1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
National park
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A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns, although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea, the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although Yellowstone was not officially termed a national park in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The first area to use national park in its legislation was the USs Mackinac Island. Australias Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park, as a result, Australias Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. The largest national park in the meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park. According to the IUCN,6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006, IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are almost always open to visitors, in 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877, John Muir is today referred to as the Father of the National Parks due to his work in Yosemite. He published two articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1,1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley, according to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for use, resort. Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation, a public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States first national park, being also the worlds first national park. In some European countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed, such as Drachenfels, Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory
3.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
4.
Nevada
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Nevada is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 34th most populous, nearly three-quarters of Nevadas people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the states four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada is officially known as the Silver State because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the Battle Born State, because it achieved statehood during the Civil War, as the Sage-brush State, for the plant of the same name. Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, Nevada is largely desert and semi-arid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe, about 86% of the states land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U. S. federal government, both civilian and military. Before European contact, Native Americans of the Paiute, Shoshone, the first Europeans to explore the region were Spanish. They called the region Nevada because of the snow covered the mountains in winter. The area formed part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the United States annexed the area in 1848 after its victory in the Mexican–American War, and it was incorporated as part of Utah Territory in 1850. The discovery of silver at the Comstock Lode in 1859 led to a boom that became an impetus to the creation of Nevada Territory out of western Utah Territory in 1861. Nevada became the 36th state on October 31,1864, as the second of two added to the Union during the Civil War. Nevada has a reputation for its libertarian laws, in 1940, with a population of just over 110,000 people, Nevada was by far the least-populated state, with less than half the population of the next least-populated state. However, legalized gambling and lenient marriage and divorce laws transformed Nevada into a major tourist destination in the 20th century, Nevada is the only U. S. state where prostitution is legal, though it is illegal in Clark County, Washoe County and Carson City. The tourism industry remains Nevadas largest employer, with mining continuing as a sector of the economy. The name Nevada comes from the Spanish nevada, meaning snow-covered, most Nevadans pronounce the second syllable of their state name using the vowel of trap. Many from outside the Western United States pronounce it with the vowel of father, although the latter pronunciation is closer to the Spanish pronunciation, it is not the pronunciation preferred by most Nevadans. State Assemblyman Harry Mortenson proposed a bill to recognize the alternate pronunciation of Nevada, though the bill was not supported by most legislators, the Nevadan pronunciation is the de facto official one, since it is the one used by the state legislature. Nevada is almost entirely within the Basin and Range Province, and is broken up by many mountain ranges
5.
Lone Pine, California
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Lone Pine is a census designated place in Inyo County, California, United States. Lone Pine is located 16 miles south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3727 feet, the population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the Owens Valley, near the Alabama Hills, from possible choices of urban, rural, and frontier, the Census Bureau identifies this area as frontier. The local hospital, Southern Inyo Hospital, offers standby emergency services, on March 26,1872, the very large Lone Pine earthquake destroyed most of the town and killed 27 of its 250 to 300 residents. The Paiute people inhabited the Owens Valley area from prehistoric times and these early inhabitants are known to have established trading routes which extended to the Pacific Central Coast, delivering materials originating in the Owens Valley to such tribes as the Chumash. A cabin was built here during the winter of 1861–62, a settlement developed over the following two years. The Lone Pine post office opened in 1870, in 1864, a geological survey team from California discovered Mt. Whitney and named the peak after the teams leader, Josiah Whitney. One member of the team, Clarence King, made two unsuccessful attempts at climbing the mountain. Returning in 1871, he summited what was believed to be Mt. Whitney. John Muir made his first ascent on October 21,1873, seeing the demand for an eastern trail to the summit, the residents of Lone Pine raised the necessary funds to finance a pack-train route up the east side, which was completed on July 22,1904. The trail was engineered by Lone Pine resident Gustave F. Marsh—much of the trail is still in use today, the lower portion of the trail from Lone Pine to Whitney Portal was named a National Historic Trail by the Smithsonian Institution. On March 16,1872, at 2,30 am, at the time, the town consisted of 80 buildings made of mud and adobe, only 20 structures were left standing. As a result of the quake, which formed Diaz Lake, a mass grave located just north of town commemorates the site of the main fault. One of the few remaining structures predating the earthquake is the 21-inch-thick Old Adobe Wall located in the alley behind La Florista, a flower shop. During the 1870s, Lone Pine was an important supply town for nearby mining communities, including Kearsarge, Cerro Gordo, Keeler, Swansea. The Cerro Gordo mine high in the Inyo Mountains was one of the most productive mines in California. The silver was carried in ore buckets on a cable to Keeler. Railroads played a role in the development of Lone Pine
6.
Beatty, Nevada
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Beatty is an unincorporated town along the Amargosa River in Nye County in the U. S. state of Nevada. U. S. Route 95 runs through the town, which lies between Tonopah, about 90 miles to the north, and Las Vegas, about 120 miles to the southeast, State Route 374 connects Beatty to Death Valley National Park, about 8 miles to the west. Before the arrival of people in the 19th century, the region was home to groups of Western Shoshone. Established in 1905, the community was named after Montillus Murray Old Man Beatty, with the arrival of the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad in 1905, the town became a railway center for the Bullfrog Mining District, including mining towns such as nearby Rhyolite. Beatty is home to the Beatty Museum and Historical Society and to businesses catering to tourist travel. The ghost town of Rhyolite and the Goldwell Open Air Museum, are both about 4 miles to the west, and Yucca Mountain and the Nevada Test Site are about 18 miles to the east. Before the arrival of explorers, prospectors, and settlers, Western Shoshone in the Beatty area hunted game. It is estimated that the 19th-century population density of the Indians near Beatty was one person per 44 square miles, by the middle of the century, European diseases had greatly reduced the Indian population, and incursions by newcomers had disrupted the native traditions. In about 1875, the Shoshone had six camps, with a population of 29. Some of the survivors and their descendants continued to live in or near Beatty, while moved to reservations at Walker Lake, Reese River, Duckwater. The community was out in 1904 or 1905 after Ernest Alexander Bob Montgomery, owner of the Montgomery Shoshone Mine near Rhyolite. Montgomery was drawn to the area, known as the Bullfrog Mining District, the LV&T ceased operations in 1918, the BG in 1928, and the T&T in 1940. Until the railroads abandoned their lines, Beatty served as the railhead for many mines in the area, including a mine on Bare Mountain. Beattys first newspaper was the Beatty Bullfrog Miner, which began publishing in 1905, the Rhyolite Herald was the regions most important paper, starting in 1905 and reaching a circulation of 10,000 by 1909. It ceased publication in 1912, and the Beatty area had no newspaper from then until 1947, the Beatty Bulletin, a supplement to the Goldfield News, was published from then through 1956. Beattys population grew slowly in the first half of the 20th century, the first reliable electric company in the community, Amargosa Power Company, began supplying electricity in about 1940. Phone service arrived during World War II, and the town installed a sewer system in the 1970s. When a new mine opened west of Beatty in 1988, the population surged from about 1,000 to between 1,500 and 2,000 by the end of 1990
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
8.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
9.
