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Lake Tahoe

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography

                                Lake Tahoe
   Lake Tahoe - Lake Tahoe

                                 Lake Tahoe

   Coordinates       39°6′N 120°6′W
   Lake type         geologic block faulting
   Primary sources
   Primary outflows  Truckee River
   Basin countries   USA (California, Nevada)
   Max-length        22 miles (35 km)
   Max-width         12 miles (19 km)
   Surface area      193 miles² (500 km²)
   Average depth     989 feet (301 m)
   Max-depth         1,645 feet (501 m)
   Water volume      122,160,280 acre-feet (151 km³)
   Shore length^1    71 miles (114 km)
   Surface elevation 6,229 feet (1,899 m)
   Settlements       South Lake Tahoe, California
                     Stateline, Nevada
                     Tahoe City, California
   ^1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized
   for this article.

   Lake Tahoe is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada, located where the
   borders of the U.S. states of California and Nevada bend, near Carson
   City. Approximately two-thirds of the shoreline is in California. The
   area, referred to as Tahoe, is home to a number of ski resorts and
   summer outdoor recreation.

   It is the second deepest lake in the United States, the eleventh
   deepest on Earth, and the fourth deepest in average depth.

Geography

   Southeast shore of Lake Tahoe.
   Enlarge
   Southeast shore of Lake Tahoe.

   Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest (1645 feet/501 m), largest (192 sq.
   mi./497 km²) ¹, and highest (6229 feet/1898 m) lakes in the United
   States. Only Oregon's Crater Lake is deeper at 1930 feet (588 m).

   Although for much of Tahoe's perimeter, highways run within sight of
   the lake shore, some important parts of the California shoreline now
   lie within state parks or are protected by the United States Forest
   Service. Lake Tahoe is about 22 mi (35 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide
   and has 72 mi (116 km) of shoreline and a surface area of 191 square
   miles or 495 square kilometers.

   The Lake Tahoe Basin was formed by geologic block (normal) faulting
   about 2 to 3 million years ago. A geologic block fault is a fracture in
   the Earth's crust causing blocks of land to move up or down. Uplifted
   blocks created the Carson Range on the east and the Sierra Nevada on
   the west. Down-dropped blocks created the Lake Tahoe Basin in between.
   Some of the highest peaks of the Lake Tahoe Basin that formed during
   this process were Freel Peak at 10,891 ft (3320 m), Monument Peak at
   10,067 ft (3068 m) (the present Heavenly Valley Ski Area), Pyramid Peak
   at 9,983 ft (3043 m) (in the Desolation Wilderness), and Mount Tallac
   at 9,735 ft (2967 m).

   Snowmelt filled the southern and lowest part of the basin, forming the
   ancestral Lake Tahoe, with rain and runoff adding additional water.
   Modern Lake Tahoe was shaped and landscaped by the scouring glaciers
   during the Ice Age (the Great Ice Age began a million or more years
   ago). Many streams flow into Lake Tahoe, but the lake is drained only
   by the Truckee River, which flows northeast through Reno, Nevada and
   into Pyramid Lake in Nevada.

   Emerald Bay State Park. A view from the east side of the lakeMean
   annual precipitation ranges from over 55 inches/year or 140 cm in
   watersheds on the west side of the basin to about 26 inches/year or 67
   cm near the lake on the east side of the basin. Most of the
   precipitation falls as snow between November and April, although
   rainstorms combined with rapid snowmelt account for the largest floods.
   There is a pronounced annual runoff of snowmelt in late spring and
   early summer, the timing of which varies from year to year. In some
   years, summertime monsoonal storms from the Great Basin bring intense
   rainfall, especially to high elevations on the east side of the basin.
   As the climate in the northern Sierra warms, hydrologists anticipate
   that an increasing fraction of the precipitation in basin will fall as
   rain rather than snow.

   Vegetation in the basin is dominated by a mixed conifer forest of
   Jeffrey pine (P. Jeffreyi), lodgepole pine (P. murrayana), white fir
   (Abies concolor), and red fir (A. magnifica). The basin also contains
   significant areas of wet meadows and riparian areas, dry meadows, brush
   fields (with Arctostaphylos and Ceanothus) and rock outcrop areas,
   especially at higher elevations. Ceanothus is capable of fixing
   nitrogen, but mountain alder (Alnus tenuifolia), which grows along many
   of the basin’s streams, springs and seeps, fixes far greater
   quantities, and contributes measurably to nitrate-N concentrations in
   some small streams.

