Death Valley National Park
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Mineral Resources and Mineral Resource Potential of the Saline Valley and Lower Saline Wilderness Study Areas Inyo County, California
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Mineral resources and mineral resource potential of the Saline Valley and Lower Saline Wilderness Study Areas Inyo County, California Chester T. Wrucke, Sherman P. Marsh, Gary L. Raines, R. Scott Werschky, Richard J. Blakely, and Donald B. Hoover U.S. Geological Survey and Edward L. McHugh, Clay ton M. Rumsey, Richard S. Gaps, and J. Douglas Causey U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 84-560 Prepared by U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines for U.S. Bureau of Land Management This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature. 1984 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Mineral resources and mineral resource potential of the Saline Valley and Lower Saline Wilderness Study Areas Inyo County, California by Chester T. Wrucke, Sherman P. Marsh, Gary L. Raines, R. Scott Werschky, Richard J. Blakely, and Donald B. Hoover U.S. Geological Survey and Edward L. McHugh, Clayton M. Rumsey, Richard S. Gaps, and J. Douglas Causey U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 84-560 This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature. 1984 ILLUSTRATIONS Plate 1. Mineral resource potential map of the Saline Valley and Lower Saline Wilderness Study Areas, Inyo County, California................................ In pocket Figure 1. Map showing location of Saline Valley and Lower Saline Wilderness Study Areas, California.............. 39 2. -
Death Valley National Park
COMPLIMENTARY $3.95 2019/2020 YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE PARKS DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK ACTIVITIES • SIGHTSEEING • DINING • LODGING TRAILS • HISTORY • MAPS • MORE OFFICIAL PARTNERS T:5.375” S:4.75” PLAN YOUR VISIT WELCOME S:7.375” In T:8.375” 1994, Death Valley National SO TASTY EVERYONE WILL WANT A BITE. Monument was expanded by 1.3 million FUN FACTS acres and redesignated a national park by the California Desert Protection Act. Established: Death Valley became a The largest national park below Alaska, national monument in 1933 and is famed this designation helped focus protection for being the hottest, lowest and driest on one the most iconic landscapes in the location in the country. The parched world. In 2018 nearly 1.7 million people landscape rises into snow-capped mountains and is home to the Timbisha visited the park, a new visitation record. Shoshone people. Death Valley is renowned for its colorful Land Area: The park’s 3.4 million acres and complex geology. Its extremes of stretch across two states, California and elevation support a great diversity of life Nevada. and provide a natural geologic museum. Highest Elevation: The top of This region is the ancestral homeland Telescope Peak is 11,049 feet high. The of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe. The lowest is -282 feet at Badwater Basin. Timbisha established a life in concert Plants and Animals: Death Valley with nature. is home to 51 mammal species, 307 Ninety-three percent of the park is bird species, 36 reptile species, two designated wilderness, providing unique amphibian species and five fish species. -
Death Valley Springs Geochemical Investigation Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository, Inyo County Oversight-1998
The HYDRODYNAMICS Group studies in mass and energy transport in the earth Death Valley Springs Geochemical Investigation Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository, Inyo County Oversight-1998 Submitted to: Inyo County Planning Department: Yucca Mountain Repository Oversight Program March, 1999 Michael J. King, R.G., C.HG. John D. Bredehoeft, Ph.D., NAE The HYDRODYNAMICS Group 16711 76th Avenue West, Edmonds, WA 98026 Phone (425) 787-6728, Fax (425) 742-8493 Page 1 The Hydrodynamics Group DEATH VALLEY SPRINGS GEOCHMICAL INVESTIGATION YUCCA MOUNTAIN NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY, INYO COUNTY OVERSIGHT-1998 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Yucca Mountain, Nevada is under study as the site of the only proposed high-level nuclear waste repository in the United States. The repository concept uses the philosophy of multiple barriers, both engineered and natural, each of which impedes the movement of radionuclides into the accessible environment. The proposed repository would be in the unsaturated zone in Tertiary tuffaceous rocks. The principal transporting mechanism for radionuclides is moving ground water. Underlying the repository is an extensive Lower Carbonate Aquifer known to be highly permeable. Inyo County, as an affected unit of local government under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, as amended, is concerned with the connections between the Lower Carbonate Aquifer underlying Yucca Mountain and the carbonate sources of waters in Inyo County, especially the Death Valley region. This report is a summary of the investigations conducted by Inyo County’s consultants, the Hydrodynamics Group, during calendar year 1998. This report presents the results of The Hydrodynamics Group’s 1998 collection of water samples from 23 springs and 2 creeks in Death Valley. -
Geophysical Investigations of Structures Within Southern Fish Lake Valley, Western Great Basin
GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF SOUTHERN FISH LAKE VALLEY, WESTERN GREAT BASIN, CALIFORNIA by Kyle A. McBride APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ___________________________________________ Dr. John F. Ferguson, Chair ___________________________________________ Dr. Tom H. Brikowski ___________________________________________ Dr. John S. Oldow Copyright 2016 Kyle A. McBride All Rights Reserved I dedicate this thesis to my grandfather, Bill McMullin, with whom I would have enjoyed to have the time to discuss geology and the earth sciences. GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF SOUTHERN FISH LAKE VALLEY, WESTERN GREAT BASIN, CALIFORNIA by KYLE A. MCBRIDE, BS, BBA THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN GEOSCIENCES THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS December 2016 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. John Ferguson for his guidance and support throughout the duration of this project; our numerous conversations and his provided insights being crucial for the development of this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Ferguson for the opportunities extended to me while at UT Dallas, such as SAGE and the Denbury gravity surveys. I also want to thank Dr. John Geissman for his encouragement and mentoring during my time at UT Dallas. I want to thank my committee members for taking the time to review and comment on this document, and of course, I want to thank my wife, Denise, and my family, for their patience and support. November 2016 v GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF SOUTHERN FISH LAKE VALLEY, WESTERN GREAT BASIN, CALIFORNIA Publication No. ___________________ Kyle A. McBride, MS The University of Texas at Dallas, 2016 ABSTRACT Supervising Professor: John F. -
Death Valley Lower Carbonate Aquifer Monitoring Program- Wells Down Gradient of the Proposed Yucca Mountian Nuclear Waste Repository
iU4 MOL.20080509.0010 DEATH VALLEY LOWER CARBONATE AQUIFER MONITORING PROGRAM- WELLS DOWN GRADIENT OF THE PROPOSED YUCCA MOUNTIAN NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT DE-FC28-06RW12368 YEAR ONE PROJECT REPORT PREPARED BY INYO COUNTY YUCCA MOUNTAIN REPOSITORY ASSESSMENT OFFICE Inyo County completed Year One of U.S. Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC28-06RW12368. This report presents the results of research conducted within this cooperative agreement in the context of Inyo County's Yucca Mountain oversight program goals and objectives. The Hydrodynamics Group, LLC prepared this report for Inyo County Yucca Mountain repository Assessment Office. The overall goal of Inyo County's Yucca Mountain research program is the evaluation of far-field issues related to potential transport, by ground water, of radionuclide into Inyo County, including Death Valley, and the evaluation of a connection between the Lower Carbonate Aquifer (LCA) and the biosphere. Data collected within the cooperative agreement is included in interpretive illustrations and discussions of the results of our analysis. The central element's of this Cooperative Agreement program was the drilling of exploratory wells, analysis of geochemical data, geophysical surveys, and geological mapping of the Southern Funeral Mountain Range. The culmination of this research was two numerical ground water models of the Southern Funeral Mountain Range and Yucca Mountain region demonstrating the potential of a hydraulic connection between the LCA and the major springs in the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley. 1.0 Introduction The focus of the investigations by the Hydrodynamics Group for Inyo County is to assemble the best possible data on the Paleozoic Carbonate Aquifer, and then to use that data to assess the likelihood of contaminant transport from the planned Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository to the biosphere in Inyo County. -
NV EAS Plan Attachment 2-Operational Areas
Nevada Emergency Alert System Plan Attachment 2. Nevada EAS Operational Areas ATTACHMENT 2 NEVADA EAS OPERATIONAL AREAS The Nevada EAS Operational Area is divided into three sections. Western Nevada/Eastern California . Southern Nevada/Inyo County, California . Eastern Nevada Jurisdictions within the Nevada EAS Operational Areas Western Nevada/Eastern Eastern Nevada Southern Nevada/Inyo County, California California Carson City Elko County Clark County Churchill County Eureka County Esmeralda County Douglas County Humboldt County Lincoln County Lyon County Lander County Nye County (southern) Mineral County White Pine County Inyo County (CA) Nye County (northern) San Bernardino County (CA) Pershing County Mohave County (AZ) Washoe County Storey County Alpine County (CA)* El Dorado County (CA)* Lassen County (CA) Modoc County (CA)* Mono County (CA) Placer County (CA)* Nevada EAS Operational Areas Plumas County (CA)* . Sierra County (CA)* 2 *Areas east of the Sierra Nevada crest. Italicized text refers to non-Nevada jurisdictions. Southern Inyo County, California covers the area from the village of Independence in the north to the south county line and includes the communities of Shoshone, Death Valley National Park and headquarters, Furnace Creek, Cartagom, Barlett, Stovepipe Wells, Panamint Springs, Keeler, Olancha, Little Lake, Lone Pine, and Lake Owens. The area north of Independence is in Attachment the Western Nevada/Eastern California Operational Area. No broadcast stations in the Northern Inyo County area are able to receive signals from Las Vegas or Reno broadcast stations. Local EAS activations can be made through the use of CAP EAS by originating officials or by going through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. -
