Sunday 10 April 2011

Nevada

Hi, I am in Lake Tahoe, at the border between California and Nevada.

 Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is 1900 m.s.l. and it is the third deepest lake in North America: 500 meters at its deepest point. Its basin formed by faulting in old metamorphic and granitic rocks and was then shaped by glaciers. The water is remarkably clear because 40% of it comes from rain that falls directly on the lake and the rest is filtered by granitic rocks and wetlands before it gets to the lake. 

 Wetlands on the southern side of the Lake, close to Zephyr Cove

During the last post glacial, a delta formed in the southern part of the lake. On this old delta is now South Lake Tahoe, a little city with many Casinos.

 Me and Maria after loosing 40$ playing Video Poker :-(

The area was completely deforested about 100 years ago to supply wood for mining. Just 20 miles away from South Lake Tahoe there is Virginia City: the American version of the Bolivian Cerro Potosì. 

Virginia City

Virginia City is the place where Mark Twain spent an important part of his life. He was a miner first and then worked for the Virginia City newspaper. Here he wrote his first novel.

 Mark Twain's desk


4 comments:

  1. hola you two, parece que les fue bien la conferencia :-) always good to be "out of Bern", huh? un abrazo (o dos?) ciaoooo H

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  2. welcome home Choco, se te ha missed very mucho!

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  3. Hola Henne,
    si, la conferencia fue bastante bien aunque yo estaba en las session equivocada, la de historical ecology donde había un poco de todo mientras lo interesante para mi estaba en otra session sobre anthropogenic soils. Pero bueno, igual he logrado conocer investigadores muy buenos que trabajan con suelos y/o con Amazonia...los cual es lo que mas me interesaba :-)

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  4. As I said, Lake Tahoe is a tectonic active area: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/nn00333159.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

    Just few days after I left for Europe and Maria for New Orleans :-)

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