   Soils of the basin are derived primarily from andesitic volcanic rocks
   and granodiorite, with minor areas of metamorphic rock. Some of the
   valley bottoms and lower hillslopes are mantled with glacial moraines,
   or glacial outwash material derived from the parent rock.
   Cryopsamments, Cryumbrepts, rockland, rock outcrops and rubble and
   stoney colluvium account for over 70% of the land area in the basin
   (see USA soil taxonomy). The basin soils (in the < 2 mm fraction) are
   generally 65-85% sand (0.05–2.0 mm).

   The south shore is dominated by the lake's largest city, South Lake
   Tahoe, California, which neighbors Stateline, Nevada. Tahoe City,
   California is located on the lake's northwest shore.

   The lake's position is 39°N, 120°W.

History

   Tahoe’s history began 2–3 million years ago when the faults that
   created the Carson Range simultaneously molded the Tahoe Basin.
   Eruptions from the extinct volcano Mt. Pluto formed a dam on the north
   side. The Pleistocene ( Ice Age) molded the basin to its current form
   followed by drainage from ice and snow which filled the lake.

   The area around Lake Tahoe was originally inhabited by the Washoe tribe
   of Native Americans. Lake Tahoe was the centre and heart of Washoe
   Indian territory, including the upper valleys of the Walker, Carson,
   and Truckee Rivers. They called this area "Da ow a ga", which means
   "edge of lake". When early pioneers came they mispronounced this word,
   saying "Da ow", it later evolved into what we call it today, Lake
   "Tahoe".. Lt. John C. Frémont and Kit Carson were the first
   non-indigenous people to see Lake Tahoe. It was Fremont's 2nd
   exploratory expedition. On February 14, 1844, while searching for the
   Bonaventura river he first sighted the lake from Red Lake Peak in what
   is now the Carson Pass. After arriving at Sutter's Fort he designated
   it Lake Bonpland, in honour of the French explorer and botanist Aimé
   Jacques Alexandre Bonpland. John Calhoun Johnson, Sierra explorer and
   founder of "Johnson's Cutoff" (now Hwy 50), was the first white-man to
   see Meeks Bay and from a peak above the lake he named " Fallen Leaf
   Lake, California" after his Indian guide. His first employment in the
   west was in the government service, carrying the mail on snowshoes from
   Placerville to Nevada City, during which time he gave the name of Lake
   Bigler to that beautiful body of water now known as Lake Tahoe in
   honour of California’s governor John Bigler. In 1853 William Eddy, the
   surveyor general of California, identified Tahoe as Lake Bigler. In
   1862 the U.S. Department of the Interior first introduced the name
   Tahoe which continued a debate about naming the lake, in which both
   names were used until well into the next decade. It wasn’t until 1945
   that it was finally and officially named Lake Tahoe. The compromise to
   partition Tahoe with 2/3 to California and 1/3 to Nevada was reached
   when California became a state. Putting the state line right through
   the middle of the lake and then at 39 degrees north latitude, the
   stateline obliques southeasterly towards the Colorado River. Upon
   discovery of gold in the South Fork of the American River in 1848,
   thousands of west-bound gold seekers passed near the basin on their way
   to the gold fields. European civilization first made its mark in the
   Lake Tahoe basin with the 1858 discovery of the Comstock Lode, a silver
   deposit just 15 miles (24 km) to the east in Virginia City, Nevada.
   From 1858 until about 1890, logging in the basin supplied large timbers
   to shore up the underground workings of the Comstock mines. The logging
   was so extensive that almost all of the native forest was cut. In 1864,
   Tahoe City was founded as a resort community for Virginia City, the
   first recognition of the basin’s potential as a destination resort
   area.
   Lake Tahoe and hotels, 1908.
   Enlarge
   Lake Tahoe and hotels, 1908.

   Public appreciation of the Tahoe basin grew, and during the 1912, 1913,
   and 1918 Congressional sessions, unsuccessful efforts were made to
   designate the basin as a national park. During the first half of the
   20th century, development around the lake consisted of a few vacation
   homes. The post-World War II population and building boom, followed by
   construction of gambling casinos in the Nevada part of the basin during
   the mid- 1950s, and completion of the interstate highway links for the
   1960 Squaw Valley Olympics, resulted in a dramatic increase in
   development within the basin. From 1960 to 1980, the permanent resident
   population increased from about 10,000 to greater than 50,000, and the
   summer population grew from about 10,000 to about 90,000. Since the
   1980s, development has slowed somewhat due to land use controls.

