Tufa columns at Mono Lake, California. Tufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits known as travertine.hey are distinct from most tufa deposits in that they lack any significant macrophyte component; this is due to the salinity excluding mesophilic organisms. Some tufa columns may actually form from hot-springs and therefore actually be a form of travertine.