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
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The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Basin and Range Province. The vast majority of the lies in the state of California. The Sierra runs 400 miles north-to-south, and is approximately 70 miles across east-to-west, the Sierra is home to three national parks, twenty wilderness areas, and two national monuments. These areas include Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, the character of the range is shaped by its geology and ecology. More than one hundred years ago during the Nevadan orogeny. The range started to uplift four M. A. ago, the uplift caused a wide range of elevations and climates in the Sierra Nevada, which are reflected by the presence of five life zones. Uplift continues due to faulting caused by forces, creating spectacular fault block escarpments along the eastern edge of the southern Sierra. The Sierra Nevada has a significant history, the California Gold Rush occurred in the western foothills from 1848 through 1855. Due to inaccessibility, the range was not fully explored until 1912, the Sierra Nevada lies in Central and Eastern California, with a very small but historically important spur extending into Nevada. West-to-east, the Sierra Nevadas elevation increases gradually from 1,000 feet in the Central Valley to an height of about 10,500 feet at its crest only 50–75 miles to the east. The east slope forms the steep Sierra Escarpment, unlike its surroundings, the range receives a substantial amount of snowfall and precipitation due to orographic lift. The Sierra Nevada stretches from the Susan River and Fredonyer Pass in the north to Tehachapi Pass in the south and it is bounded on the west by Californias Central Valley and on the east by the Basin and Range Province. The geographical boundary between the Sierra and the Cascades is virtually indistinguishable, with the Fredonyer Pass designation being traditional, physiographically, the Sierra is a section of the Cascade-Sierra Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System physiographic division. The range is drained on its western slope by the Central Valley watershed, the northern third of the western Sierra is part of the Sacramento River watershed, and the middle third is drained by the San Joaquin River. The eastern slope watershed of the Sierra is much narrower, its rivers flow out into the endorheic Great Basin of eastern California and western Nevada. Although none of the eastern rivers reach the sea, many of the streams from Mono Lake southwards are diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct which provides water to Southern California, the height of the mountains in the Sierra Nevada increases gradually from north to south. Between Fredonyer Pass and Lake Tahoe, the range from 5,000 feet to more than 9,000 feet. The crest near Lake Tahoe is roughly 9,000 feet high, farther south, the highest peak in Yosemite National Park is Mount Lyell
10.
Great Basin Desert
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The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range. It is a desert with hot, dry summers and snowy winters. The desert spans a large part of the state of Nevada, and extends into western Utah, eastern California, the desert is one of the four biologically defined deserts in North America, in addition to the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts. Basin and range topography characterizes the desert, wide valleys bordered by mountain ranges generally oriented north-south. There are more than 33 peaks within the desert with summits higher than 9,800 feet, the biological communities of the Great Basin Desert vary according to altitude, from low salty dry lakes, up through rolling sagebrush valleys, to pinyon-juniper forests. According to Grayson, more than 600 species of live in the floristic Great Basin. Sixty-three of these species have been identified as species of concern due to contracting natural habitats. The ecology of the desert varies across geography, also, different locations in the desert have different amounts of precipitation, depending on the strength of these rain shadows. The environment is influenced by Pleistocene lakes that dried after the last ice age, Lake Lahontan, each of these lakes left different amounts of salinity and alkalinity. The Great Basin Desert is defined by its animals and plants, scientists have different definitions of the Great Basin Desert, which are often defined by negatives. J. Robert Macey defines the Great Basin scrub desert as lacking creosote bush, the Great Basin Desert includes several arid basins lacking Larrea tridentata such as the Chalfant, Hammil, Benton, and Queen valleys, as well as all but the southeast portion of the Owens Valley. Conversely, the Panamint, Saline, and Eureka valleys have creosote bush, the study and definition of ecoregions can also indicate the boundaries of the Great Basin Desert. In 1987, J. M. Omernik defined a desert ecoregion between the Sierra Nevada and Wasatch Range, naming it the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion. In 1999, the U. S. EPA renamed the Northern Basin and Range to Central Basin and Range and he states that the Great Basin Desert is encompassed within that area. This article describes the ecology of the region, including the high-elevation areas. See Great Basin montane forests for more details on the high-elevation ecoregion. This is the climate of the high desert, the Great Basin desert climate begins with the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. Rising 14,000 feet above sea level, this mountain range casts a rain shadow over the desert
11.
Mojave Desert
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The Mojave Desert is an arid rain-shadow desert and the driest desert in North America. It is located in the southwestern United States, primarily within southeastern California and southern Nevada, very small areas also extend into Utah and Arizona. The central part of the desert is sparsely populated, while its peripheries support large communities such as Las Vegas, Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville, the Mojave Desert is bordered by the Great Basin Desert to its north and the Sonoran Desert to its south and east. Topographical boundaries include the Tehachapi Mountains to the west, and the San Gabriel Mountains, the mountain boundaries are distinct because they are outlined by the two largest faults in California – the San Andreas and Garlock faults. The Mojave Desert displays typical basin and range topography and it occupies less than 50,000 sq mi, making it the smallest of the North American deserts. The Mojave Desert is often referred to as the desert, in contrast to the low desert. However, the Mojave Desert is generally lower than the Great Basin Desert to the north, the spelling Mojave originates from the Spanish language while the spelling Mohave comes from modern English. The Mojave Desert receives less than 13 in of rain a year and is generally between 2,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation, zion National Park in Utah lies at the junction of the Mojave, the Great Basin Desert, and the Colorado Plateau. Despite its aridity, the Mojave has long been a center of production, fed by irrigation coming from groundwater. The Mojave is a desert of temperature extremes and two distinct seasons, winter months bring comfortable daytime temperatures, which dip precipitously to around 20 °F on valley floors, and below 0 °F at higher elevations. Storms moving from the Pacific Northwest can bring rain and in places even snow. More often, the shadow created by the Sierra Nevada as well as mountain ranges within the desert such as the Spring Mountains, bring only clouds. By early June, it is rare for another Pacific storm to have a significant impact on the regions weather, summer weather is dominated by heat. Temperatures on valley floors can soar above 120 °F and above 130 °F at the lowest elevations, low humidity, high temperatures, and low pressure, draw in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico creating thunderstorms across the desert southwest known as the North American monsoon. Autumn is generally pleasant, with one to two Pacific storm systems creating regional rain events, october is one of the driest and sunniest months in the Mojave, and temperatures usually remain between 70 °F and 90 °F on the valley floors. After temperature, wind is the most significant weather phenomenon in the Mojave, during the June Gloom, cooler air can be pushed out into the desert from Southern California. In Santa Ana wind events, hot air from the desert blows out into the Los Angeles basin, wind farms in these areas generate power from these winds. The other major factor in the region is elevation
12.
Salt pan (geology)
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Natural salt pans or salt flats are flat expanses of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually shining white under the Sun. They are found in deserts, and are natural formations, a salt pan forms by evaporation of a water pool such as a lake or pond. This happens in climates where the rate of water exceeds the rate of precipitation. If the water drain into the ground, it remains on the surface until it evaporates. Over thousands of years, the minerals accumulate on the surface and these minerals reflect the Suns rays and often appear as white areas. The crust of salt can conceal a quagmire of mud that can engulf a truck, the Qattara Depression in the eastern Sahara desert contains many such traps which served as strategic barriers during World War II. The Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, where land speed records have been set, is a well-known salt pan in the arid regions of the western United States. The Etosha pan, in the Etosha National Park in Namibia, is another prominent example of a salt pan, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the largest salt pan in the world. It contains 50%-70% of the worlds lithium reserves, dry lake Pan Sabkha Salt evaporation pond Salt lake Sink Solonchak Briere, Peter R. Playa, playa lake, sabkha, Proposed definitions for old terms. Lowenstein, Tim K. Lawrence A. Hardie, criteria for the recognition of salt-pan evaporites
13.
