14 DAY TRIAL // A new photograph of Pyramid Lake, taken from space, brings it back into the focus as the remnant of a larger, ancient body of water that existed in Western Nevada millennia ago, called Lake Lahontan.
Located some 40 miles (64 kilometers) away from Reno, the lake developed from the larger body of water after Lake Lahontan formed after the last Ice Age.
At the time, atmospheric and climate conditions were a lot different than they are today, in the sense that the area was a lot wetter, and also cooler than it is today.
This is what led to the accumulation of the ancient lake, which was in its golden days one of the largest bodies of water in what is now North America.
The lake reached its maximum surface area of 8,500 square miles (22,015 square kilometers) some 12,700 years ago, shortly before the end of the Pleistocene epoch.
By 9,000 years ago however, the lake had largely disappeared, mostly due to desiccation brought on by a gradual warming of the surrounding area, Our Amazing Planet reports.
Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake are at this point the main remnants of the ancient one. Winnemucca Lake dried up in the 930s and Honey Lake desiccates periodically, so they are usually not considered remnants of Lake Lahontan.
Additional landscapes and geological features that formed when the ancient body of water dried up include the Black Rock Desert, the Carson Sink and the Humboldt Sink.
In a series of past experiments, scientists determined that the volume of water flowing into the area where the initial lake existed is not significantly higher today than it was when the formation was at its peak.
In essence, Lake Lahontan disappeared because evaporation rates at its location spiraled out of control at the end of the Ice Age. Diversions of the Truckee River also contributed to the desiccation.
Computer models have evidenced that the large lake, which extended from western Nevada into California, could return if the Truckee River is reset on its historical course.
This new image shows the extent of a portion of the ancient lake, which is now dried up entirely. The dried-up floor of Winnemucca Lake is clearly visible in the left side of the photo.