[Rockhounds] Mysterious lake at Death Valley National Park has outlasted expectations

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The puzzling arrival and surprisingly long life of a new lake in Death
Valley National Park has captivated park rangers, visitors
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/experience/national-parks/2024/02/21/death-valley-national-park-lake-tourists/72676947007/>
and
researchers this winter.

The temporary lake arrived with the rainy remnants of Hurricane Hilary last
August
<https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2024/02/20/why-is-there-a-huge-lake-in-death-valley-right-now/72676588007/>.
It remains thanks to a series of "atmospheric river" storms that kept
delivering more rain. Its presence has raised questions about its past −
and its future.

For example, could the moisture helping keep the lake alive prompt a rare
wildflower “superbloom?" How long might the lake remain? What's the
connection to El Niño? And could the lake, which has made surprise
appearances in the past, return more often in a warming world?

Lakes have appeared and disappeared in Death Valley for hundreds of
thousands of years, leaving behind the park's scenic terraced shorelines
that bear testimony to the much wetter past of the driest place in North
America. Its newest lake isn't expected to last long enough to leave that
kind of geologic evidence, but it’s still “pretty special,” said Elyscia
Letterman, an interpretive ranger at the 3.4-million-acre park.

“It’s really beautiful at sunrise and sunset,” Letterman said. “It’s really
magical to see the peaks reflected in the lake.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/02/22/death-valley-national-park-lake-in-california/72687483007/