page_title: Tufa
hierarchical_section_title: Tufa
caption_attribution_description: English: Tufa towers in Mono Lake are calcium carbonate spires and knobs formed by interaction of freshwater springs and alkaline lake water. Tufa can reach heights of 30 ft. (9.1m). Mono Lake is located is Eastern Sierra Nevada and covers about 65 square miles. Throughout the lake's existence of over 1 million years, the steady evaporation of freshwater originally coming from Eastern Sierra streams has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty and 80 times as alkaline as the ocean.
context_page_description: Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as travertine. It should not be confused with hot spring travertine. Tufa, which is calcareous, should not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with a similar etymology that is sometimes also called "tufa".
context_section_description: Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as (meteogene) travertine.  It should not be confused with hot spring (thermogene) travertine. Tufa, which is calcareous, should not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with a similar etymology that is sometimes also called "tufa".
caption: Tufa columns at Mono Lake, California
exif: {}