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Death Valley was created when great plates of earth pushed apart, giving rise to the Amargosa and Panamint mountain ranges and dropping the valley floor 292 feet below sea level. The depression works like a convection oven, recirculating hot air and making the valley the hottest place on earth with ground-level temperatures that can reach 200 degrees in the summer.
It is also the driest place in North America, usually receiving less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. The water that washes down the mineral-rich mountainsides carries salt deposits that have formed the great salt flats that dominate the valley floor.
Click on any photo (NOT the thumbnail) to view it at a larger size in the lightbox.
It is also the driest place in North America, usually receiving less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. The water that washes down the mineral-rich mountainsides carries salt deposits that have formed the great salt flats that dominate the valley floor.
Click on any photo (NOT the thumbnail) to view it at a larger size in the lightbox.
The dried mud surface of the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, California, in the late afternoon light. The playa is an almost perfectly flat dry lake bed nestled between the Cottonwood Mountains to the east and the Last Chance Range to the west. Any rain water that washes down onto the playa quickly evaporates under the hot Death Valley sun, and the mud cracks into a polygonal mosaic.
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The dried mud surface of the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, California, in the late afternoon light. The playa is an almost perfectly flat dry lake bed nestled between the Cottonwood Mountains to the east and the Last Chance Range to the west. Any rain water that washes down onto the playa quickly evaporates under the hot Death Valley sun, and the mud cracks into a polygonal mosaic.
License this Image
License this Image
All images on this site are Copyright @2005-2009 Lori Carey.
All rights reserved. Copying, reproducing or distributing in any manner without
prior written consent of the photographer is strictly prohibited.
All rights reserved. Copying, reproducing or distributing in any manner without
prior written consent of the photographer is strictly prohibited.