Dune
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In physical geography, a dune is a hill of loose sand built by wind or the flow of water. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, formed by interaction with the flow of air or water, most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter slip face in the lee of the wind. The valley or trough between dunes is called a slack, a dune field is an area covered by extensive sand dunes. Dunes occur, for example, in deserts and along some coasts. Some coastal areas have one or more sets of dunes running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach, in most cases, the dunes are important in protecting the land against potential ravages by storm waves from the sea. Although the most widely distributed dunes are those associated with coastal regions, Dunes can form under the action of water flow, and on sand or gravel beds of rivers, estuaries and the sea-bed. The modern word dune came into English from French c,1790, which in turn came from Middle Dutch dūne. Crescent-shaped mounds are generally wider than they are long, the slipfaces are on the concave sides of the dunes. These dunes form under winds that blow consistently from one direction, some types of crescentic dunes move more quickly over desert surfaces than any other type of dune. A group of dunes moved more than 100 metres per year between 1954 and 1959 in Chinas Ningxia Province, and similar speeds have been recorded in the Western Desert of Egypt. The largest crescentic dunes on Earth, with mean crest-to-crest widths of more than three kilometres, are in Chinas Taklamakan Desert. They may be composed of clay, silt, sand, or gypsum, eroded from the floor or shore, transported up the concave side of the dune. Examples in Australia are up to 6.5 km long,1 km wide and they also occur in southern and West Africa, and in parts of the western United States, especially Texas. Straight or slightly sinuous sand ridges typically much longer than they are wide are known as linear dunes and they may be more than 160 kilometres long. Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes, many form in bidirectional wind regimes. The long axes of these dunes extend in the resultant direction of sand movement, linear loess hills known as pahas are superficially similar. These hills appear to have formed during the last ice age under permafrost conditions dominated by sparse tundra vegetation. Radially symmetrical, star dunes are pyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the center of the mound
14.
Badlands
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Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. They are characterized by steep slopes, minimal vegetation, lack of a substantial regolith and they can resemble malpaís, a terrain of volcanic rock. Canyons, ravines, gullies, buttes, mesas, hoodoos and they are often difficult to navigate by foot. Badlands often have a color display that alternates from dark black/blue coal stria to be bright clays to red scoria. Badlands are partially characterized by their thin to nonexistent regolith layers, the regolith profiles of badlands in arid climates are likely to resemble one another. In these regions, the layer is typically composed of silt, shale. This layer can form either a compact crust or a looser, Badlands such as those found in the Mancos Shale, the Brule Formation, the Chadron Formation, and the Dinosaur Provincial Park can be generally said to fit this profile. In less arid regions, however, the regolith profile can vary considerably, some badlands have no regolith layer whatsoever, capping instead in bare rock such as sandstone. Others have a regolith with a clay veneer, and still others have a biological crust of algae or lichens, in addition to lacking significant regolith, they also lack much vegetation. The lack of vegetation could very well be a result of the lack of a substantial regolith, the formation of badlands is a result of two processes, deposition and erosion. The process of deposition describes the accumulation, over time, of layers of mineral material, different environments such as seas, rivers, or tropical zones, deposit different sorts of clays, silts, and sand. Once the deposited sediments have solidified, the material becomes subject to erosion. It is sometimes taught that badlands erode at a steady rate of about 1 inch per year. In actuality, the processes by which the erosion responses take place vary depending on the precise interbedding of the sedimentary material. In 2010, researchers at Badlands National Park initiated a 3-year project to learn more about the erosion rate of the specific badlands found in that park. Some of the best-known badland formations can be found in Canada, in the U. S. Makoshika State Park in Montana and Badlands National Park in South Dakota together form a series of extensive badland formations. Among the Henry Mountains area, about 1500m above sea level, Cretaceous, another popular area of badland formations is Toadstool Geologic Park in the Oglala National Grassland of northwestern Nebraska. Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah are also badlands settings, a small badland called Hells Half-Acre is present in Natrona County, Wyoming
15.
Contiguous United States
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The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U. S. states plus Washington, D. C. on the continent of North America. S. The greatest distance entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles, the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles. Together, the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D. C. occupy an area of 3,119,884.69 square miles. Of this area,2,959,064.44 square miles is land, composing 83. 65% of U. S. land area, officially,160,820.25 square miles is water area, composing 62. 66% of the nations total water area. The contiguous United States would be placed 5th in the list of states and dependencies by area. The 2010 census population of area was 306,675,006, comprising 99. 33% of the nations population. While conterminous U. S. has the meaning of contiguous U. S. other terms commonly used to describe the 48 contiguous states have a greater degree of ambiguity. The term was in use prior to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states of the United States, the District of Columbia is not always specifically mentioned as being part of CONUS. OCONUS is derived from CONUS with O for outside added, thus referring to Outside of Continental United States, the term Lower 48 is also used to refer to the conterminous United States. The National Geographic style guide recommends the use of contiguous or conterminous United States instead of lower 48 when the 48 states are meant, both Alaskans and Hawaiians have unique labels for the contiguous United States because of their own locations relative to them. Alaska became the 49th state of the United States on January 3,1959, Alaska is on the northwest end of the North American continent, but separated from the rest of the United States Pacific coast by the Canadian province of British Columbia. In Alaska, given the ambiguity surrounding the usage of continental, several other terms have been used over the years. Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States on August 21,1959 and it is the southernmost and so far, the latest state to join the Union. Not part of any continent, Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,200 miles from North America, in Hawaii and overseas American territories, for instance, the terms the Mainland or U. S. Mainland are often used to refer to the continental United States, apart from off-shore US islands, a few continental portions of the contiguous US are accessible by road only by traveling through Canada. Point Roberts, Washington, Elm Point, Minnesota, and the Northwest Angle in Minnesota are three such places, alburgh, Vermont, is not directly connected by land, but is accessible by road via bridges from within Vermont and from from New York. The 48 contiguous United States are, Washington, D. C. is distinct from the state of Washington, extreme points of the United States Mainland Definition of continental Definition of contiguous Definition of coterminous and conterminous
16.
Badwater Basin
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Badwater Basin is an endorheic basin in Death Valley National Park, Death Valley, Inyo County, California, noted as the lowest point in North America, with an elevation of 282 ft below sea level. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, is only 84.6 miles to the north west. The site itself consists of a small spring-fed pool of bad water next to the road in a sink, the pool does have animal and plant life, including pickleweed, aquatic insects, and the Badwater snail. Adjacent to the pool, where water is not always present at the surface, repeated freeze–thaw, the pool is not the lowest point of the basin, the lowest point is several miles to the west and varies in position, depending on rainfall and evaporation patterns. The salt flats are hazardous to traverse, and so the sign marking the low point is at the pool instead, the basin was considered the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere until the discovery of Laguna del Carbón in Argentina at −344 ft. At Badwater Basin, significant rainstorms flood the valley bottom periodically, newly formed lakes do not last long though, because the 1.9 in of average rainfall is overwhelmed by a 150 in annual evaporation rate. This is the greatest evaporation potential in the United States, meaning that a 12 ft lake could dry up in a single year, when the basin is flooded, some of the salt is dissolved, it is redeposited as clean crystals when the water evaporates. A popular site for tourists is the sign marking sea level on the cliff above the Badwater Basin, numerous evaporation cycles and a lack of outflow caused an increasing hypersalinity, typical for endorheic bodies of water. Over time, this hypersalinization, combined with sporadic rainfall and occasional aquifer intrusion, has resulted in periods of briny soup, or salty pools, on the lowest parts of Death Valleys floor. Salts began to crystallize, coating the surface with the thick crust, ranging from 3 to 60 in, Death Valley pupfish List of elevation extremes by country List of elevation extremes by region John McKinney, Californias Desert Parks, A Day Hikers Guide. Wilderness Press 2006, ISBN 0-89997-389-2, S. 54–55 Don J. Easterbrook, geological Society of America 2003, ISBN 94-592-0504-6, S. 63–64 Badwater Basin in the Encyclopædia Britannica
17.