Ice Rafts Not Sails: Floating the Rocks at Racetrack Playa ͒ Ralph D
Ice rafts not sails: Floating the rocks at Racetrack Playa ͒ Ralph D. Lorenza Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland 20723 ͒ Brian K. Jacksonb NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 ͒ Jason W. Barnesc Department of Physics, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844 ͒ Joe Spitaled Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado 80301 ͒ John M. Kellere Department of Physics, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California 93407 ͑Received 15 February 2010; accepted 27 August 2010͒ We suggest that the existence of many of the rock-carved trails at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park is predominantly due to the effect of arbitrarily weak winds on rocks that are floated off the soft bed by small rafts of ice, as also occurs in arctic tidal beaches to form boulder barricades. These ice cakes need not have a particularly large surface area if the ice is adequately thick—the ice cakes allow the rocks to move by buoyantly reducing the reaction and friction forces at the bed, not by increasing the wind drag. The parameter space of ice thickness and extent versus rock size for flotation is calculated and found to be reasonable. We demonstrate the effect with a simple experiment. © 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers. ͓DOI: 10.1119/1.3490645͔ I. INTRODUCTION literature. All the discussions involve a sheet of ice acting as a means of increasing the area on which wind can act ͑for Among the many geological attractions1 in Death Valley example, Ref. 4 refers to ice sheets 20 mϫ20 m and National Park in California is Racetrack Playa. -
California State University, Northridge
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE THE CHANGING FACE OF TOURISM IN DEATH VALLEY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Geography By Tina White December 2013 The thesis of Tina White is approved: ____________________________________ _____________________ Ronald Davidson, Ph.D. Date ____________________________________ _____________________ Edward Jackiewicz, Ph.D. Date ____________________________________ _____________________ Julie E. Laity, Ph.D., Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge, and most heartily thank, the CSUN faculty members who have continuously supported and encouraged me through the (too) many years I have spent working towards this degree. First and foremost, I am grateful for and to my thesis advisor, Professor Julie Laity, who has taught me about physical geography and academic success in the classroom, in the field, and during our talks in her office. And, of course, there is she from whom I have learned so much geomorphology and with whom I have had so much fun in the field: Professor Amalie Orme. To my thesis committee members Ron Davidson and Ed Jackiewicz, thank you so much for your time and assistance; I appreciate your expertise and input. Further, I have been fortunate to have taken classes with and/or had the opportunity to learn informally from the entire CSUN Geography Department faculty teaching from 1997 through the present at one time or another, as well as from some great folks in the CSUN Geology Department. I have learned something from each and every one of you, and will be eternally grateful. I also want to thank multiple employees at Death Valley National Park, in particular Terry Baldino and Alex Cabana and their numerous staff members, who took the time to speak with me about this topic; their input was invaluable and their insights intriguing. -
Trail Formation by Ice-Shoved ``Sailing Stones'' Observed at Racetrack Playa
Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Earth Surf. Dynam. Discuss., 2, 1005–1022, 2014 www.earth-surf-dynam-discuss.net/2/1005/2014/ doi:10.5194/esurfd-2-1005-2014 ESURFD © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. 2, 1005–1022, 2014 This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Earth Surface Dynamics (ESurfD). Trail formation by Please refer to the corresponding final paper in ESurf if available. ice-shoved “sailing stones” observed at Trail formation by ice-shoved “sailing Racetrack Playa stones” observed at Racetrack Playa, R. D. Lorenz et al. Death Valley National Park Title Page 1 2 3 4 5 R. D. Lorenz , J. M. Norris , B. K. Jackson , R. D. Norris , J. W. Chadbourne , Abstract Introduction and J. Ray2 Conclusions References 1 Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland, USA Tables Figures 2Interwoof, Santa Barbara, California, USA 3Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, D.C., USA 4Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, USA J I 5 University of Portland, Oregon, USA J I Received: 17 August 2014 – Accepted: 27 August 2014 – Published: 28 August 2014 Back Close Correspondence to: R. D. Lorenz ([email protected]) Full Screen / Esc Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. Printer-friendly Version Interactive Discussion 1005 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Abstract ESURFD Trails in the usually-hard mud of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park attest to the seemingly-improbable movement of massive rocks on an exceptionally flat sur- 2, 1005–1022, 2014 face. -
