake water DIC. As stated above, calcite/aragonite-DIC fractionation can only explain an enrichment of 1-3‰ compared to lake water, i.e. a tufa composition of 3-5‰. The reason for this small δ13C enrichment of tufa is still unclear and requires follow-up studies. It could be related to changes in DIC composition of Mono Lake, riverine water, and subsurface water compositions in the immediate past, which in turn could be related to climate or biological productivity in the lake. However, it could also be related to the fact that the isotopic composition of the subsurface waters that flow into Mono Lake is not well understood. These subsurface waters may have a very different composition compared to both Mono Lake waters and riverine surface waters. In addition, secondary crystallization (e.g. formation of calcite from aragonite) or meteoric diagenetic effects could have some control on the isotopic composition as well. Lastly, scientists may have to revisit the salinity-dependency of calcite/aragonite-DIC fractionation to understand whether this 1-3‰ fractionation may actually be larger in a lake with conditions similar to Mono Lake.


Lake-level history

An important characteristic of Mono Lake is that it is a closed lake, meaning it has no outflow. Water can only escape the lake if it
evaporates Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...
or is lost to
groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
. This may cause closed lakes to become very saline. The lake level of closed lakes will be strongly dependent on changes in climate. Hence, studying lake levels can reveal information about climate change in the past and present. Geochemists have observed that
carbonates A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
from closed lakes appear to have δ13C and δ18O (carbon and oxygen isotopes) with covariant trends.Talbot, M. R. (1990). A review of the palaeohydrological interpretation of carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios in primary lacustrine carbonates. ''Chemical Geology'', 80, 261-279. It has been proposed that this
covariation In probability theory and statistics, covariance is a measure of the joint variability of two random variables. If the greater values of one variable mainly correspond with the greater values of the other variable, and the same holds for the les ...
occurs because of coupled evaporation and CO2
degassing Degassing, also known as degasification, is the removal of dissolved gases from liquids, especially water or aqueous solutions. There are numerous methods for removing gases from liquids. Gases are removed for various reasons. Chemists remove ga ...
. The lighter isotopes, 12C and 16O, will preferentially go to the gas phase with increased evaporation. As a result, δ13C and δ18O in the remaining lake both become increasingly heavy. Other factors such as biology, atmospheric properties, and freshwater compositions and flow may also influence δ13C and δ18O in lakes. These factors must be stable to achieve a covariant δ13C and δ18O trend. As such, correlations between δ18O and δ13C can be used to infer developments in the lake stability and
hydrological Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...
characteristics through time. It is important to note that this correlation is not directly related to the lake level itself but rather the rate of change in lake level. Three different studies with three different methods provide different resolutions to understanding the lake level history of Mono Lake (read below).


150-year record

The
covariation In probability theory and statistics, covariance is a measure of the joint variability of two random variables. If the greater values of one variable mainly correspond with the greater values of the other variable, and the same holds for the les ...
between δ18O in lake water and lake level in Mono Lake have been recorded over a 150-year time interval in Mono Lake. The δ18O record was compared to historic lake levels recorded by the USGS. The lake level and δ18O record were observed to have a strong correlation with minor offsets. Changes in δ18O of lake water were inversely correlated with lake level. This revealed six stages in lake level in the past 150 years: high stands at 1845, 1880, and 1915 as well as low stands at 1860, 1900, and 1933. The δ18O record compared well to the recorded precipitation and streamflow of Nevada City in California. Decreases in δ18O correlated well with increases in precipitation as well as increases in streamflow and vice versa.