National Wilderness Preservation System
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The National Wilderness Preservation System of the United States protects federally managed wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally designated wilderness areas is coordinated by the National Wilderness Preservation System. Wilderness areas are managed by four federal land management agencies, the National Park Service, the U. S. Forest Service, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. As of 2015, there are 765 designated wilderness areas, totaling 109,129,657 acres, during the 1950s and 1960s, as the American transportation system was on the rise, concern for clean air and water quality began to grow. A conservation movement began to place with the intent of establishing designated wilderness areas. Howard Zahniser created the first draft of the Wilderness Act in 1956 and it took nine years and 65 rewrites before the Wilderness Act was finally passed in 1964. The Wilderness Act of 1964, which established the NWPS, was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3,1964, the first national forest wilderness areas were established by the Wilderness Act itself. The Great Swamp in New Jersey became the first National Wildlife Refuge with formally designated wilderness in 1968, Wilderness areas in national parks followed, beginning with the designation of wilderness in part of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho in 1970. A smaller spike in 1984 came with the passage of many bills establishing national forest wilderness areas identified by the Forest Services Roadless Area Review and Evaluation process. Over 200 wilderness areas have been created within Bureau of Land Management administered lands since then, as of August 2008, a total of 704 separate wilderness areas, encompassing 107,514,938 acres, had become part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. With the passage of the Omnibus Public Lands Act in March 2009, as of September 2015, the system includes 765 wilderness areas totaling 109,129,657 acres. On federal lands in the United States, Congress may designate an area as wilderness under the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Congress then reviews these cases on a state by state basis and determines which areas, there have been multiple occasions in which congress designated more federal land than had been recommended by the nominating agency. The Wilderness Act provides criteria for lands being considered for wilderness designation, Wilderness areas are subject to specific management restrictions, human activities are limited to non-motorized recreation, scientific research, and other non-invasive activities. During these activities, patrons are asked to abide by the Leave No Trace policy and this policy sets guidelines for using the wilderness responsibly, and leaving the area as it was before usage. When closely observed, the Leave No Trace ethos ensures that wilderness areas remain untainted by human interaction, Wilderness areas fall into IUCN protected area management category Ia or Ib. Wilderness areas are parts of parks, wildlife refuges, national forests. Initially, the NWPS included 34 areas protecting 9.1 million acres in the national forests, today, there are 762 wilderness areas in the NWPS, preserving 108,916,684 acres
18.
Desert
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A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation, about one third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the regions where little precipitation occurs. Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation falls, by the temperature that prevails. Deserts are formed by weathering processes as large variations in temperature between day and night put strains on the rocks which consequently break in pieces, although rain seldom occurs in deserts, there are occasional downpours that can result in flash floods. Rain falling on hot rocks can cause them to shatter and the resulting fragments and this picks up particles of sand and dust and wafts them aloft in sand or dust storms. Wind-blown sand grains striking any solid object in their path can abrade the surface, rocks are smoothed down, and the wind sorts sand into uniform deposits. The grains end up as level sheets of sand or are piled high in billowing sand dunes, other deserts are flat, stony plains where all the fine material has been blown away and the surface consists of a mosaic of smooth stones. These areas are known as desert pavements and little further erosion takes place, other desert features include rock outcrops, exposed bedrock and clays once deposited by flowing water. Temporary lakes may form and salt pans may be left when waters evaporate, there may be underground sources of water in the form of springs and seepages from aquifers. Where these are found, oases can occur, plants and animals living in the desert need special adaptations to survive in the harsh environment. Plants tend to be tough and wiry with small or no leaves, water-resistant cuticles, some annual plants germinate, bloom and die in the course of a few weeks after rainfall while other long-lived plants survive for years and have deep root systems able to tap underground moisture. Animals need to cool and find enough food and water to survive. Many are nocturnal and stay in the shade or underground during the heat of the day and they tend to be efficient at conserving water, extracting most of their needs from their food and concentrating their urine. Some animals remain in a state of dormancy for long periods and they then reproduce rapidly while conditions are favorable before returning to dormancy. People have struggled to live in deserts and the surrounding lands for millennia. Nomads have moved their flocks and herds to wherever grazing is available, the cultivation of semi-arid regions encourages erosion of soil and is one of the causes of increased desertification. Many trade routes have been forged across deserts, especially across the Sahara Desert, large numbers of slaves were also taken northwards across the Sahara
19.
Larrea tridentata
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In Sonora, it is more commonly called hediondilla. It is a plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. The specific name refers to its three-toothed leaves. The species grows as far east as Zapata County, Texas, L. tridentata is an evergreen shrub growing to 1 to 3 m tall, rarely 4 m. The stems of the plant bear resinous, dark green leaves with two opposite lanceolate leaflets joined at the base, with a deciduous awn between them, each leaflet 7 to 18 mm long and 4 to 8.5 mm broad. The flowers are up to 25 mm in diameter, with five yellow petals, galls may form by the activity of the creosote gall midge. The whole plant exhibits a characteristic odor of creosote, from which the name derives. In the regions where it grows, its smell is associated with the smell of rain. As the creosote bush grows older, its oldest branches eventually die and this normally happens when the plant is 30 to 90 years old. Eventually, the old crown dies and the new one becomes a clonal colony from the previous plant, the King Clone creosote ring is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It has been alive an estimated 11,700 years, in the central Mojave Desert near present-day Lucerne Valley, California. Measurements of the plant, as well as radiocarbon dating of fragments, were used to determine the plants mean annual growth rate outward from the center of the ring. By measuring the diameter of the ring, its age could be estimated. It is within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley, Creosote bush is most common on the well-drained soils of alluvial fans and flats. In parts of its range, it may cover areas in practically pure stands. Chemicals found in creosote bush roots have shown to inhibit the growth of burro bush roots. Creosote bush stands tend to display an evenly spaced distribution of plants, originally, it was assumed that the plant produced a water-soluble inhibitor that prevented the growth of other bushes near mature, healthy bushes. Owing to the harshness of the germination environment above mature root systems, germination is actually quite active during wet periods, but most of the young plants die very quickly unless water conditions are optimal
20.
Bighorn sheep
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The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to 14 kilograms, while the sheep themselves weigh up to 140 kg, recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered, O. c. sierrae. By 1900, the population had crashed to several thousand, due to diseases introduced through European livestock, divergence from their closest Asian ancestor occurred about 600,000 years ago. In North America, wild sheep diverged into two extant species—Dall sheep, which occupy Alaska and northwestern Canada, and bighorn sheep, which range from southern Canada to Mexico. However, the status of species is questionable given that hybridization has occurred between them in their recent evolutionary history. This subspecies has been extinct since 1925, California bighorn sheep, O. c. californiana, are found from British Columbia south to California and east to North Dakota. The definition of this subspecies has been updated, nelsons bighorn sheep, O. c. nelsoni, the most common desert bighorn sheep, ranges from California through Arizona. Mexican bighorn sheep, O. c. mexicana, range from Arizona and New Mexico south to Sonora and Chihuahua. Peninsular bighorn sheep O. c. cremnobates, occur in the Peninsular Ranges of California and Baja California Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, weems bighorn sheep, O. c. weemsi, also are found in Baja California. However, starting in 1993, Ramey and colleagues, using DNA testing, have shown this division into seven subspecies is largely illusory, most scientists currently recognize three subspecies of bighorn. Thus the three subspecies of Ovis canadensis, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep – occupying the U. S. and Canadian Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep – formerly California bighorn sheep, a genetically distinct subspecies that only occurs in the Sierra Nevada in California. However, historic observer records suggest that bighorn sheep may have ranged as far west as the California Coastal Ranges which are contiguous to the Sierra Nevada via the Transverse Ranges. An account of sheep in the vicinity of the Mission San Antonio near Jolon, California. Desert bighorn sheep – occurring throughout the regions of the Southwestern United States. The 2016 genetics study suggested more modest divergence of this desert bighorn sheep into three lineages consistent with the work of Cowan, Nelson, Mexican, and Peninsular. These three lineages occupy desert biomes that vary significantly in climate, suggesting exposure to different selection regimes, Bighorn sheep are named for the large, curved horns borne by the rams. Ewes also have horns, but they are shorter with less curvature and they range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Males typically weigh 58–143 kg, are 90–105 cm tall at the shoulder, females are typically 34–91 kg, 75–90 cm tall, and 1. 28–1.58 m long
21.
