Horseshoe Lake
Roots of a dead tree provide a dramatic foreground to Horseshoe Lake near Mammoth Mountain, Eastern Sierra Nevada.
Numerous small earthquakes occurred beneath Mammoth Mountain from May 1989 to January 1990. Data indicated that a small body of magma (molten rock) was rising (as a dike) beneath the mountain. During the next year, U.S. Forest Service rangers noticed areas of dead and dying trees on the mountain. After drought and insect infestations were eliminated as causes, scientists began looking for a geologic explanation. A soil-gas survey by USGS scientists in 1994 revealed that the roots of the trees were being killed by exceptionally high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in the soil. Today there are more than 100 acres of dead and dying trees around Mammoth Mountain.
Happy Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by and for all of your kind comments, awards and faves -- I appreciate them all.
© Melissa Post 2019
Horseshoe Lake
Roots of a dead tree provide a dramatic foreground to Horseshoe Lake near Mammoth Mountain, Eastern Sierra Nevada.
Numerous small earthquakes occurred beneath Mammoth Mountain from May 1989 to January 1990. Data indicated that a small body of magma (molten rock) was rising (as a dike) beneath the mountain. During the next year, U.S. Forest Service rangers noticed areas of dead and dying trees on the mountain. After drought and insect infestations were eliminated as causes, scientists began looking for a geologic explanation. A soil-gas survey by USGS scientists in 1994 revealed that the roots of the trees were being killed by exceptionally high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in the soil. Today there are more than 100 acres of dead and dying trees around Mammoth Mountain.
Happy Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by and for all of your kind comments, awards and faves -- I appreciate them all.
© Melissa Post 2019