10,000-year record

A
sediment core A core sample is a cylindrical section of (usually) a naturally-occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, such as sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube, called a core drill. The ...
from Mono Lake reveals a 10,000 year record of carbonates ( dated through ash beds). Here δ18O and δ13C did covary when observed through long time intervals of>5,000 years, whereas the correlation was not present during shorter time scales. It was found that the record revealed 5 periods of distinct lake conditions: 9.7 - 8.7 ka: ''Rising lake level.'' Decreasing δ18O and δ13C reflected an increased lake level. In fact, the lake level reached the Holocene High Stand. This high stand corresponded to a period of maximum effective
moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some commercial products. Moisture also refers to the amount of water vapo ...
in the Great Basin. 8.7 - 6.5 ka: ''Dropping lake level.'' A sudden increase in δ18O and δ13C suggested that lake levels dropped. Following, weak correlation between δ18O and δ13C suggested that lake levels stabilized. 6.5 - 5.9 ka: ''Rising lake level.'' An increase in δ18O and δ13C correlated with a decrease in lake level. The lake level drop continued until the Holocene Low Stand at 5.9 ka, which corresponded to a period of minimum effective moisture in the Great Basin. 2 - 0.6 ka: ''
Unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...
.'' The gap between 6 - 2 ka could be attributed to shallow lake conditions. In addition, sediment types observed in the core between 2 - 0.6 ka largely reflected shallow water conditions.Newton, M. S. (1994). Holocene fluctuations of Mono Lake, California: the sedimentary record. SEPM Special Publication, 50, 143-157. During the Medieval Warm Period, which occurred from 0.9 - 0.7 ka, the lake level was around the same as today. In general, the period was dominated by a shallow, stable lake level with low covariance between δ18O and δ13C. 490 – 360 years ago: ''High, fluctuating lake levels.'' This period corresponded to the Little Ice Age. The isotopic record had very high annual resolution. The lake levels were generally high but fluctuated a little resulting in low correlation between δ18O and δ13C . At the end of this period, δ18O and δ13C evolved towards a trend of decreasing lake level. Overall the lake levels of Mono Lake appeared to have corresponded to known climatic events such as periods of maximum or minimum effective moisture, the Medieval Warm Period, and the Little Ice Age.


35,000-year record

Lake levels of Mono Lake during the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
have also been reconstructed using
stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostra ...
inspection of
paleoshorelines A paleoshoreline (ancient shoreline) is a shoreline which existed in the geologic past. (''Paleo'' is from an ancient Greek word meaning "old" or "ancient".) A perched coastline is an ancient (fossil) shoreline positioned above the present sho ...
,
radio carbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
,Benson, L. V., Currey, D. R., Dorn, R. I., Lajoie, K. R., Oviatt, C. G., Robinson, S. W., Smith, G. I., & Stine, S. (1990). Chronology of expansion and contraction of four Great Basin lake systems during the past 35,000 years. ''Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology'', ''78''(3-4), 241-286. and δ18O records from sediments. These analyses helped reconstruct lake levels of the past 35,000 years. 36 - 35 ka: ''Rising lake level.'' Decreasing δ18O revealed that lake level began to rise at about this time from a lake level altitude of 2015 m. 35 - 21 ka: ''High stable lake level.'' Little fluctuation in δ18O suggested a stable lake level. This stable lake level corresponded to two beds of silt that would have been deposited in a deep lake. 20 - 15 ka: ''Dropping lake level.'' There was a sudden fall in lake level at the beginning of this period. Sand delta terraces from this time period indicated a lake-surface altitude of 2035 m. Recorded δ18O increased over this time period, reflecting falling lake level. 5 - 13 ka: ''Rising lake level.'' During this period, Mono Lake rose to its highest lake-surface altitude of 2155 m. This corresponded to a decrease in δ18O. 13+ ka: ''Dropping lake level.'' Following peak lake level, the lake level decreased to 1965 m at ~ 10 ka as evidenced by an increase in δ18O and paleoshorelines. This lake-level record has been correlated with significant climatic events including
polar jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...
movement,
Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
, and Dansgaard-Oeschger events.