Coyote
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The coyote is a canid native to North America. It is smaller than its relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than its other close relatives, the eastern wolf. It fills much of the ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Eurasia, though it is larger. The species is versatile and able to adapt to environments modified by humans, as human activity has altered the landscape, the coyotes range has expanded. In 2013, coyotes were sighted in eastern Panama for the first time, the coyote is more closely related to the common ancestor of wolves and other canids than the gray wolf. As of 2005,19 coyote subspecies are recognized, the average male coyote weighs 8 to 20 kg and the average female 7 to 18 kg. Their fur color is light gray and red or fulvous interspersed with black and white. It is highly flexible in organization, living either in a family unit or in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. The coyotes characteristic vocalization is a made by solitary individuals. Humans aside, cougars and gray wolves are the only serious enemies. Nevertheless, coyotes do sometimes mate with gray, eastern, or red wolves, Most recent studies show that most wolves contain some level of coyote DNA. As with other figures, the coyote uses deception and humor to rebel against social conventions. The animal was especially respected in Mesoamerican cosmology as a symbol of military might, after the European colonization of the Americas, it was reviled in Anglo-American culture as a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike wolves, which have undergone an improvement of their public image, Coyote males average 8 to 20 kg in weight, while females average 7 to 18 kg, though size varies geographically. Northern subspecies, which average 18 kg, tend to larger than the southern subspecies of Mexico. Body length ranges on average from 1.0 to 1.35 m, the largest coyote on record was a male killed near Afton, Wyoming, on November 19,1937, which measured 1.5 m from nose to tail, and weighed 34 kg. Scent glands are located at the side of the base of the tail and are a bluish-black color. The color and texture of the fur varies somewhat geographically
22.
Death Valley pupfish
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The Death Valley pupfish, also known as Salt Creek pupfish, is found in Death Valley National Park. There are two recognized subspecies, C. s. salinus and C. s. milleri and it is endemic to two small, isolated locations and currently classified as endangered. The desert pupfish is a small, silvery colored fish with 6-9 dark bands on its sides and it has an average length of 3.7 centimetres, with a recorded maximum of 7.8 centimetres. The males turn blue during mating season, April through October. The pupfish can withstand harsh conditions that would kill other fish, water that is 4 times more saline than the ocean, hot water up to 116 °F, and cold water down to 32 °F. This species is known from two locations in Death Valley, Salt Creek at about 49 meters below sea level, and Cottonball Marsh. They are thought to be the remainders of an ecosystem of fish species that lived in Lake Manly. The Salt Creek subspecies is found at River Springs and Soda Lake. The desert pupfish has been classified as endangered by the IUCN due to its restricted distribution. Numbers of individuals at the locations are highly variable, and fluctuate with water level. Pupfish Cyprinodon - Genus Tecopa Pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae Saratoga pupfish, Amargosa pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosa Found in the Amargosa River northwest of Saratoga Springs. Devils Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis, critically endangered, Found in Devils Hole 37 miles east of Furnace Creek, in western Nevada. CS1 maint, Uses authors parameter Lema, S. C, the phenotypic plasticity of Death Valleys pupfish, desert fish are revealing how the environment alters development to modify body shape and behavior. Jahren, A. H. Sanford, K. L. Ground-water is the source of the Salt Creek pupfish habitat, Death Valley. CS1 maint, Uses authors parameter Media related to Cyprinodon salinus at Wikimedia Commons Cyprinodon salinus
23.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
24.
Native Americans in the United States
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In the United States, Native Americans are people descended from the Pre-Columbian indigenous population of the land within the countrys modern boundaries. These peoples were composed of distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups. Most Native American groups had historically preserved their histories by oral traditions and artwork, at the time of first contact, the indigenous cultures were quite different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Some of the Northeastern and Southwestern cultures in particular were matrilineal, the majority of Indigenous American tribes maintained their hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire tribe. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. Assimilation became a consistent policy through American administrations, during the 19th century, the ideology of manifest destiny became integral to the American nationalist movement. Expansion of European-American populations to the west after the American Revolution resulted in increasing pressure on Native American lands and this resulted in the ethnic cleansing of many tribes, with the brutal, forced marches coming to be known as The Trail of Tears. As American expansion reached into the West, settler and miner migrants came into increasing conflict with the Great Basin, Great Plains and these were complex nomadic cultures based on horse culture and seasonal bison hunting. Over time, the United States forced a series of treaties and land cessions by the tribes, in 1924, Native Americans who were not already U. S. citizens were granted citizenship by Congress. Contemporary Native Americans have a relationship with the United States because they may be members of nations, tribes. The terms used to refer to Native Americans have at times been controversial, by comparison, the indigenous peoples of Canada are generally known as First Nations. It is not definitively known how or when the Native Americans first settled the Americas and these early inhabitants, called Paleoamericans, soon diversified into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. The archaeological periods used are the classifications of archaeological periods and cultures established in Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips 1958 book Method and they divided the archaeological record in the Americas into five phases, see Archaeology of the Americas. The Clovis culture, a hunting culture, is primarily identified by use of fluted spear points. Artifacts from this culture were first excavated in 1932 near Clovis, the Clovis culture ranged over much of North America and also appeared in South America. The culture is identified by the distinctive Clovis point, a flaked flint spear-point with a notched flute, dating of Clovis materials has been by association with animal bones and by the use of carbon dating methods. Recent reexaminations of Clovis materials using improved carbon-dating methods produced results of 11,050 and 10,800 radiocarbon years B. P, other tribes have stories that recount migrations across long tracts of land and a great river, believed to be the Mississippi River. Genetic and linguistic data connect the people of this continent with ancient northeast Asians
25.
Timbisha
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The Timbisha are a Native American tribe federally recognized as the Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Band of California. They are known as the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and are located in south central California, as of the 2010 Census the population of the Village was 24. The older members still speak the language, also called Timbisha. The Timbisha have lived in the Death Valley region of North America for over a thousand years, in 1933 President Herbert Hoover created Death Valley National Monument, an action that subsumed the tribes homeland within park boundaries. Despite their long-time presence in the region, the failed to provide a homeland for the Timbisha people. Thereafter tribal members survived within monument boundaries, although their status was challenged by monument officials. They also lived in the Great Basin Saline Valley and northern Mojave Desert Panamint Valley areas of present-day southeastern California, estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. Alfred L. Kroeber put the combined 1770 population of the Timbisha and he estimated the population of the Timbisha and Chemehuevi in 1910 as 500. With the help of the California Indian Legal Services, Timbisha Shoshone members led by Pauline Esteves, the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe was recognized by the US government in 1982. In this effort, they were one of the first tribes to secure tribal status through the Bureau of Indian Affairs Federal Acknowledgment Process, the tribes reservation, the Death Valley Indian Community, was established in 1982. Located within Death Valley National Park at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, Inyo County, in 1990 it was 40 acres in size and had a population of 199 tribal member residents. After much tribal effort, federal politics, and mutual compromise, currently the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe consists of around 300 members, usually 50 of whom live at the Death Valley Indian Community at Furnace Creek within Death Valley National Park. Many members spend the summers at Lone Pine in the Owens Valley to the west, the Timbisha have been known as the California Shoshoni, Death Valley Shoshone, Panamint Shoshone or simply Panamint. Julian Steward distinguished Death Valley Shoshone from the Kawaiisu in southern Death Valley, harold Driver recorded two Panamint subgroups in Death Valley, the ohya and the tumbica in 1937. The tribe never hyphenates its name, both the California Desert Protection Act and the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act spell their name correctly. Indian Village, California Timbisha language Hinton, Leanne, handbook of North American Indians, Volume 11, Great Basin. A Native American Encyclopedia, History, Culture, and Peoples, thomas, David Hurst, Lorann S. A. Pendleton, and Stephen C. Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 11, Great Basin, a Tripartite State of Affairs, The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1934–1994, American Indian Culture and Research Journal,22, 117-136)
26.