Geology of the Panamint Butte Quadrangle, Inyo County, California
Geology of the Panamint Butte Quadrangle, Inyo County, California By WAYNE E; HALL GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1299 Prepared in cooperation with the California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology KhCEIVED JUL161971 u.8.1 teuisfiUt, it UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1971 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY William T. Pecora, Director Library of Congress catalog-card No. 75-610447 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Abstract_________________________________-_.-______-__--_-_--_--- 1 Introduction. ___________-______--_____--_----.--___--__-__--------- 2 Climate.and vegetation._________.__....__.._____-___________-__ 3 Water supply-________________________________________________ 3 Previous work__________________________.___._____._1________ 4 Acknowledgments- _______________._______..____-__-_---------_- 4 General geology.__________________________-__..____--_----_-_--__-- 5 Precambrian(?) rocks._____________.__________.._----___-___-_-_-__- 7 Paleozoic rocks._____.__.___--________-___-____-_-----_---_--.-.-_- 8 Cambrian System_____________________________________________ 8 Carrara Formation.__________________..-_____--____---__-_- 8 Bonanza King Formation___._.______..__._._.....____.____ 10 Nopah Formation._____...____-_-_.....____________-_-_-__- 11 Ordovician System___________________________________________ 13 Pogonip Group_____-__-______-____-_-..----------_--._-_-_- 13 Eureka Quartzite.______________-_____..___-_-_---_-----_--_ 16 Ely Springs Dolomite__---__-______________________________ 18 Silurian and Devonian Systems___________..__-_-__----_-__-___- 21 Hidden Valley Dolomite......._____________________________ 21 Devonian System_____________________________________________ 22 Lost Burro Formation.....__________________________________ 22 Mississippian System.___._____..____._.._..__.___..._._._..__. -
27 Saline Valley
July 31, 2008 The California Chaparral Institute Volume 5, Issue 2 The Chaparralian #27 . the voice of the chaparral Page 1 \\ THE CHAPARRALIAN #27 California Chaparral Institute, P.O. Box 545, Escondido, CA 92029 www.californiachaparral.org email: [email protected] phone: 760-822-0029 Searching for Nature in Saline Valley The most desolate place in California By Richard W. Halsey What’s nature good for? I can see how a lot of people might wonder about that. Being in the thick of nature’s soul as I am right now with mosquitoes buzzing around my head, my legs throbbing from the day’s High Sierran journey above 10,000 feet, and storm clouds threatening, I can certainly understand why someone else might want to be within the cushy confines of civilization. Dried blood coating Saline cont’ on pg. 6 Marshal South SEEDS OF TOMORROW Finding Nature His Own Way Shared by Stately Stalk and Mini-Moth By Jim Hart By Bill Howell On January 22, 2005, fifty-seven years after his death, Marshal South finally received a marker on For over 100 million years, insects have been his grave in the Julian Pioneer Cemetery. But his visiting flowers. The behavior of butterflies ghost still roams the slopes of Ghost Mountain in promenading from plant to plant probing for the Anza-Borrego Desert. I know. I saw him. nectar at each flower is an ancient ritual. A butterfly will visit any place that offers a sweet But beware. If you stray too close, the story of drink -- a sunflower inflorescence, buckwheat South’s dreams and the sudden destruction of all florets, chamise petals, and then back to another he held dear will challenge you to evaluate your sunflower -- a random affair. -
Eureka Valley Groundwater Basin Bulletin 118
South Lahontan Hydrologic Region California’s Groundwater Eureka Valley Groundwater Basin Bulletin 118 Eureka Valley Groundwater Basin • Groundwater Basin Number: 6-16 • County: Inyo • Surface Area: 129,900 acres (203 square miles) Basin Boundaries and Hydrology This groundwater basin underlies Eureka Valley in northeastern Inyo County. This basin is bounded by nonwater-bearing rocks of the White Mountains on the north, of the Inyo Mountains on the west, of the Saline Range on the south, of the Last Chance Range on the east, and of the Sylvania Mountains on the northeast (Jennings 1958, DWR 1964, Strand 1967). Willow creek and unnamed washes carry runoff to Eureka (dry) Lake at the southeastern end of the valley. Average annual precipitation ranges from about 5 inches on the valley floor to 10 inches on the surrounding mountains (DWR 1964). Hydrogeologic Information Water Bearing Formations The primary water-bearing material consists of younger, unconsolidated alluvial fan material and underlying, semi-consolidated older alluvial deposits. The alluvium reaches at least 640 feet thick and groundwater in it is generally unconfined (Bader 1969, DWR 1964). Like most internally drained basins, the alluvium likely becomes interbedded with lacustrine silt and clay layers near Eureka Lake. Restrictive Structures. Some small faults are mapped as cutting Quaternary alluvial deposits in this basin (Strand 1967); however, it is not known whether or not these faults impede groundwater movement in the basin. Recharge Areas Replenishment of the basin is from percolation of runoff from the surrounding mountains through alluvial fans (Bader 1969). Groundwater likely flows southward toward Eureka Lake and perhaps southeastward into Saline Valley (Bader 1969, DWR 1964).