Climate


Paleoclimate reconstruction

The reconstruction of historical Mono Lake levels through
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...
and
oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
isotopes have also revealed an interesting correlation with well-documented changes in climate. In the recent past, Earth experienced periods of increased
glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...
known as
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
s. This geological period of ice ages is known as the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
, which lasted until ~11 ka. Lake levels in Mono Lake can reveal how the climate fluctuated. For example, during the cold climate of the Pleistocene the lake level was higher because there was less evaporation and more
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
. Following the Pleistocene, the lake level was generally lower due to increased evaporation and decreased
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
associated with a warmer climate. Mono Lake reveals the climate variation on 3 different time scales: Dansgaard-Oeschger (repeats every 1,000 years),
Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
(varying repetition), and Milankovich (repeats every 10,000 years).


Dansgaard-Oeschger

From the compilation of δ18O data over the past 51,000 years from lakes throughout the Great Basin, including Pyramid Lake, Summer Lake,
Owens Lake Owens Lake is a mostly dry lake in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. It is about south of Lone Pine, California. Unlike most dry lakes in the Basin and Range Province that have been dry for ...
, and Mono Lake, it has been observed that changes in lake level can be correlated to Dansgaard-Oeschger events.Benson, L., Lund, S., Negrini, R., Linsley, B., & Zic, M. (2003). Response of north American Great basin lakes to Dansgaard–Oeschger oscillations. ''Quaternary Science Reviews'', ''22''(21-22), 2239-2251. The δ18O records from these lakes showed oscillations in δ18O compositions of carbonates from these four lakes. Oscillation between high δ18O and low δ18O reflected cold/dry (low lake level with low precipitation) and warm/wet (high lake level with high precipitation) respectively. Read more about these isotopic effects in the Lake Level History section. Furthermore,
total organic carbon Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. TOC may also refer to the amount of organi ...
(TOC) of the sediments from Pyramid Lake and Owens Lake were inversely correlated with δ18O and showed the same oscillations. TOC is often an indicator of the degree of biological
productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
in a lake. This would suggest that high productivity correlated with a warm/wet climate at Mono Lake, while low productivity correlated with a cold/dry climate at Mono Lake. The timing of these oscillations matched the timing of Dansgaard-Oeschger events of the
GISP2 The Greenland Ice Sheet Project (GISP) was a decade-long project to drill ice cores in Greenland that involved scientists and funding agencies from Denmark, Switzerland and the United States. Besides the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), f ...
core from 46 - 27 ka. Minima in δ18O and maxima in TOC correlated with 11 different Dansgaard-Oeschger events. Dansgaard-Oeschger events are fluctuations in δ18O records from ice cores that repeat every 1,000 years. They are thought to be related to global climatic events. However, the exact causes for these fluctuations are still unresolved.


Heinrich events

The lake level history of 36,000 years was investigated through correlations between δ18O records,
radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
, and
paleomagnetic secular variation Geomagnetic secular variation refers to changes in the Earth's magnetic field on time scales of about a year or more. These changes mostly reflect changes in the Earth's interior, while more rapid changes mostly originate in the ionosphere or mag ...
from Mono Lake sediments as described in the Lake Level History section.Benson, L. V., Lund, S. P., Burdett, J. W., Kashgarian, M., Rose, T. P., Smoot, J. P., & Schwartz, M. (1998). Correlation of late-Pleistocene lake-level oscillations in Mono Lake, California, with North Atlantic climate events. ''Quaternary Research'', ''49''(1), 1-10. Peaks in the δ18O records of Mono Lake sediments correlated with 3
Heinrich event A Heinrich event is a natural phenomenon in which large groups of icebergs break off from glaciers and traverse the North Atlantic. First described by marine geologist Hartmut Heinrich (Heinrich, H., 1988), they occurred during five of the last ...
s known from the sea cores of the North Atlantic. Heinrich events occurred when massive numbers of icebergs broke off from the
ice sheet In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at La ...
s and fell into the North Atlantic. These Heinrich events have been observed to correlate with peaks in δ18O compositions of carbonates globally. This pattern would generally indicate a global drop in temperature and a rising ice-volume. As water vapor moves from the equator to the poles, 18O is preferentially precipitated compared to 16O. When the water precipitates at the poles, it has a very depleted δ18O composition. Hence, ice sheets are vast reservoirs of 16O and have a very depleted δ18O composition. If the temperature dropped and 16O-containing ice-volumes grew, the remaining water bodies would experience a corresponding increase in δ18O composition. Three peaks in the δ18O records of Mono Lake may reflect 3 episodes of vast growth of the Pleistocene ice sheets that resulted in massive iceberg break-off at the ice-water interface.


