Trona Pinnacles

Trona Pinnacles
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
Location	California, United States
Nearest city	Trona, California
Coordinates	35°37′00″N 117°22′13″W / 35.6168°N 117.3703°W / 35.6168; -117.3703
Area	3,800 acres (15 km2)
Established	1968
Governing body	Bureau of Land Management
U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated	1967

The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual geological feature in the California Desert National Conservation Area.^[1] The landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires (porous rock formed as a deposit when springs interact with other bodies of water), some as high as 140 ft (43 m), rising from the bed of the Searles Lake (dry) basin. The pinnacles vary in size and shape from short and squat to tall and thin, and are composed primarily of calcium carbonate (tufa). They now sit isolated and slowly crumbling away near the south end of the valley, surrounded by many square miles of flat, dried mud and with stark mountain ranges at either side.