Mono Basin

Mono Basin
Mono Basin from near Conway Summit.
Floor elevation6,380 feet (1,940 m)
Area631 to 801 square miles (1,630 to 2,070 km2)
Depth6,680 feet (2,040 m)
Geography
LocationMono County, California, United States
Borders onW: Sierra Crest
N: Bodie Hills
E: Cowtrack Mountains
S: Long Valley Caldera[1]
Coordinates37°57′N 118°57′W / 37.950°N 118.950°W / 37.950; -118.950[2]

The Mono Basin is an endorheic drainage basin located east of Yosemite National Park in California and Nevada.[3][4] It is bordered to the west by the Sierra Nevada, to the east by the Cowtrack Mountains, to the north by the Bodie Hills, and to the south by the north ridge of the Long Valley Caldera.[1]

Estimates of the size of the basin range from 634 to 801 square miles, and the basin's elevation ranges from around 6,380 feet (level of Mono Lake as of 1986) to 13,061 feet atop Mount Dana near the Sierra Crest.[5][6][7]

Notable features in the basin include Mono Lake and the Mono-Inyo Craters, as well as the town of Lee Vining.

  1. ^ a b Mono Basin, Mono County, California
  2. ^ "Mono Basin". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ Mono Basin Ecosystem Study Committee, National Research Council (1987). The Mono Basin ecosystem : effects of changing lake level. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-309-03777-8. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  4. ^ Schweich, Tom. "Overview Map of Mono Basin". Eastern Mojave Vegetation. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  5. ^ Mono Basin Ecosystem Study Committee, National Research Council (1987). The Mono Basin ecosystem : effects of changing lake level. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-309-03777-8. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  6. ^ "Mono Basin EIR" (PDF). May 1993. p. 3A–6. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  7. ^ "Mount Dana". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce.