<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tufa" title="Tufa">Tufa</a> columns in <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake" title="Mono Lake">Mono Lake</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake_Tufa_State_Natural_Reserve" class="extiw" title="w:Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve">Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_County,_California" class="extiw" title="w:Mono County, California">Mono County</a>, eastern California.<br>
The limestone towers are made mostly of calcite deposited in the salty and alkaline water of Mono Lake, in California.  These rocks formed under water when calcium-rich spring water at the bottom of the lake bubbled up into the alkaline lake, forming these calcite "tufa" towers.  If the lake level drops, the tufa towers appear in interesting formations.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/12873985@N00">Yukinobu Zengame</a> from Cupertino, United States
CC BY 2.0
<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/12873985@N00/48497087/">South Tufa</a>
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<ul><li>Uploaded by <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Adrignola" title="User:Adrignola">Adrignola</a></li></ul>