Mono Lake, a large, shallow saline soda 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 which has caused high levels of salts to accumulate. The lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp, and provides critical nesting habitat for migratory birds.
Title, date, and keywords provided by the photographer.
Credit line: The Jon B. Lovelace Collection of California Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Gift; The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation in memory of Jon B. Lovelace; 2012; (DLC/PP-2012:063).
Forms part of: Jon B. Lovelace Collection of California Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.