Death Valley National Park

"Badwater is a salt flat that is beneath the face of the Black Mountains that contains the lowest elevation in North America at 86 meters (282 ft) below sea level. (It is often mistakenly described as the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere, but that is actually Laguna del Carbón in Argentina at −105 meters (−344 feet)). The massive expanse of white is made up of almost pure table salt.

This pan was first created by the drying-up of 30-foot (10 m) deep Recent Lake 2000 to 3000 years ago. Unlike at the Devils Golf Course, significant rainstorms flood Badwater, covering the salt pan with a thin sheet of standing water. Each newly formed lake doesn't last long though, because the 1.9 inch (48 mm) average rainfall is overwhelmed by a 150-inch (3800 mm) annual evaporation rate. This, the nation's greatest evaporation potential, means that even a 12-foot (3.7 m) deep, 30 mile (50 km) long lake would dry up in a single year. While flooded, some of the salt is dissolved, then is redeposited as clean, sparkling crystals when the water evaporates." - Wikipedia

Don't come after me, I didn't take the Badwater sample! I obtained this sample at the Boston NSTA Convention in 1998 (I think). I went to see "The Sand Man," and he gave everyone a huge bag of sand samples. This was one of them.

"The Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes are at the northern end of the valley floor and are nearly surrounded by mountains on all sides. Due to their easy access from the road and the overall proximity of Death Valley to Hollywood, these dunes have been used to film sand dune scenes for several movies including films in the Star Wars series. The largest dune is called Star Dune and is relatively stable and stationary because it is at a point where the various winds that shape the dunes converge. The depth of the sand at its crest is 130–140 feet (40–43 m) but this is small compared to other dunes in the area that have sand depths of up to 600–700 feet (180–210 m) deep.

The primary source of the dune sands is probably the Cottonwood Mountains which lie to the north and northwest. The tiny grains of quartz and feldspar that form the sinuous sculptures that make up this dune field began as much larger pieces of solid rock.

In between many of the dunes are stands of creosote bush and some mesquite on the sand and on dried mud, which used to cover this part of the valley before the dunes intruded (mesquite was the dominant plant here before the sand dunes but creosote does much better in the sand dune conditions)." - Wikipedia

It rained the day we arrived in Death Valley, and the temperature was 97. The next morning the rain had almost stopped and the temperature was in the upper 60's! When we went out to the dunes the usual warning about blowing sand getting into camera and human parts didn't apply. Although it was windy, the rain had given the sand a coating, and no grains were moving through the air. It was plesant.

"Artist's Drive rises up to the top of an alluvial fan fed by a deep canyon cut into the Black Mountains. Artist's Palette is on the face of the Black Mountains and is noted for having various colors of rock. These colors are caused by the oxidation of different metals (red, pink and yellow is from iron salts, green is from decomposing tuff-derived mica, and manganese produces the purple).

Called the Artist Drive Formation, the rock unit provides evidence for one of the Death Valley area's most violently explosive volcanic periods. The Miocene-aged formation is made up of cemented gravel, playa deposits, and much volcanic debris, perhaps 5,000 feet (1500 m) thick. Chemical weathering and hydrothermal alteration are also responsible for the variety of colors displayed in the Artist Drive Formation and nearby exposures of the Furnace Creek Formation." - Wikipedia

Almost as soon as we entered the drive we came upon a parking area that led to a dry wash. At the end of the wash was a display of rocks that contained many different layers and colors (see image below). Many of those muted colors are seen in the large fragments collected. The fragments were too large to do a spectral analysis and get an accurate reading.

Shortly after the dry wash we came to a heavily rilled rock outcrop. I know, I know, we're actually talking "pebbles" here as opposed to sand grains, but the individual particles are amazing.

I had to collect a sample from this area. It's a small alluvial fan filled with what I thought would be a host of different colors.

There were a huge number of people at the Palette when we arrived. The bus from Las Vegas was there showing the folks the sights! The Palette is spectacular, both in its color and size. Find the folks in the image below to give you an idea of the scale of this outcrop.

Suddenly, there it was. - the green rock outcrop. The photograph does the site no justice. I guess the light was all wrong, or I simply didn't use the right settings on the camera. This outcrop was a vivid green. The green color supposedly comes from decomposing tuff-derived mica. Okay, if Wikipedia says so.

Almost at the end of Death Valley we came to a small display highlighting the borax industry.


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