Basin and Range

California’s portion of the Basin and Range province takes its name from a series of basins (valley-like depressions) and surrounding mountain peaks (ranges). The basins are actually not true valleys at all. Tectonic forces, not water, are the primary agents shaping this landscape. Another name for this juxtaposition of landscape features is horst and graben topography.

The Basin and Range province hugs California’s eastern border with Nevada. North of the Mojave, the region resembles an isosceles triangle pointing north. The Basin and Range is unique among The Golden State’s physiographic regions in that it has two discontinuous exclaves a couple hundred miles farther north. Around Susanville and again in the extreme northeastern portion of the state, the Basin and Range province makes an appearance. This is because the Basin and Range is actually a much larger feature that extends across almost the whole of Nevada and east into Utah as well.

Rainshadow

Lying behind successive mountain ranges, Death Valley is an extreme example of a rainshadow desert. On the valley floor whole years may go by with no measurable precipitation. Nonetheless, being an enclosed basin, what water does fall here is trapped until it either seeps into the ground or evaporates.

Red Hill

A prominent landmark off Rt. 395, Red Hill is a 600-foot tall cinder cone composed of lava pumice and ash. This small volcano is estimated to be between 10 and 15,000 years old. However, it is far from extinct. Geologist also estimate that is has seen action as recently as 600 years before the present. It is a reminder that in addition to and as a consequence of tectonic forces, the Basin and Range is constantly being formed and reformed.

Salt River - Death Valley

What little rain does find its way to Death Valley ends up running off to the floor of this endorheic basin. Differences in the permeability of the substrates determine whether the water stays near or at the surface (shown here) or whether it percolates underground.

South Warner Mountains

The northernmost exclave of the Basin and Range province of California is much more verdant than its southern counterparts. This is due to higher annual precipitation totals and lower solar insolation. These factors allow winter snows to linger much longer on the ground and the moisture that permeates the soil to not evaporate as quickly.

Super Bloom

Record winter rains (2004-2005) in Death Valley produced a "superbloom" of wildflowers the following spring. Such blooms are rare and impossible to predict in a land that only averages a little over 2 inches of precipitation per year. But the seeds of the hearty plants that live here can lay dormant for a decade or more before sufficient moisture coaxes them to germinate.

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