Milankovich-scale events

The δ18O records from Mono Lake sediments also exhibit trends over longer timescales of ~10,000 years. From 35 to 18 ka, the δ18O composition of Mono Lake sediments were gradually decreasing. This decreasing trend was inversely correlated with an increase in δ18O of sediments from a North Atlantic sea core. This trend in δ18O suggested correlation with the southward movement of the
polar jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...
from 35 to 18 ka. As the polar jet stream moved southward, it caused increased precipitation of isotopically depleted rain water.Benson, L. V., & Thompson, R. S. (1987). Lake-level variation in the Lahontan Basin for the past 50,000 years. ''Quaternary Research'', ''28''(1), 69-85.Antevs, E. (1948). ''The Great Basin, with Emphasis on Glacial and Postglacial Times: Climatic Changes and Pre-white Man. III''. University of Utah. In turn, this caused Southern water bodies like Mono Lake to become isotopically depleted, while Northern oceans became isotopically enriched. This movement of the polar jet stream was presumably caused by an increase in the Northern American ice sheet. Two δ18O minima at 18 ka and 13.1 ka in Mono Lake sediments reflected two lake level high-stands of Mono Lake. These lake level high-stands presumably corresponded to two passages of the polar jet stream over Mono Lake that precipitated large amounts of rainwater with a depleted δ18O composition. Following, the polar jet stream was forced south of Mono Lake. Furthermore, the sudden reduction in
Total Inorganic Carbon Total inorganic carbon (''C''T or TIC) is the sum of the inorganic carbon species. Carbon compounds can be distinguished as either organic or inorganic, and dissolved or particulate, depending on their composition. Organic carbon forms the back ...
(TIC) during 26 - 14 ka could be attributed to the Tioga glaciation. The Tioga glaciation would have caused a high in-flux of detrital materials to Mono Lake. As a result, the TIC in Mono Lake sediments would be lowered during this time period.


Limnology

The
limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristi ...
of the lake shows it contains approximately 280 million tons of dissolved salts, with the salinity varying depending upon the amount of water in the lake at any given time. Before 1941, average salinity was approximately 50 grams per liter (g/L) (compared to a value of 31.5 g/L for the world's oceans). In January 1982, when the lake reached its lowest level of , the salinity had nearly doubled to 99 g/L. In 2002, it was measured at 78 g/L and is expected to stabilize at an average 69 g/L as the lake replenishes over the next 20 years. An unintended consequence of ending the water diversions was the onset of a period of "meromixis" in Mono Lake. In the time prior to this, Mono Lake was typically "
monomictic Monomictic lakes are holomictic lakes that mix from top to bottom during one mixing period each year. Monomictic lakes may be subdivided into cold and warm types. Cold monomictic lakes Cold monomictic lakes are lakes that are covered by ice thro ...
"; which means that at least once each year the deeper waters and the shallower waters of the lake mixed thoroughly, thus bringing oxygen and other nutrients to the deep waters. In meromictic lakes, the deeper waters do not undergo this mixing; the deeper layers are more saline than the water near the surface, and are typically nearly devoid of oxygen. As a result, becoming meromictic greatly changes a lake's ecology. Mono Lake has experienced meromictic periods in the past; this most recent episode of meromixis, brought on by the end of the water diversions, commenced in 1994 and had ended by 2004.


