Clear Lake (California)
| Clear Lake | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Lake County, California |
| Coordinates | 39°03′42″N 122°49′38″W / 39.0616°N 122.8272°WCoordinates: 39°03′42″N 122°49′38″W / 39.0616°N 122.8272°W |
| Lake type | Eutrophic/hypereutrophic |
| Primary inflows | Scotts Creek Middle Creek Forbes Creek Morrison Creek Seigler Canyon Creek Shindler Creek Kelsey Creek Adobe Creek Manning Creek |
| Primary outflows | Cache Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 19 mi (31 km) |
| Max. width | 8 mi (13 km) |
| Surface area | 68 sq mi (180 km2) |
| Average depth | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
| Max. depth | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Water volume | 1,155,000 acre·ft (1,425,000 dam3) |
| Shore length1 | 100 mi (160 km) |
| Surface elevation | 1,329 ft (405 m) |
| Islands | Anderson Island Fruit Island Garner Island Indian Island Rattlesnake Island Slater Island Stubbs Island Tule Island Weekend Island |
| Settlements |
Clearlake, California Clearlake Oaks, California Finley, California Glenhaven, California Kelseyville, California Lakeport, California Lower Lake, California Lucerne, California Middletown, California Nice, California Upper Lake, California Clearlake Oaks, California |
| References | |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Clear Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in California with 68 square miles of surface area. Lakes have existed at the site of Clear Lake for at least 2,500,000 years, possibly making it the oldest lake in North America. It is located in Lake County, north of Napa County and San Francisco.
Known as the "Bass Capital of the West," Clear Lake supports large populations of bass, crappie, bluegill, carp and catfish. Two-thirds of the fish caught in Clear Lake are largemouth bass, with a record of 17.52 pounds. Clear Lake was most recently ranked by Bassmaster Magazine in its 2016 top-100 ranking as the No. 3 best bass lake in the United States and the No. 1 best bass lake on the West Coast. Locals strongly recommend against eating the fish from Clear Lake, because of potentially toxic levels of mercury.
In addition to fish, there is abundant wildlife within the Basin. There are year-round populations of ducks, pelicans, grebes, blue herons, egrets, osprey, and bald eagles. The Basin also supports abundant populations of deer, bear, mountain lion, raccoon and other animals.
The expansive, warm water of Clear Lake makes it popular for watersports, such as swimming, water skiing, wakeboarding, sailing, boat races, and jet skiing.
Clear Lake is 19 mi (31 km) by 8 mi (13 km) at its widest point, with surface area of 43,785 acres (17,719 ha) and a 1,155,000 acre·ft (1,425,000 dam3) capacity. Average depth is 27 ft (8.2 m), maximum is 60 ft (18 m), lake elevation is 1,329 ft (405 m), average water temp is 40 °F (4 °C) in winter and 76 °F (24 °C) in summer.
Clear Lake is believed to be one of the oldest lakes in North America, due to a geological fluke. The lake sits on a huge block of stone which slowly tilts in the northern direction at the same rate as the lake fills in with sediment, thus keeping the water at roughly the same depth. Core samples of the lake's sediments, taken by U.S. Geological Survey geologists in 1973 and 1980, indicate that the lake is at least 480,000 years old. Some experts feel that Mono Lake, to the east of the Sierra Nevada in California, is older than Clear Lake. However, the sedimentary history of Clear Lake is unbroken, while Mono Lake's sediments have been disturbed by past eruptions of the Long Valley Caldera and associated volcanoes.
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Wikipedia