California Gold Rush
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The California Gold Rush began on January 24,1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutters Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States, the Gold Rush initiated the California Genocide, with 100,000 Native Californians dying between 1848 and 1868. By the time it ended, California had gone from a thinly populated ex-Mexican territory to the state of the first nominee for the Republican Party. The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial, whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called forty-niners. The first to hear confirmed information of the rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Latin America. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California, in 1849 a state constitution was written. The new constitution was adopted by vote, and the future states interim first governor. In September,1850, California became a state, at the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of staking claims was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, although the mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service, by 1869 railroads were built across the country from California to the eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, Gold worth tens of billions of todays dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with more than they had started with. The Mexican–American War ended on February 3,1848, although California was firmly in American hands before that, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided for, among other things, the formal transfer of Upper California to the United States. The California Gold Rush began at Sutters Mill, near Coloma, on January 24,1848, James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River. Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, and the two tested the metal. However, rumors started to spread and were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher
27.
Boomtown
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A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. Early boomtowns, such as Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester, experienced a surge in population. In pre-industrial England these towns had been relative backwaters, compared to the important market towns of Bristol, Norwich, and York. In the mid-19th century, boomtowns based on natural resources began to proliferate as companies, the biggest boomtown in the early 21st century is in North Dakota, where oil fields are being exploited. Often, boomtowns are the site of economic prosperity and social disruption, as the local culture and infrastructure, if any. Sometimes, all or nearly the population can desert the town. This can also place on a planned basis. Joseph, Florida San Francisco, California, US settlement after winning Mexican War San Luis, Arizona Seattle, Washington, became a prosperous port city during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897
28.
Ore
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An ore is a type of rock that contains sufficient minerals with important elements including metals that can be economically extracted from the rock. The ores are extracted from the earth through mining, they are refined to extract the valuable element. The grade or concentration of an ore mineral, or metal, as well as its form of occurrence, will directly affect the costs associated with mining the ore. The cost of extraction must thus be weighed against the value contained in the rock to determine what ore can be processed. Metal ores are generally oxides, sulfides, silicates, or native metals that are not commonly concentrated in the Earths crust, the ores must be processed to extract the metals of interest from the waste rock and from the ore minerals. Ore bodies are formed by a variety of geological processes, the process of ore formation is called ore genesis. An ore deposit is an accumulation of ore and this is distinct from a mineral resource as defined by the mineral resource classification criteria. An ore deposit is one occurrence of a particular ore type, Ore deposits are classified according to various criteria developed via the study of economic geology, or ore genesis. Stratiform arkose-hosted and shale-hosted copper, typified by the Zambian copperbelt and this identifies, early on, whether further investment in estimation and engineering studies is warranted and identifies key risks and areas for further work. This is because the distribution of ores is unequal and dislocated from locations of peak demand. Other, lesser, commodities do not have international clearing houses and benchmark prices and this generally makes determining the price of ores of this nature opaque and difficult. Such metals include lithium, niobium-tantalum, bismuth, antimony and rare earths, most of these commodities are also dominated by one or two major suppliers with >60% of the worlds reserves. The London Metal Exchange aims to add uranium to its list of metals on warrant, the World Bank reports that China was the top importer of ores and metals in 2005 followed by the USA and Japan. Economic geology Mineral resource classification Ore genesis Petrology Froth Flotation Extractive metallurgy DILL, the “chessboard” classification scheme of mineral deposits, Mineralogy and geology from aluminum to zirconium, Earth-Science Reviews, Volume 100, Issue 1-4, June 2010, Pages 1-420
29.
Borax
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Soid Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. Powdered borax is white, consisting of colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water. Borax has a variety of uses. It is a component of many detergents, cosmetics, and enamel glazes, in artisanal gold mining, the borax method is sometimes used as a substitute for toxic mercury in the gold extraction process. Borax was reportedly used by miners in parts of the Philippines in the 1900s. The term borax is used for a number of closely related minerals or chemical compounds that differ in their water content. Commercially sold borax is partially dehydrated, Borax was first discovered in dry lake beds in Tibet and was imported via the Silk Road to the Arabian Peninsula in the 8th Century AD. However, it is formulated as Na2·8H2O, since borax contains the 2− ion. In this structure, there are two four-coordinate boron atoms and two boron atoms. Borax is also converted to boric acid and other borates. When borax is added to a flame, it produces a green color. Borax is not used for purpose in fireworks due to the overwhelming yellow color of sodium. Boric acid is used to color methanol flames a transparent green, the English word borax is Latinized, the Middle English form was boras, from Old French boras, bourras. That may have been from medieval Latin baurach, borac, borax, or maybe directly from the Arabic, along with Spanish borrax and Italian borrace, the Arabic was بورق bauraq/bwrk, a word also used for borax. Traditional Arabic dictionaries say that it derives from the verb to glisten, which is also written بورق bwrq, but it seems to actually derive from the Persian būrah. The word borax is found in Arabic būraq, meaning white, which is from Middle Persian bwrk, another name for borax is tincal, from Sanskrit. The word tincal /ˈtɪŋkəl/ tinkle, or tincar /ˈtɪŋkər/ tinker, refers to crude borax, before it is purified, as mined from deposits in Tibet, Persia. The word was adopted in the 17th century from Malay tingkal and from Urdu/Persian/Arabic تنکار tinkār/tankār and these all appear to be related to the Sanskrit टांकण ṭānkaṇa
30.
Twenty-mule team
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For information on the cleaning product, please see Twenty-Mule-Team Borax. For the film starring Wallace Beery, see 20 Mule Team, twenty-mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that ferried borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. They traveled from mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur,165 miles away in Mojave, the routes were from the Harmony and Amargosa Borax Works to Daggett, California, and later Mojave, California. After Harmony and Amargosa shut down in 1888, the teams route was moved to the mines at Borate,3 miles east of Calico. There they worked from 1891 until 1898 when they were replaced by the Borate, the wagons were among the largest ever pulled by draft animals, designed to carry 10 short tons of borax ore at a time. The twenty-mule-team wagons were designed to carry 10 short tons of ore at a time. The rear wheels measured seven feet high, with tires made of one-inch-thick iron. The wagon beds measured 16 feet long and were 6 feet deep, constructed of oak, they weighed 7,800 pounds empty, when loaded with ore. The first wagon was the trailer, the second was the tender or the action. With the mules, the caravan stretched over 180 feet, no wagon ever broke down in transit on the desert due to their construction. A1, 200-U. S. -gallon water tank was added to supply the mules with water en route, There were water barrels on the wagons for the teamster and the swamper. Water supplies were refilled at springs along the way, as it was not possible to carry water for the entire trip. The tank water was used at dry camps and water stops, the June 1940 issue of Desert Magazine confirms that the primary water tank was 1200 U. S. gallons. This detail is given in The History Behind the Scale Model. An efficient system of dispersing feed and water along the road was put in use, Teams outbound from Mojave, pulling empty wagons, hauled their own feed and supplies, which were dropped off at successive camps as the outfit traveled. The supplies would be on hand to use when a wagon came back the other way. There was one stretch of road where a 500-gallon wagon was added to water to a dry camp for the team that would be coming from the opposite direction. The arriving team would use the water and take the empty back to the spring on their haul the next day
31.
