Geography & History Overview |
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Lake Tahoe is admired for its great depth and clarity and beautiful alpine
surroundings. Most of the terrain is mountainous, limiting development
mainly to relatively flat lying areas along tributary streams. During
the last half-century, increased human activity in the lake basin has
caused the lake's clarity to decrease at a rate of about 1 foot per year
(30 cm/yr). Major recreational activities within the basin include casino
gaming in Nevada, alpine and cross-country skiing, golfing, water sports,
hiking, fishing, camping, and bicycling. Recognizing the threat to Lake
Tahoe, the Lake Tahoe is located along the border of California and Nevada. About one-third of the basin is in Nevada and two-thirds is in California. The basin is bounded by the Sierra Nevada to the west and the Carson Range to the east. The Lake Tahoe Basin was formed by geologic block (normal) faulting about 2 to 3 million years ago. The down-dropping of the Lake Tahoe Basin and the uplifting of the adjacent mountains resulted in dramatic topographic relief in the region. Mountain peaks rise to more than 10,000 ft (3,048 m) above sea level. The surface of Lake Tahoe has an average elevation of about 6,225 ft (1,897 m). Lake Tahoe was occupied by the For more information about Lake Tahoe, please see Facts About Lake Tahoe. For additional information, please see |
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U.S. Department of the Interior
|| U.S. Geological Survey
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