Ecology


Aquatic life

The hypersalinity and high alkalinity (pH=10 or equivalent to 4 milligrams of
NaOH Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkali ...
per liter of water) of the lake means that no fish are native to the lake. An attempt by the
California Department of Fish and Game The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protec ...
to stock the lake failed. The whole food chain of the lake is based on the high population of single-celled
plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...
ic
algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
present in the photic zone of the lake. These algae reproduce rapidly during winter and early spring after winter runoff brings nutrients to the surface layer of water. By March the lake is "as green as pea soup" with photosynthesizing algae. The lake is famous for the Mono Lake brine shrimp, ''
Artemia monica ''Artemia monica'', the Mono Lake brine shrimp, is a species of brine shrimp, endemic to Mono Lake in California, United States. It is a sibling species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so simila ...
'', a tiny species of
brine shrimp ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia L ...
, no bigger than a thumbnail, that are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the lake. During the warmer summer months, an estimated 4–6 trillion brine shrimp inhabit the lake. Brine shrimp have no food value for humans, but are a staple for birds of the region. The brine shrimp feed on microscopic algae. Alkali flies, '' Ephydra hians,'' live along the shores of the lake and walk underwater, encased in small air bubbles for grazing and to lay eggs. These flies are an important source of food for migratory and nesting birds. 8 Nematode species were found living in the littoral sediment: * ''Auanema'' spec., which is outstanding for its extreme
arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...
resistance (survives concentrations 500 times higher than humans), having 3 sexes, and being
viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the ...
. * ''Pellioditis'' spec. * '' Mononchoides americanus'' * ''
Diplogaster rivalis ''Diplogaster'' is a genus of nematodes belonging to the family Diplogastridae. The species of this genus are found in Europe, Africa and Northern America. Species: *'' Diplogaster australis'' *'' Diplogaster gagarini'' *'' Diplogaster inter ...
'' * species of the family
Mermithidae Mermithidae is a family of nematode worms that are endoparasites in arthropods. As early as 1877, Mermithidae was listed as one of nine subdivisions of the Nematoidea. Mermithidae are confused with the horsehair worms of the phylum Nematomorpha ...
* '' Prismatolaimus dolichurus'' * 2 species of the order
Monhysterida The Monhysterida are an order in the phylum Nematoda The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eel ...


Birds

Mono Lake is a vital resting and eating stop for migratory shorebirds and has been recognized as a site of international importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Nearly 2,000,000
waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...
s, including 35
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of shorebirds, use Mono Lake to rest and eat for at least part of the year. Some shorebirds that depend on the resources of Mono Lake include
American avocet The American avocet (''Recurvirostra americana'') is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae, that is found in North America. It spends much of its time foraging in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill ...
s,
killdeer The killdeer (''Charadrius vociferus'') is a large plover found in the Americas. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Three subspecies are described. Th ...
and
sandpiper Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil ...
s. Over 1.5 million eared grebes and
phalarope __NOTOC__ A phalarope is any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus ''Phalaropus'' of the bird family Scolopacidae. Phalaropes are close relatives of the shanks and tattlers, the ''Actitis'' and Terek sandpipers, a ...
s use Mono Lake during their long migrations. Late every summer tens of thousands of
Wilson's phalarope Wilson's phalarope (''Phalaropus tricolor'') is a small wader. This bird, the largest of the phalaropes, breeds in the prairies of North America in western Canada and the western United States. It is migratory, wintering in inland salt lakes ...
s and
red-necked phalarope The red-necked phalarope (''Phalaropus lobatus''), also known as the northern phalarope and hyperborean phalarope, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a ...
s arrive from their nesting grounds, and feed until they continue their migration to
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
or the tropical oceans respectively. In addition to migratory birds, a few species spend several months to nest at Mono Lake. Mono Lake has the second largest nesting population of
California gull The California gull (''Larus californicus'') is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull but larger on average than the ring-billed gull, though it may overlap in size greatly with both. Description Adults are similar in ap ...
s, ''Larus californicus'', second only to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Since abandoning the landbridged Negit Island in the late 1970s, California gulls have moved to some nearby islets and have established new, if less protected, nesting sites.
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and Point Blue Conservation Science have continued the study of nesting populations on Mono Lake that was begun 35 years ago.
Snowy plover The snowy plover (''Charadrius nivosus'') is a small wader in the plover bird family, typically about 5-7" in length. It breeds in the southern and western United States, the Caribbean, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Long considered to be a subspecie ...
s also arrive at Mono Lake each spring to nest along the remote eastern shores.


