Mono Lake is a salty, landlocked inland sea on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, quite near Yosemite National Park. The strange mineral formations along Mono Lake's shores are called tufa. They were formed by calcium-bearing freshwater springs bubbling up through Mono Lake's carbonated water. Calcium and carbonate combine to form a solid and precipitate out of solution as tufa. As the level of the lake lowered over the course of this century the tufa towers were revealed. Starting in the 1940's, the streams that fed the lake began to be diverted to supply Los Angeles with water. As a result the water content has halved since then, and the salinity has doubled. Beginning in the seventies people have fought to save Mono Lake, and there have been improvements in it's condition. This year to date (Aug. 1998) the level of the lake has risen five feet. As the lake level rises the tufas are once again becoming covered with water. For more information on Mono Lake visit the website of the Mono Lake Committee, the source of most of my information.