Question
7
1/1pts
At
stop
9a,
you see
tufa
towers
of
the
“Pinnacles”.
If
you
remember
the
stop
discussing
Mono
Lake
and
its
tufa
towers,
these
features
can
only
form
under
the
surface
of
a
lake.
Spring
water
enters
the
lake,
and
the
calcium
carbonate
precipitates
(often
with
the
help
of
algae).
Look
at
the
elevation
of
the
Pinnacles
at
this
location:
N
35.61729
W
117.36717
Then,
move
the
topographic
map
to
the
north
to
look
at
the
elevation
of
the
bottom
of
the
lake.
Question:
if
the
tufa
towers
were
barely
covered
with
water,
how
deep
would
have
Searles
Lake
been?
Put
another
way,
to
stop
the
formation
of
the
tufa,
the
lake
level
would
have
had
to
drop
below
what
depth?
1875
feet
deep
600
feet
deep
1945
feet
deep
300
feet
deep
Yes.
The
tufa
towers
are
about
1875
to
1945
feet
tall.
The
bottom
of
the
lake
basin
has
an
elevation
of
about
1616
feet.
Subtracting
1616
from
1945
gives
a
depth
of
about
329
ft.
Since
the
tufa
towers
have
different
elevations,
rounding
to
300
feet
deep
is
an
appropriate
answer.