History


Native Americans

The
indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of Mono Lake are from a band of the Northern Paiute, called the Kutzadika'a.Mono, the Indians of Owens Valley are now recognized as the southernmost division of Northern Paiute. A definitive ethnography has been published by Steward (1933; see also Steward 1938). There were probably at least thirty permanent villages clustered into a lesser number of land-owning districts between Round Valley to the north and Owens Lake. They speak the
Northern Paiute language Northern Paiute , endonym Numu, also known as Paviotso, is a Western Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, which according to Marianne Mithun had around 500 fluent speakers in 1994. ''Ethnologue'' reported the number of speakers in 1999 as 1 ...
. The Kutzadika'a traditionally forage alkali fly pupae, called kutsavi in their language. Mono Lake was also referred to as Teniega Bah. The origin of the name "Kutzadika'a" is uncertain but could be a Yokut Native American term for "fly eater". The term "Mono" is derived from "Monachi", a Yokut term for the tribes that live on both the east and west side of the Sierra Nevada. During early contact, the first known Mono Lake Paiute chief was Captain John. He was also referred to by the Paiute names of ''Shibana'' or ''Poko Tucket''. Captain John was the son of a Northern Paiute named 'older Captain John.' The
Mono tribe The Mono ( ) are a Native American people who traditionally live in the central Sierra Nevada, the Eastern Sierra (generally south of Bridgeport), the Mono Basin, and adjacent areas of the Great Basin. The Eastern mono is often grouped under t ...
has two bands: Eastern and Western. The Eastern Mono joined the Western Mono bands' villages annually at
Hetch Hetchy Valley Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...
,
Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Hal ...
, and along the
Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through th ...
to gather acorns, different plant species, and to trade. The Western Mono and Eastern mono traditionally lived in the south-central Sierra Nevada foothills, including Historical Yosemite Valley. Present day Mono Reservations are currently located in Big Pine,
Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, and several in
Madera County Madera County (), officially the County of Madera, is a county at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,255. The county seat is Madera. Madera County comprises the Madera, CA Metr ...
and
Fresno County, California Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...
.


