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Lake Tahoe History

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The athlete locks in his bindings on his Burton snowboard, adjusts his goggles, and peers down the mountain. He stares at the snow-covered trees, powdered slopes, and sapphire blue alpine lake in the distance. The young man remembers his skiing adventures through the trees as a small boy, rises to his feet, takes a deep breath and smiles. The crisp mountain air and the smell of pine trees fill his lungs as he glides down the blanket of snow on the groomed slopes of the mountain resort. The enjoyment of the sport of skiing and snowboarding, and the many other wonders of the Tahoe basin have been passed on to him from his family, and is like no other feeling in the world. Lake Tahoe is such a culturally and historically significant part of North …show more content…

The Lake Tahoe basin is divided by the scenic and beautiful border of California and Nevada. The gorgeous lake is, “...admired for its great depth and clarity and beautiful alpine surroundings” (tahoe.usgs.gov). The mountain ranges around the perimeter of the basin were formed 24 million years ago by the rise and fall of the earth’s crust due to the movement of faults. The Carson Range to the east was created by “tilt block faulting” and resulted in a very steep mountain range (tahoeadventuresports.com). Another fault created the Sierra Nevada range to the west, but is more of a gentle change in elevation. As the fault blocks were thrown up, the high peaks of the mountain ranges were created and as other fault blocks were thrown down, a valley was created. Some of the peaks of the ranges can reach over 10,000 feet above sea level, making an exaggerated difference between the lake and the ranges. Movement of other faults in the area caused the valley to sink thousands of feet below the mountains on the east and west. Volcanic activity from Mt. Pluto on the north shore resulted in lava flowing and blocking the outlet of the newly developing valley. About 3 million years ago the ice age created glaciers in the Sierra Nevada. As they moved and scoured the land, lakes were created behind them as piles of granite rock were left to block the outflow of water from melted snow and rainfall. Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake, Cascade Lakes, and Donner Lake were formed by this process. Lake Tahoe as we know it today is the third deepest lake in North America and tenth deepest lake in the world, with the deepest part measuring 1645 feet. Not only are Tahoe’s geologic origins intriguing, but so is the history of the people inhabiting the

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