Title: Geology
Headings: Geology
Geology
The big picture: Tectonics of the Eastern Sierra
The Great Basin and Mono Lake
Shaped by fire and ice: Young volcanic activity and glaciation
Future volcanic eruptions in the Mono Basin
Glacial history of the Mono Basin
Geologic explorations in the Mono Basin
Panum Crater
Reversed Peak
South Tufa
Further Reading
Learn More
Tufa
Human History
Research

Content: Lake Russell” is the name used for Mono Lake when it was larger and the water was fresher. At several times during the past 3 million years or so, Lake Russell had an outlet, first to the north into the Walker River system and later to the southeast to Adobe Valley and the Owens River system. As the climate got warmer and drier, the lake level fell and since about 80,000 years ago water no longer reached the outlet, resulting in a closed basin. Evaporation of the lake water left behind a saltier and saltier lake. Remnant shorelines on the hills of Cowtrack Mountain, the Bodie Hills, and the Sierran front near Lee Vining all tell the stories of Mono Lake’s fluctuating water level. Lake Russell as it may have appeared during the last glacial maximum, about 13,000 years ago. Illustration by Eric Knight. Shaped by fire and ice: Young volcanic activity and glaciation
Some of the most striking features of the Mono Basin are related to relatively recent volcanic activity. Paoha and Negit Islands, Panum Crater, Black Point, and the Mono-Inyo Craters volcanic chain are each the result of eruptions younger than about 40,000 years old.