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Dickson
Realty
188 Hwy 50
Zephyr Cove, NV 89448
| Direct: |
775.588.9022
530.544.9022 |
| Fax: |
775.588.6062 |
| Toll
Free: |
800.923.9022 |
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| LAKE
TAHOE HISTORICAL BACK GROUND |
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Lake Tahoe was formed five to 10 billion years ago by the rising
and falling of the land due to the shifting of geologic faults.
Modern Lake Tahoe was shaped and landscaped by the glaciers
that existed during the Ice Age, which began a million or more
years ago.
Submerged stumps of trees have been found
at elevations 16 ft. below the natural rim, indicating that
Tahoe was much lower thousands of years ago.
Lake Tahoe, the eighth largest lake in the
world, is known for its remarkable clarity. At times, it can
extend to 75 ft. of underwater visibility, and divers claim
200 ft. of visibility at times. This extreme clarity exists
because a high percentage of precipitation falls directly
into the lake while the remaining precipitation is filtered
through marshes and meadows before reaching the lake.
The lake is 99.1 percent pure, allowing objects
at 100 ft. to be clearly visible from the surface.
Surrounded by peaks of granite, which are
common in the Sierra Nevada, Tahoe has an average surface
elevation of 6,225 ft. above sea level. Mountain peaks rise
to more than 10,000 ft. with the highest peaks at Monument
Peak 10,067 ft., Pyramid Peak 9,983 ft. and Mt. Tallac 9,735
ft.
Lake Tahoe is 2/3 in California and 1/3 in
Nevada and the floor of the Lake Tahoe Basin is at an elevation
of about 4,580 ft., which is 92 ft. below the surface of Carson
Valley to the east.
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THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN
The Lake Tahoe Basin is located along the border of California
and Nevada bound by the Sierra Nevada to the west and the
Carson Range to the east. Most of the terrain is mountainous,
limiting development mainly to flat lying areas along streams.
The lake is fed by 63 streams and two hot
springs. The Truckee River at Tahoe City is the only outlet
for the lake, which eventually feeds northeast into Pyramid
Lake, never reaching an ocean.
The only fish truly native to this area is
the Lahontan cuthroat trout, though mackinaw, rainbow trout
and kokanee salmon also inhabit Tahoe. Non-natives were introduced
as early as the mid-1800s to provide food for miners as the
Lahontan fishery was drastically depleted.
Lake Tahoe is as long as the English Channel
is wide. The Panama Canal, 700 ft. wide and 50 ft. deep, could
be filled with Tahoe's water, even if it circled the globe
at the equator, and there would still be water left over to
fill a canal of the same size running from San Francisco to
New York.
The deepest part of Lake Tahoe is near Crystal
Bay, measuring a water depth of 1,645 feet. If drained, it
would take 700 years to refill the lake. Tahoe could provide
every person in the United States with 50 gallons of water
per day for 5 years. If the lake was tipped over, its contents
would cover California in 14.5 inches of water, while Texas
would be under 8.5 inches.
Lake
Tahoe never freezes due to the depth and constant movement
of water from the bottom to the surface although some protected
areas such as Emerald Bay have been covered with a layer of
ice.
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