- Soda Lake (San Luis Obispo County)
Infobox lake
lake_name = Soda Lake
image_lake = Carrizo sodalake.jpg
caption_lake =
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location =San Luis Obispo County, California
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type =alkali lake
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basin_countries = United States
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frozen =Soda Lake is a shallow, ephemeral,
alkali lake in theCarrizo Plain in southeasternSan Luis Obispo County, California . The lake is located southwest side of the northernCarrizo Plain , about 70 miles east of San Luis Obispo. It can be reached by Soda Lake Road, which runs northwest-southeast between State Route 166 and State Route 58. The lake is at an elevation of 1,900 feet and covers an area of about 3,000 acres. About 30% of the closeddrainage basin is to the north of the lake and 70% is south of it. The Soda Lake complex consists of two larger basins, and at least 130 smaller pans. The large L-shaped northern basin is about 10.5 km² in area. The remaining basins, including both those that feed the northern basin and those that have no surface outlets, comprise an area of about 4.8 km². Water levels in the basins rise and fall seasonally. Rainfall on the Carrizo Plain is only about 8 inches in an average year but is higher on the surrounding mountains. Following exceptionally wet winters, typicallyEl Nino years, the large northern and southern basins do not evaporate completely, although the water retreats toward the center of the basin leaving asalt crust up to 20 cm thick. Most of the large and small pans are fringed byclay dunes. It is one of the largest alkaliwetland s remaining in natural condition inCalifornia . It supports fairy andbrine shrimp , as well as migratory and nestingbird s. Aboardwalk was built along the shore to prevent damage to thesaltbush habitat that borders the lake.The largest
dune bounds the eastern and southern edges of the northern basin. This dune is up to 470 m wide, 16.7 m high, and nearly 9.5 km in length. Part of the dune is active, receivingsediment from the mud flat exposed between the dune and the salt pan. Most of the eastern (north-south) leg of the dune, which is lower and narrower, is currently inactive. Westward retreat of the shoreline exposed the former lake flat to colonization and stabilization by salt-resistant plants.Internal drainage of the Carrizo Plain and the formation of Soda Lake began during
Pliocene -Pleistocene time when tectonic deformation associated with theSan Andreas Fault defeated astream that once drained the valley. An originally fresh to brackish water lake probably persisted through much of the Pleistocene during which coastal California was wetter and cooler than now. DiminishedHolocene precipitation and a higherevaporation rate led to shrinkage of the ancestral lake and associated increasedsalinity which set the stage for clay dune formation.References
* [http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wildlife/watchable/areas/carrizo.1.html United States Bureau of Land Management - Carrizo Plain National Monument]
* [http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/carrizo/html/a023.htm United States Geological Survey - Carrizo Plain National Monument, California]External links
* [http://virtualguidebooks.com/CentralCalif/ElCaminoReal/SodaLakePaintedRock/SodaLakePaintedRock_TOC.html Virtual Guidebooks - Panoramas of Soda Lake]
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