s a large, shallow saline lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in a basin that has no outlet to the ocean. Because it lacks an outlet, dissolved salts make the lake very alkaline and salty.
This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp that thrive in its waters, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp.[ Mono Lake is also notable for containing GFAJ-1, a rod-shaped extremophile bacterium that may be capable of incorporating the usually poisonous element arsenic into its biochemistry.
The human history of Mono Lake is associated with its productive ecosystem. The native Kutzadika'a people derived nutrition from the larvae of the alkaline flies that live in the lake. When the city of Los Angeles diverted water from flowing into the lake, it lowered the lake level, which imperiled the migratory birds. The Mono Lake Committee formed in response, winning a legal battle that forced Los Angeles to partially restore the lake level.
Mark Twain's Roughing It, published in 1872, provides a humorous and informative early description of Mono Lake in its natural condition in the 1860s.Twain found the lake to be a "lifeless, treeless, hideous desert... the loneliest place on earth."
The general appearance of the lake and surrounding mountains circa 1973 can also be seen in the Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter.
The Diver, a photo taken by Storm Thorgerson for Pink Floyd's album Wish You Were Here, features what appears to be a man diving into a lake, creating no ripples. The photo was taken at Mono Lake, and the tufa towers are a prominent part of the landscape. The effect was actually created when the diver performed a handstandunderwater until the ripples dissipated.
The band Cinderella filmed the iconic power ballad Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) at Mono Lake.
Monolake is also a Berlin minimal techno artist, named after the location.
The volcano scene from the award-winning 1953 film Fair Wind to Java was shot at Mono Lake. Today the remnants of the volcano host California gull researchers on their visits to the island(wikipedia)
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