Mono Lake's Impressive Tufa Towers and Their Story near the Sierra Nevada Range, California 

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you guys have such wonderful geology and scenery over there in the U.S

I visited there about 12 years ago & the water level continues to drop is what we saw. The levels are marked by year in places along the trail we took. It truly is a spectacular place. I remember swallows had built nests on the tufa. I also remember a lot of flies hanging around the shoreline close to the water. Birds walked along with beaks open scooping them up. Lol

Tufa is new to me. The towers are incredible. Thanks.

What a gorgeous lake, its almost alien to look at the tufa towers covered in golden plants and emerging from glassy water. Its almost like fantasy

Thanks, Shawn. Glad they were able to stabilize water use and preserve the lake and its features.

I was at a meeting, say 1995ish, in Mammoth Mountain resort. It was in June and I snowshoed around the area. Well, during that week, the lake was being consecrated as the water had stopped going to LA. So I went to the 'ceremony'. They had, say 12 Buddhist monks in saffron and carmine colored robes, They were humming and had incense as I remember. I was pretty cool, cool and weird simultaneously, with the colorful monks against the very colored tufa towers.

I was interested in this place ever since I saw the picture on the Wish You Were Here album. They used to let you camp just a short walk away and I loved to walk over in the evening.

All the years I lived in Mammoth Lakes, all the times I've visited through here, and I've never stopped to go down to the Mono Lake shoreline to look at these tufa towers. Spectacular both in structure and how they came to be. Mono is one of, if not THE, oldest lakes on the continent. Considering there's no natural outlet, plus LADWP's insatiable thirst for water (enough to dry up Owens Valley), it's a wonder Mono Lake has survived this long -- but now, having seen the extent of Lake Russell, it kinda makes sense. I knew there were some massive lakes in the Basin & Range, but I didn't know Russell was THAT big.

The High Plains Drifter starring Clint Estwood wad filmed there in 1973. ANOTHER excellent video!!

I think it would be cool to make mention of what values indigenous peoples placed on some of these cool places. Surely some geological oddities we take for granted were once very special places for First Nations and we should acknowledge that.

It was amaIng when I visited it in the late 70s. We stayed on small trail to avoid any damage. It is a site to behold and now I know how it was created. Thank you!

Mono Lake was also, at one time, the site of a town called Lago. it was in the movie HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER staring Clint Eastwood.

I dropped by mono lake to see the tufas and just as I got there the partial eclipse started and it was spectacular.

Spectacular again! I think your hypothesis is also spot on.

ahh... my first geology field trip was to Mono Lake.... back in 1974.... we got stranded on Paoha Island, too!

Thx for another excellent geo-ed adventure. ✌🏻

❤❤ Much enjoyed and appreciated!! Tufa towers reminded me of melted crayons in potpie tins we plunged into a bucket of cold water....instant Flash Gordon landscapes. Sorry....so primary. I love your tutorials! Learning much and viewing places I will never visit. So more beautiful than pictures in a book!! Thank you greatly!

Apparently the towers were formed under water and we see them now only because the lake level dropped. Does that mean the towers are thousands of years old?

Thank you professor Willsey for taking us along to such interesting places. That most will not have a chance of visiting. And explaining the formations.

Thank you, Shawn.

Thank you for your videos!

Awesome, been waiting for you to take a trip to the lake.

I drive by those all the time in my work and I always make a point of stopping and appreciating the beauty. Now I understand it a little more. Thank you.

BTW Shawn I hope you make it down to Owens Lake to see it after the epic winter they had there. It's an actual _lake!_ I've never known it as anything other than a dusty playa, and now that bad boy is a full-on lake, like it was before LADWP sucked up all the water there.

I've driven past there numerous times (the highway just north, over to Hawthorn NV, is one of my favorites -- over that way, Walker Lake is neat too) but never had time to stop and go down to the water. So it was very nice to see it close up.

“Fairyland of towers” is exactly how I felt when I was there!

Hope you discovered the "Whoa Nelly Deli" at the gas station where the Lee Vining road meets 395. Surprisingly good food in the middle of nowhere. One of our favorite stops on our many trips from San Diego up/down Owens Valley, though we escaped from California and now live in North Idaho. Good video.

Mono lake is indeed a bizarre and intriguing landscape, but not as bizarre as the motel we stayed at in Lee Vining - still in the top three of the worst motels we’ve stayed at in five decades of budget-conscious travel. (The other two are in Key Largo and Big Sur.) great video, Shawn.👍

Wild!

What an interesting place. In the past I thought Mono Lake had a completely different kind of story. Thanks for this video that straightened out my perception. Now I think of it as calcuim carbonate gone wild. I didn't realize there are so many salty lakes in the southwest. But that does make sense. I remember as a youg adult how Southern California was trying to steal the water resources in all of the American west. There was a huge many years battle when they were trying to get control of PNW water and devert the Columbia River down to LA. But we need that water ourselves here in the Northwest. Large parts of Eastern Washington and Oregon depend on irrigation projects to support agriculture and towns depend on the Columbia for their livelihood. Few realize just how much desert there is in the entire West. I've learned through your videos just how amazing the geology of the west is. Thank you.

Fascinating

Very interesting. The field trips are so enjoyable and well presented. Thank you.

I was there exactly one year ago and got some very nice photos. There's quite a bit more water there now, but still it's MUCH lower than in the past.