Limnology and water quality

   In spite of land-use planning and export of treated sewage effluent
   from the basin, the lake is becoming increasingly eutrophic (richer in
   nutrients), with primary productivity increasing by more than 5%
   annually, and clarity decreasing at an average rate of 0.25 meters per
   year. Fine sediment, much of it resulting from land disturbance in the
   basin, accounts for about half of the loss in clarity.

   Until the early 1980s, nutrient limitation studies showed that primary
   productivity in the lake was nitrogen-limited. Now, after a
   half-century of accelerated nitrogen input (much of it from direct
   atmospheric deposition), the lake is phosphorus-limited. Because the
   volume of the lake is so large (156 km³) and its hydraulic residence
   time so long (about 650 years), its eutrophication may be essentially
   irreversible.

   Lake Tahoe never freezes. Since 1970, it has mixed to a depth of at
   least 400 m a total of 6 or 7 times. Dissolved oxygen is relatively
   high from top to bottom.

   Analysis of the temperature records in Lake Tahoe has shown that the
   lake warmed (between 1969 and 2002) at an average rate of 0.015 degrees
   C per year. The warming is caused primarily by increasing air
   temperatures, and secondarily by increasing downward long-wave
   radiation. Both of these factors are associated with global warming.
   The warming trend is reducing the frequency of deep mixing in the lake,
   and may have important effects on water clarity and nutrient cycling.

   Since the 1960s, the Lake’s food web and zooplankton populations have
   undergone major changes. In 1963-65, opossum shrimp (Mysis relicta)
   were introduced to enhance the food supply for the introduced kokanee
   salmon (Onchorhynchus nerka). The shrimp began feeding on the Lake’s
   cladocerans (Daphnia and Bosmina), and their populations virtually
   disappeared by 1971. The shrimp provide a food resource for salmon and
   trout, but also compete with juvenile fish for zooplankton. Since the
   1970s, the cladoceran populations have somewhat recovered, but not to
   former levels.

   Lake Tahoe is actually a tributary watershed drainage element within
   the Truckee River Basin, and its sole outlet is the Truckee River,
   which continues on to discharge to Pyramid Lake. Because of the
   sensitivity of Truckee River water quality (involving two protected
   species, the cui-ui sucker fish and the Lahontan cutthroat trout), this
   drainage basin has been studied extensively. The primary investigations
   were stimulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who funded
   the development of the DSSAM model to analyze water quality below Lake
   Tahoe.

Environmental protection

   Lake Tahoe has suffered from too much use. Until recently construction
   on the banks of the Lake had been, more or less, under the control of
   wealthy real estate developers. Construction activities had been linked
   to a 'clouding' of the amazingly blue waters of the Lake. Currently,
   the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is regulating construction along the
   shoreline (and has won two Federal Supreme Court battles over recent
   decisions). Many residents are enraged by the laws that they have
   passed, especially those in the Tahoe Lakefront Homeowners Association.

   The League to Save Lake Tahoe (Keep Tahoe Blue) has been the public
   interest watchdog in the Lake Tahoe Basin for over 45 years. Founded
   when a proposal to build a four-lane highway around the lake - with a
   bridge over the entrance to Emerald Bay - was proposed in 1959, the
   League has repeatedly thwarted poorly designed development projects and
   environmentally unsound planning. Currently evaluating the "Pathways
   2007" comprehensive plan being developed by TRPA, the League embraces
   responsible and diversified use of the Lake's resources while
   protecting and restoring its natural attributes.

   Since 1980, the Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program (LTIMP) has
   been measuring stream discharge and concentrations of nutrients and
   sediment in up to 10 tributary streams in the Lake Tahoe Basin,
   California-Nevada. The objectives of the LTIMP are to acquire and
   disseminate the water quality information necessary to support
   science-based environmental planning and decision making in the basin.
   The LTIMP is a cooperative program with support from 12 federal and
   state agencies with interests in the Tahoe Basin. This data set,
   together with more recently acquired data on urban runoff water
   quality, is being used by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control
   Board to develop a program (mandated by the Clean Water Act) to limit
   the flux of nutrients and fine sediment to the Lake.

Tourist activities

   Much of the area surrounding Lake Tahoe is devoted to the tourism
   industry and there are many restaurants, ski slopes and casinos
   catering to visitors.

