Tahoe: North America’s Oldest Lake

Lake Tahoe is a stunning scenery rich in colors, textures and appearances. It can now add oldest permanent freshwater lake in North America to its list of accolades. This new discovery is due to the groundbreaking research by Western Nevada College Professor of Geosciences Dr. Winnie Kortemeier.

Join us for Dr. Kortemeier will explain the science behind her discovery — and the hype — of one of the world’s oldest permanent freshwater lakes. The largest alpine lake in North America was created during the Pleistocene era, also known as the Ice Age, roughly 10,000 to 2.6 million years ago. Through radiometric dating of rocks and examining the basalt that has interacted with the water of Lake Tahoe during her 20 years of Lake Tahoe research, Dr. Kortemeier determined that the lake is at least 2.3 million years old.