Stovepipe Wells, California
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Stovepipe Wells is a small way-station in the northern part of Death Valley, in unincorporated community Inyo County, California. Stovepipe Wells is located at 36°36′22″N 117°08′47″W and is US Geological Survey feature ID235564 and it is entirely inside Death Valley National Park and along State Route 190 at less than 10 feet above sea level. West on SR190 is Towne Pass at about 4,950 feet above sea level, eventually, the road meets Panamint Valley Road at Panamint Junction in the Panamint Valley. East on SR190 the road leads to Furnace Creek and Death Valley Junction, variant names listed for the Inyo County location by USGS include Stove Pipe Wells Hotel and Stovepipe Wells Hotel. The US Postal Service ZIP Code is 92328, and the name is spelled Stove Pipe Wells in some postal renditions. It is commonly referred to as Stovepipe Wells Village, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Stovepipe Wells has a hot desert climate, abbreviated BWh on climate maps. Its average high temperature is greater than 100 °F from June through September, the first temporary settlement at Stovepipe Wells came into being when a road between Rhyolite and Skidoo was begun in 1906 to ameliorate the approach to the mine at Skidoo. A collection of tents was erected to serve travelers with food, drink, in 1925, entrepreneur Bob Eichmann began construction of the hotel at Stovepipe Wells, along with a scenic toll road through Death Valley. This marked the beginning of the transition from mining community to tourist destination, the settlement is now registered as California Historical Landmark #826. Stovepipe Wells Village is home to the Stovepipe Wells Hotel, a hotel with swimming pool. The General Store offers sundries and food, and is adjacent to a gas station, Stovepipe Wells Village also houses the Badwater Saloon and Toll Road restaurant, The Nugget Gift Shop and a ranger station. The default format for wired telephone numbers in the community is in the Death Valley exchange, the community had manual telephone service until the late 1980s. The community is contained within the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, close to town are some fairly large and accessible stationary sand dunes on the floor of Death Valley. The dunes are roughly 7 miles long in the east–west axis and they are located in the space between Salt Creek and Emigrant Wash. Stovepipe Well, for which the community is named, is shown to the northeast at 36°39′33″N 117°04′44″W, Stovepipe Wells Airport is to the southwest at 36°36′14″N 117°09′33″W. The airport has an identifier of L09 and features a 3,7350. 7U Location Identifiers, The National Flight Data Center, Federal Aviation Administration ATPUBS, US Department of Transportation, September 1,2005. Map, Stovepipe Wells, California 7. 5-minute quadrangle, US Geological Survey,1988, National Geographic Names Database, US Geological Survey,1995. California Air Resources Board web site, Death Valley and the Amargosa, A Land of Illusion, University of California Press
32.
Furnace Creek, California
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Furnace Creek is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California. The population was 24 at the 2010 census, down from 31 at the 2000 census, the elevation of the village is 190 feet below sea level. The visitor center, museum, and headquarters of the Death Valley National Park are located at Furnace Creek, the village is surrounded by a number of Park Service public campgrounds. Two of the Parks major tourist facilities, the Furnace Creek Inn, the Furnace Creek Golf Course attached to the Ranch claims to be the lowest in the world, at 214 feet below sea level. There are also a restaurant, cafe, store, and gas station in Furnace Creek village, the Furnace Creek Airport is located about 0.75 miles west of the park headquarters. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 31.5 square miles. Springs in the Amargosa Range created an oasis at Furnace Creek. From 1911 through 2006, Furnace Creek had a high temperature of 91.4 °F. During that time period, the hottest month was July with a daily high temperature of 116.5 °F. Furnace Creek has the distinction of holding the record for the highest recorded temperature in the world, some meteorologists dispute the accuracy of the 1913 temperature measurement. In addition, a temperature of 201 °F was recorded in Furnace Creek on July 15,1972. The Timbisha Native Americans inhabited what is now known as the Furnace Creek oasis for centuries, Greenland Ranch was established by the William Tell Coleman Borax Company in 1883. It was named after the green Alfalfa fields planted at the location, a Weather Station was established at the ranch in 1891. Greenland Ranch was renamed Furnace Creek Ranch in 1933, the Timbisha tribe currently live at their Death Valley Indian Community reservation here. The Timbisha people provided many of the artisans and builders to construct the original Fred Harvey Company resort buildings, the Indian Village and they were one of the first tribes to secure tribal status through the Bureau of Indian Affairs Federal Acknowledgment Process. Furnace Creek was formerly the center of Death Valley mining and operations for the Pacific Coast Borax Company, on the afternoon of July 10,1913, a temperature of 134 °F was recorded at Greenland Ranch. This temperature stands as the highest ambient air temperature recorded at the surface of the Earth. The 2010 United States Census reported that Furnace Creek had a population of 24, the population density was 0.8 people per square mile
33.
Graben
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In geology, a graben is a depressed block of the Earths crust bordered by parallel faults. Graben is German for ditch or trench, the plural form is either graben or grabens. A graben is a valley with an escarpment on each side caused by the displacement of a block of land downward. Graben often occur side-by-side with horsts, horst and graben structures indicate tensional forces and crustal stretching. Graben are produced from parallel normal faults, where the displacement of the wall is downward. The faults typically dip toward the center of the graben from both sides, horsts are parallel blocks that remain between graben, the bounding faults of a horst typically dip away from the center line of the horst. Single or multiple graben can produce a rift valley, in many rifts, the graben are asymmetric, with a major fault along only one of the boundaries, and these are known as half-graben. The polarity of the bounding faults typically alternates along the length of the rift. The asymmetry of a half-graben strongly affects syntectonic deposition, comparatively little sediment enters the half-graben across the main bounding fault because of footwall uplift on the drainage systems. The exception is at any offset in the bounding fault. Most of the sediment will enter the half-graben down the hanging wall side. S. Central Graben, North Sea Viking Graben, North Sea Fossa
34.
Rock (geology)
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Rock or stone is a natural substance, a solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids. For example, granite, a rock, is a combination of the minerals quartz, feldspar. The Earths outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock, rock has been used by mankind throughout history. The minerals and metals found in rocks have been essential to human civilization, three major groups of rocks are defined, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The scientific study of rocks is called petrology, which is a component of geology. At a granular level, rocks are composed of grains of minerals, the aggregate minerals forming the rock are held together by chemical bonds. The types and abundance of minerals in a rock are determined by the manner in which the rock was formed, many rocks contain silica, a compound of silicon and oxygen that forms 74. 3% of the Earths crust. This material forms crystals with other compounds in the rock, the proportion of silica in rocks and minerals is a major factor in determining their name and properties. Rocks are geologically classified according to such as mineral and chemical composition, permeability, the texture of the constituent particles. These physical properties are the end result of the processes that formed the rocks, over the course of time, rocks can transform from one type into another, as described by the geological model called the rock cycle. These events produce three general classes of rock, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic, the three classes of rocks are subdivided into many groups. However, there are no hard and fast boundaries between allied rocks, hence the definitions adopted in establishing rock nomenclature merely correspond to more or less arbitrary selected points in a continuously graduated series. Igneous rock forms through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava and this magma can be derived from partial melts of pre-existing rocks in either a planets mantle or crust. Typically, the melting of rocks is caused by one or more of three processes, an increase in temperature, a decrease in pressure, or a change in composition, igneous rocks are divided into two main categories, plutonic rock and volcanic. Plutonic or intrusive rocks result when magma cools and crystallizes slowly within the Earths crust, a common example of this type is granite. Volcanic or extrusive rocks result from magma reaching the surface either as lava or fragmental ejecta, the chemical abundance and the rate of cooling of magma typically forms a sequence known as Bowens reaction series. Most major igneous rocks are found along this scale, about 64. 7% of the Earths crust by volume consists of igneous rocks, making it the most plentiful category. Of these, 66% are basalts and gabbros, 16% are granite, only 0. 6% are syenites and 0. 3% peridotites and dunites
35.