Conservation efforts

The city of
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
diverted water from the
Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...
into the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913. In 1941, the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021-2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day to more ...
extended the Los Angeles Aqueduct system farther northward into the
Mono Basin The Mono Basin is an endorheic drainage basin located east of Yosemite National Park in California and Nevada. It is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada, to the east by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the north by the Bodie Hills, and to the sou ...
with the completion of the Mono Craters Tunnel between the Grant Lake Reservoir on Rush Creek and the Upper Owens River. So much water was diverted that evaporation soon exceeded inflow and the surface level of Mono Lake fell rapidly. By 1982 the lake was reduced to , 69 percent of its 1941 surface area. By 1990, the lake had dropped 45 vertical feet and had lost half its volume relative to the 1941 pre-diversion water level. As a result, alkaline sands and formerly submerged
tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertin ...
towers became exposed, the water salinity doubled, and
Negit Island Negit Island is an island in Mono Lake. Negit (along with nearby Paoha Island) is a volcanic cone less than 2000 years old. It can be considered to be the northernmost of the Mono Craters. Negit is composed of three dark dacite lava flows. Neg ...
became a peninsula, exposing the nests of
California gull The California gull (''Larus californicus'') is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull but larger on average than the ring-billed gull, though it may overlap in size greatly with both. Description Adults are similar in ap ...
s to predators (such as
coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
s), and forcing the gull colony to abandon this site. In 1974 ecologist David Gaines and his student David Winkler studied the Mono Lake ecosystem and became instrumental in alerting the public of the effects of the lower water level with Winkler's 1976 ecological inventory of the Mono Basin. The
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
funded the first comprehensive ecological study of Mono Lake, conducted by Gaines and undergraduate students. In June 1977, the Davis Institute of Ecology of the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
published a report, "An Ecological Study of Mono Lake, California," which alerted California to the ecological dangers posed by the redirection of water away from the lake for municipal uses. Gaines formed the
Mono Lake Committee The Mono Lake Committee (MLC) is an environmental organization based in Lee Vining, California in the United States. Its mission is to preserve Mono Lake, by reducing diversions of water from the Eastern Sierra watersheds by the Los Angeles Depart ...
in 1978. He and Sally Judy, a UC Davis student, led the committee and pursued an informational tour of California. They joined with the
Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
to fight a now famous court battle, the
National Audubon Society v. Superior Court ''National Audubon Society v. Superior Court'' (Supreme Court of California, 1983, ) was a key case in California highlighting the conflict between the public trust doctrine and appropriative water rights. The Public Trust Doctrine is based o ...
, to protect Mono Lake through state public trust laws. While these efforts have resulted in positive change, the surface level is still below historical levels, and exposed shorelines are a source of significant alkaline dust during periods of high winds.
Owens Lake Owens Lake is a mostly dry lake in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. It is about south of Lone Pine, California. Unlike most dry lakes in the Basin and Range Province that have been dry for ...
, the once-navigable terminus of the
Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...
which had sustained a healthy ecosystem, is now a dry lake bed during dry years due to water diversion beginning in the 1920s. Mono Lake was spared this fate when the California State Water Resources Control Board (after over a decade of litigation) issued an order (SWRCB Decision 1631) to protect Mono Lake and its tributary streams on September 28, 1994. SWRCB Board Vice-chair Marc Del Piero was the sole Hearing Officer (see D-1631). Since that time, the lake level has steadily risen. In 1941 the surface level was at above sea level. As of October 2013, Mono Lake was at above sea level. The lake level of above sea level is the goal, a goal made more difficult during years of drought in the American West.


In popular culture


Artwork

* In 1968, the artist
Robert Smithson Robert Smithson (January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American artist known for sculpture and land art who often used drawing and photography in relation to the spatial arts. His work has been internationally exhibited in galleries and mu ...
made ''Mono Lake Non-Site (Cinders near Black Point)'' using pumice collected while visiting Mono on July 27, 1968, with his wife
Nancy Holt Nancy Holt (April 5, 1938 – February 8, 2014) was an American artist most known for her public sculpture, installation art, concrete poetry, and land art. Throughout her career, Holt also produced works in other media, including film and pho ...
and
Michael Heizer Michael Heizer (born 1944) is an American land artist specializing in large-scale and site-specific sculptures. Working largely outside the confines of the traditional art spaces of galleries and museums, Heizer has redefined sculpture in terms ...
(both prominent visual artists). In 2004, Nancy Holt made a short film entitled ''Mono Lake'' using Super 8 footage and photographs of this trip. An audio recording by Smithson and Heizer, two songs by
Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...
, and
Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...
's ''Le Jeu'', the main theme of Jacques Demy's film ''
Bay of Angels ''Bay of Angels'' (french: La baie des anges) is a 1963 French film directed by Jacques Demy. Starring Jeanne Moreau and Claude Mann, it is Demy's second film and deals with the subject of gambling. Costumes by Pierre Cardin. Plot Jean is a q ...
'' (1963), were used for the soundtrack. * ''The Diver'', a photo taken by
Aubrey Powell Aubrey Powell may refer to: *Aubrey Powell (designer) Aubrey Powell (born 23 September 1946) is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years u ...
of
Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10c ...
for Pink Floyd's album ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to: Film, television, and theater Film * ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland * ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
'' (1975), features what appears to be a man diving into a lake, creating no ripples. The photo was taken at Mono Lake, and the tufa towers are a prominent part of the landscape. The effect was actually created when the diver performed a
handstand __NOTOC__ A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder- ...
underwater until the ripples dissipated.