Sorry, Prof. Willsey, YT insists now that we either watch their own commercial content or buy a monthly YT subscription. I watch creators' commercial content, that's enough. And I've already reached my limit of paid media subscriptions. Thanks for all the truly good content. I'll greatly miss it.

Thanks!

Lot of history at Mono Lake geology wise, and the fight for water to L.A. The towers are a winner thank you stay safe all

Well done!

sweet

Thats fascinating. When you find out about the area you find its a little geological wonder. I didnt know before.

Great views and great explanations. Your videos appear to contain accurate information with your current geological interpretations based on studies and observations. I would like see a video with you and Nick Zenter from CWU sometime. Nick tends to go on tangents and will fixate on specific topics of debate which is a slighty different from most of your videos, but you guys remind me of each other. Thank you, Shawn! P.S. I would like you to do more videos of the owhyees near Graveyard Point, Succor Creek and Leslie Gulch. Just curious on what your take would be. I am a rockhound, so semi precious stones and how they are created was my original reason for following you and Nick Zenter.

Thank you Professor for the explanation. Where did the massive obsidian boulders come from?

Great video. Hope you went to buckeye hot springs while visiting. It is such a great place to relax and enjoy geothermal water.

Very interesting. Are the Trona Pinnacles tufa towers? They are similar in texture but on a larger scale. Thank you for all your videos always looking forward to watching them.

Great educational material, with the towers could it be possible that they pushed their way up through a silt layers when the lake level was much higher, then as the lake level dropped the softer silt layers surrounding them eroded away.

An interesting story about Mono Lake concerns its high arsenic content. Arsenic is chemically similar to phosphorus. A NASA-funded study claimed that bacteria in the lake were substituting arsenic for phosphorus in its DNA. The study was widely criticized and ended up being an embarrassment to NASA.

Very interesting. My first foray to this part of our country. I have always enjoyed collecting rocks from different places. The history of this geology interesting to learn about. I've not been past Iowa in my 67 years. Do you know why the name changed from Russell to Mono?

So interesting. I knew the earlier lake was large but not to the extent of lake Russell.

Object to salinity description 6:15 It's not about losing more than it's gaining, lake could be static with same results, nor direct precip but instead feeder creeks and springs with traces of salts like all 'fresh water' but *no outlet,* so that evaporation is the only way out thus continuously concentrating trace salts. (I know YOU know but it wasn't described properly)

i wonder if the force of the springs could make a difference... maybe the mixture the springs have in them...

Interesting place to see but unpleasant. When I was there a decade ago, the air was filled with little gnats. The lake is dead with alkali flies living on it's corps. Keep exploring, your videos are entertaining.

Hi Shawn.... I've visited Mono Lake several times in the past, making sure to spend time at the Tuffa formations along the south shore. For me the volcanic sites along (and adjacent ) to Hwy 395, alway spark my interest (i.e. - Obsidian Dome). Not sure if you've visited Fossil Falls, near Little Lake and Red Hill? If not, might want to add it to your list of places to visit. Interesting volcanic landscape too boot. To think that the ancient Owens River once flowed here, is almost mind blowing, considering the width of the falls (flowing on to the China Lake basin). I've enjoyed watching your geology content. I'm new to your channel. Cheers......

(This was my last chance to meet up with you, and it just wasn't gonna happen. I've been in and out of dr's offices for the past four months and it pretty much blew up my summer. More on the way, so this area will all be covered in snow by the time I can make my way down there.)

"...no preferred pathway..." Does that mean there is not a centric duct/conduit/cavity within the towers, or even beneath them? Their internals would then resemble sponge-like material?

Not just due to evaporation but also due to LA Water and Power shipping much of the run off to LA to slake the city's thirst.

Very strange environment to swim and SCUBA dive in. Taking considerably more lead to sink my ass, this is very interesting underwater experience. In the greater depths the tufa towers are still in process. It is as much a fairyland underwater. It took considerable effort afterwards to thoroughly clean my SCUBA gear (several days of rinse and repeat soaking in a 50gal barrel). Salt and Sea Monkies! Swimming afterwards the salt and material from the lake makes for strange hairdoos and stiff swimsuits! There is no nearby place to wash off, so bring your own fresh water to rinse.

Hey shawn question. Are the tufa towers and ancient (and extant) hydrothermal/groundwater systems in Mono Lake connected to the greater mono craters volcanic system? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

Have you been east of ridgecrest the place called the pinnacles is there in california

I believe it's also one of the longest continuously existing lake in North America, at over a million years old. And where were all the Alkali flies, lol?

Is there any aquatic life in Mono Lake?

Heavy corrosion after forming...

Any thing living in the lake? Does it ever get toxic to wildlife?

The most bitter water I've ever tasted there. Dad contributed to beating LADWP in court victory to save that lake, they were going to turn it into another Owens Lake, dry dead and dusty.

Mono........ Not mona Sorry to nitpick, but details are important.

I fabricated a bumper sticker from a couple of "Save Mono Lake" stickers that read, " Save Mono Lake, nuke L.A." I got mostly positive feedback. 😅😅😅😅

😅Save Mono Lake association is still going strong as LA is responsible for diverting inflows to Mono and threatening sea gull breeding island to be accessible to predation by coyotes etc.

My sunrise stop when I go to Tahoe 🥹

You failed to mention the two historically-recent volcanic cinder cones that are in the middle and edge of the lake. Of course, they aren’t as interesting as the tufa. 😃

Thanks!