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.

Extreme Environments

Milder temperatures exists in the basins but the climate found there is quite arid. Still, a multitude of species can make a home in those conditions. The tops of the ranges see more precipitation but they also have long winters and a short growing season. Above 9,000 feet, only Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva) and Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) dominate the upper slopes.

Ancient Shorelines

Pluvial lakes have filled Owens Valley to various depths many times throughout the Pleistocene. Evidence of these differing lake levels can be seen in depositional layers visible on the margins of the valley.

Basin and Range

The Basin and Range province takes its name from a series of basins (valley-like depressions) and the surrounding mountain peaks, which form the "ranges." The basins are not true valleys at all. Tectonic forces, not water, are the prime agents shaping this landscape. The "valleys" are actually grabbens that are sinking relative to the mountains (horsts), which in some cases are also being thrust upwards.

Bodie

High in the mountains, far from any moderating maritime influence and in the rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada, Bodie is a dry and windswept locale that was a tough place to wrest a living. The ghost town and the mines here are now part of a state historic park.

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