Our last Friday in the Mammoth Lakes area was spent outside of the classroom (yay!). We spent the day up at Mono Lake, which is a really cool aquatic environment, drastically different from any of the ones we were studying for our Watershed Profile Assessments.

The thing about Mono Lake is that it is very base, which means it has a very high pH (acidic would mean it has a very low pH).  What is characteristic about bases is the bitter taste (acid is more sour) and that it generates suds when it is agitated. So on windy days you can see foam/suds generating on the shoreline of Mono Lake. We happened to be there on a dead-flat day however.

Our tour guide told us all about the history of the lake, its troubles with the LADWP, and the efforts that went into rescuing Mono Lake when people realized what was happening and what was at stake. What was at stake was the loss of a crucial habitat for migrating birds, and overall destruction of life in a lake that was actually more filled with life than most lakes are. Despite the successful rescue efforts, the current drought is doing a pretty good job of draining the lake year after year. The difference from the watermarks of a year ago and the shoreline now is sizable.

What’s also interesting about Mono Lake is the Tufa Towers. Tufa is a form of limestone that is formed when a carbonate mineral rich body of water reacts with fresh water, forming tufa. The particles build upon each other and over the course of years or centuries, a tufa tower forms wherever there is a freshwater source leaking into the lake.  They were beautiful to look at (and it was cool to realize that the towers stretching over our heads meant the lake was at least that tall once upon a time) but they were a pain to walk on.

After our tour, we were able to go swimming. Before we did however, we decided to go to the obsidian dome. Basically it’s the remnants of an old volcano, and it’s an obsidian plug that’s just sitting there now. It’s extinct, so it’s perfectly safe, and you get this neat 15 minute walk up to this rock pile that is essentially a pile of black glass. Of course, it doesn’t look quite as pretty as that, because the rocks have oxidized and so look more like normal, dark rock. But if you break open any rocks there, you get this glamorous shiny pure black obsidian that is just absolutely beautiful. Of course, because it’s glass, it means that it is razor sharp, and about half our group cut their hands a little bit while up there (somehow I got lucky and didn’t).

When we finished playing around and scrambling on the obsidian, we went back to Mono Lake, and did our swimming. This was a big mistake. Because on top of being very basic, the lake is also quite saltier (and it keeps getting saltier as it continues to dry up). I very quickly discovered I had a scrape on my left knee that I hadn’t known about before! Several people went in, but it was so painful walking on the tufa towers (they’re pointy towers of solid rock, remember) that I got my feet and calves wet, and then tenderly walked back out. But it was a solid day, and we were all glad to be out of the classroom and lab for the day.

Until Next Time,

Joe