In print

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's ''
Roughing It ''Roughing It'' is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature by Mark Twain. It was written in 1870–71 and published in 1872, as a prequel to his first travel book ''The Innocents Abroad'' (1869). ''Roughing It'' is dedicated to Twa ...
'', published in 1872, provides an informative early description of Mono Lake in its natural condition in the 1860s. Twain found the lake to be a "lifeless, treeless, hideous desert... the loneliest place on earth."


In film

A scene featuring a volcano in the film ''
Fair Wind to Java ''Fair Wind to Java'' is a 1953 American adventure film in Trucolor from Republic Pictures, produced and directed by Joseph Kane, that stars Fred MacMurray and Vera Ralston. With special effects by the Lydecker brothers, the film was based on the ...
'' (1953)Fair Wind to Java
,
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
was shot at Mono Lake. Most of the movie, ''
High Plains Drifter ''High Plains Drifter'' is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who ...
'' (1973), by Clint Eastwood, was shot on the southern shores of Mono Lake in the 1970s. An entire town was built here for the movie, and later removed when shooting was complete. It was Clint Eastwood's second movie to direct and star in (Play Misty For Me, 1971).


In music

The music video for glam metal band
Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
's 1988 power ballad '' Don't Know What You Got ('Till It's Gone)'' was filmed by the lake.Sweeney, Mike (July 19, 2011). "Don't Know What You Got ('Till It's Gone)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2014.


See also

* Bodie, a nearby
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
*
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 occupie ...
*
Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve is located near Yosemite National Park within Mono County, in eastern California. It was established in 1981 by the California State Legislature to preserve the natural limestone " tufa tower" formations at M ...
*
Mono Basin National Scenic Area The Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area is a protected area in Eastern California that surrounds Mono Lake and the northern half of the Mono Craters volcanic field. It is administered by the Inyo National Forest as a unit of the National Fore ...
*
GFAJ-1 GFAJ-1 is a strain of rod-shaped bacteria in the family Halomonadaceae. It is an extremophile that was isolated from the hypersaline and alkaline Mono Lake in eastern California by geobiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA research fellow in resi ...
, an organism from Mono Lake that has been at the center of a scientific controversy over hypothetical arsenic in DNA. *
List of drying lakes A number of natural lakes throughout the world are drying or completely dry due to irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, a ...
*
Whoa Nellie Deli The Whoa Nellie Deli is a casual gourmet restaurant located in Lee Vining, California, Lee Vining, California. The restaurant has received coverage from newspapers and magazines across the United States. Location and services The Whoa Nellie ...
, located in
Lee Vining, California Lee Vining (formerly Leevining, Poverty Flat, and Lakeview) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mono County, California, Mono County, California, United States. It is located south-southeast of Bridgeport, Californ ...
, overlooking Mono Lake *
Monolake Monolake is a German electronic music project, initially consisting of members Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke, Monolake is now perpetuated by Henke while Behles focuses on running music software company Ableton, which they founded in 1999 tog ...
, a Berlin-based electronic music project named after the lake


Notes


References

* Jayko, A.S., et al. (2013)
''Methods and Spatial Extent of Geophysical Investigations, Mono Lake, California, 2009 to 2011''.
Reston, Va.:
U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...
,
U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...
. *


External links


Mono Lake Area Visitor InformationMono Lake Tufa State Nature ReserveMono Lake Committee website
*
Roadside Geology and Mining History of the Owens Valley and Mono Basin
{{Authority control Saline lakes of the United States Shrunken lakes Lakes of Mono County, California California placenames of Native American origin Inyo National Forest Mono tribe Native American history of California Lakes of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Lakes of the Great Basin Environment of California Tourist attractions in Mono County, California Endorheic lakes of California Environmental controversies Lakes of California Lakes of Northern California Geological type localities Eutrophication