Mono Lake
As the level of water in Mono Lake went down, the tufa towers appeared. Tufa is essentially limestone. Underwater springs rich in calcium mix with lakewater rich in carbonates. The resulting chemical reaction produces calcium carbonate -- limestone -- which settles out around the spring as a solid. Over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower will grow.
Tufa grows exclusively underwater, and some towers grow to heights of over 30 feet. The reason we can see so much tufa around Mono Lake today is because of the dramatic drop in the lake level after the water diversions that began in 1941.
Except for the bumper sticker, all of these pictures were taken in an area on the south side of the lake, where a mile-long trail along the water's edge provides a close-up view.
I saw this bumper sticker months
later around our neighborhood.
It seemed to fit with these photos.
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