High-resolution bathymetric maps of Lake Tahoe provide a unique glimse at the subaerial and subaqueous nonmarine depositional systems in a half graben. This enables an examination of the relationships between gradient of a lake basin margin and depositional systems. Furthermore, many perched shorelines both subaerial and subaqueous preserve a record of lake-level fluctuation. Bathymetry of lakefloor is useful in that previous studies Lake Tahoe geology involved (subaerial) geologic mapping and core data.
Lake Tahoe lies within an asymmetrical half-graben, within the Basin-and-Range continental rift system of Western US. The lake basin has changed through time as a result of tectonic and climatic processes. Tectonic processes include rift-related faulting and magmatism. The region experiences magnitude 7.0 earthquakes (Reisewitz), which could produce debris flows. The lake responded to climatic forcing and glaciations by expanding and contracting.