Winter sports

   Ski slopes overlooking Lake Tahoe
   Enlarge
   Ski slopes overlooking Lake Tahoe

   During ski season, thousands of people from all over California,
   including Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, flock to the
   slopes for some of the best skiing in the world. Lake Tahoe, in
   addition to its panoramic beauty, is well known for its blizzards.

   Some of the major ski areas in Tahoe include:
     * Heavenly Mountain Resort: the largest ski area in California and
       Nevada, located near Stateline, Nevada
     * Squaw Valley: the second largest ski area, known for its hosting of
       the 1960 Winter Olympics, located near Tahoe City
     * Alpine Meadows: a medium sized ski area on the north shore only a
       few miles from Squaw Valley
     * Diamond Peak: a small ski area located in Incline Village, NV
     * Northstar at Tahoe: a popular north shore ski area
     * Kirkwood Ski Resort: a south shore ski area which gets more snow
       than any other ski area in Tahoe
     * Sierra-at-Tahoe: a small south shore ski area
     * Boreal Ski Resort: a small ski area on Donner Pass
     * Sugar Bowl Ski Resort: a medium sized ski area in Donner Pass
     * Donner Ski Ranch: a very small ski area on Donner Pass
     * Homewood Ski Resort: a medium sized ski area on the west shore
     * Mount Rose: a medium sized ski area north-east of the Lake, on
       Slide Mountain

   For an instant overview of the locations and conditions of Tahoe ski
   resorts, see Ski Bonk's resort map.

   Scattered throughout Tahoe are public and private sled parks. Some,
   such as Granlibakken are equipped with rope tows to help sledders get
   up the hill.

   Many ski areas in Tahoe also have Snow tubing, such as Squaw Valley.
   Snow tubing is popular among people who are interested in alternative
   sports. Throughout Tahoe, Cross Country Skiing, Snowmobile riding, and
   Snowshoeing are also popular, thus there are many trails for them.

Water sports

   During the summer, the lake is popular for water sports and beach
   activities. The two cities most identified with the Lake Tahoe tourist
   area are South Lake Tahoe, California and the smaller Stateline,
   Nevada; smaller centers on the northern shoreline include Tahoe City
   and Kings Beach.

   Boating, the primary activity in Tahoe in the summer, is known
   worldwide. There are lakefront restaurants all over the Lake, most
   equipped with docks and buoys (See the restaurants section) There are
   all sorts of boating events, such as sailboat racing, firework shows
   over the lake, guided cruises, and more. Lake Tahoe also has its own
   Coast Guard
   Lake Tahoe From Space (North is to the right)
   Enlarge
   Lake Tahoe From Space (North is to the right)

   List of Tahoe Marinas:
     * Camp Richardson
     * Homewood High and Dry Marina
     * Lakeside
     * Meeks Bay Marina
     * Sierra Boat Company
     * Ski Run Marina
     * Tahoe City Marina
     * Tahoe Keys Marina
     * Timber Cove Marina

   List of Lake Tahoe Cruise Ships:
     * M.S. Dixie
     * Tahoe Gal
     * Tahoe Queen

Hiking and mountain biking

   There are hundreds of hiking/mountain biking trails all around the
   lake. They range in size, length, difficulty, and popularity. One of
   the most famous of Tahoe's trails is the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165 mile
   trail that circumnavigates the lake. Directly to the west of the lake
   is the Desolation Wilderness which provides great hiking and wilderness
   camping. One of the most popular trailheads is the Eagle Lake
   Trailhead.

Gambling

   Gambling is legal on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. On the North Shore
   is Crystal Bay and Incline Village, while Stateline is on the South
   Shore.

   Stateline is home to 6 major casinos including:
-  Harrah's Lake Tahoe
-  Harveys at Tahoe
-  Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino Resort
-  Bill's Casino Lake Tahoe
- Mont Bleu Resort
- Lakeside Inn

   Each having a variety of slots and table games. The Hard Rock Cafe is
   located inside of Harveys.

Peaks and Mountains

     * Mt. Tallac (9,735')
     * Mt. Pluto (8,610')
     * Rubicon Peak (9,183')
     * Genoa Peak (9,150')
     * Freel Peak (10,881')
     * Mt. Rose (10,778')
     * Ellis Peak (8,740')
     * Scott Peak (8,289')
     * Ward Peak (8,637')
     * Dick's Peak (9,974')
     * Maggies Peak (8,699')
     * Jakes Peak (9,187')
     * Monument Peak n(10,067')
     * Duane Bliss Peak (8,729')

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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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