Looking at the unique sand tufas found at Mono Lake near Lee Vining, California.  While similar in appearance to the more famous calcium carbonate tufa towers along Mono Lake's shoreline, these sand tufas formed quite differently. Beneath the surface of the ancient lake, calcium-rich groundwater rose up through brine-saturated sand layers, forming cemented pillars of sand. Later, the lake waters receded, leaving this area high and dry some distance back from the water's edge. Then wind eroded away the sand layers, exposing fluted sand tufas which resemble the columns of some ancient ruined city. Only somewhat protected by their top harder layer, these delicate formations are being continually weathered completely away, and new ones are exposed.  These formations are not that tall, ranging from a few inches to just over three feet in height.

From: https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2004/11/mono-lake-tufas.html