Metamorphism
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Metamorphism is the change of minerals or geologic texture in pre-existing rocks, without the protolith melting into liquid magma. The change occurs primarily due to heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically active fluids, the chemical components and crystal structures of the minerals making up the rock may change even though the rock remains a solid. Changes at or just beneath Earths surface due to weathering and/or diagenesis are not classified as metamorphism, Metamorphism typically occurs between diagenesis, and melting. Three types of metamorphism exist, contact, dynamic, and regional, Metamorphism produced with increasing pressure and temperature conditions is known as prograde metamorphism. Conversely, decreasing temperatures and pressure characterize retrograde metamorphism, Metamorphic rocks can change without melting. When pressure is applied, somewhat flattened grains that orient in the same direction have a stable configuration. The upper boundary of metamorphic conditions is related to the onset of melting processes in the rock, the maximum temperature for metamorphism is typically 700 –900 °C, depending on the pressure and on the composition of the rock. Migmatites are rocks formed at this limit, which contain pods. Since the 1980s it has recognized that rocks are rarely dry enough. Conditions producing widespread regionally metamorphosed rocks occur during an orogenic event, the collision of two continental plates or island arcs with continental plates produce the extreme compressional forces required for the metamorphic changes typical of regional metamorphism. These orogenic mountains are eroded, exposing the intensely deformed rocks typical of their cores. The conditions within the slab as it plunges toward the mantle in a subduction zone also produce regional metamorphic effects. The techniques of structural geology are used to unravel the collisional history, regional metamorphism can be described and classified into metamorphic facies or metamorphic zones of temperature/pressure conditions throughout the orogenic terrane. Contact metamorphism occurs typically around intrusive igneous rocks as a result of the increase caused by the intrusion of magma into cooler country rock. The area surrounding the intrusion where the contact metamorphism effects are present is called the metamorphic aureole, contact metamorphic rocks are usually known as hornfels. Rocks formed by contact metamorphism may not present signs of deformation and are often fine-grained. Contact metamorphism is greater adjacent to the intrusion and dissipates with distance from the contact, the size of the aureole depends on the heat of the intrusion, its size, and the temperature difference with the wall rocks. Dikes generally have small aureoles with minimal metamorphism whereas large ultramafic intrusions can have significantly thick, the metamorphic grade of an aureole is measured by the peak metamorphic mineral which forms in the aureole
36.
Rift
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In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the Earths crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben with normal faulting, where rifts remain above sea level they form a rift valley, which may be filled by water forming a rift lake. The axis of the area may contain volcanic rocks, and active volcanism is a part of many. Major rifts occur along the axis of most mid-ocean ridges. Failed rifts are the result of rifting that failed to continue to the point of break-up. Typically the transition from rifting to spreading develops at a junction where three converging rifts meet over a hotspot. Two of these evolve to the point of spreading, while the third ultimately fails. Most rifts consist of a series of segments that together form the linear zone characteristic of rifts. The individual rift segments have a dominantly half-graben geometry, controlled by a single basin-bounding fault, segment lengths vary between rifts, depending on the elastic thickness of the lithosphere. Areas of thick colder lithosphere, such as the Baikal Rift have segment lengths in excess of 80 km, while in areas of warmer thin lithosphere, segment lengths may be less than 30 km. Along the axis of the rift the position, and in cases the polarity. Segment boundaries often have a complex structure and generally cross the rift axis at a high angle. These segment boundary zones accommodate the differences in fault displacement between the segments and are known as accommodation zones. Accommodation zones may be located where older crustal structures intersect the rift axis, in the Gulf of Suez rift, the Zaafarana accommodation zone is located where a shear zone in the Arabian-Nubian Shield meets the rift. At the onset of rifting, the part of the lithosphere starts to extend on a series of initially unconnected normal faults. In subaerial rifts, drainage at this stage is generally internal, as the rift evolves, some of the individual fault segments grow, eventually becoming linked together to form the larger bounding faults. Subsequent extension becomes concentrated on these faults, the longer faults and wider fault spacing leads to more continuous areas of fault-related subsidence along the rift axis. Significant uplift of the rift shoulders develops at this stage, strongly influencing drainage, during rifting, as the crust is thinned, the Earths surface subsides and the Moho becomes correspondingly raised
37.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
38.
Subduction
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Subduction is a geological process that takes place at convergent boundaries of tectonic plates where one plate moves under another and is forced or sinks due to gravity into the mantle. Regions where this occurs are known as subduction zones. Rates of subduction are typically in centimeters per year, with the rate of convergence being approximately two to eight centimeters per year along most plate boundaries. Plates include both oceanic crust and continental crust, stable subduction zones involve the oceanic lithosphere of one plate sliding beneath the continental or oceanic lithosphere of another plate due to the higher density of the oceanic lithosphere. That is, the lithosphere is always oceanic while the overriding lithosphere may or may not be oceanic. Subduction zones are sites that have a rate of volcanism, earthquakes. Subduction zones are sites of convective downwelling of Earths lithosphere, subduction zones exist at convergent plate boundaries where one plate of oceanic lithosphere converges with another plate. The descending slab, the plate, is over-ridden by the leading edge of the other plate. The slab sinks at an angle of approximately twenty-five to forty-five degrees to Earths surface and this sinking is driven by the temperature difference between the subducting oceanic lithosphere and the surrounding mantle asthenosphere, as the colder oceanic lithosphere is, on average, denser. At a depth of approximately 80–120 kilometers, the basalt of the oceanic crust is converted to a rock called eclogite. At that point, the density of the oceanic crust increases and provides additional negative buoyancy and it is at subduction zones that Earths lithosphere, oceanic crust, sedimentary layers and some trapped water are recycled into the deep mantle. Earth is so far the only planet where subduction is known to occur, subduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics, and without it, plate tectonics could not occur. Subduction zones dive down into the mantle beneath 55,000 kilometers of convergent plate margins, subduction zones burrow deeply but are imperfectly camouflaged, and geophysics and geochemistry can be used to study them. Not surprisingly, the shallowest portions of subduction zones are known best, subduction zones are strongly asymmetric for the first several hundred kilometers of their descent. They start to go down at oceanic trenches and their descents are marked by inclined zones of earthquakes that dip away from the trench beneath the volcanoes and extend down to the 660-kilometer discontinuity. Subduction zones are defined by the array of earthquakes known as the Wadati–Benioff zone after the two scientists who first identified this distinctive aspect. Subduction zone earthquakes occur at greater depths than elsewhere on Earth, such deep earthquakes may be driven by deep phase transformations, thermal runaway, the subducting basalt and sediment are normally rich in hydrous minerals and clays. Additionally, large quantities of water are introduced into cracks and fractures created as the slab bends downward
39.
Orogeny
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An Orogeny is an event that leads to a large structural deformation of the Earths lithosphere due to the interaction between tectonic plates. Orogens or orogenic belts develop when a plate is crumpled and is pushed upwards to form mountain ranges. Orogeny is the mechanism by which mountains are built on continents. The word orogeny comes from Ancient Greek, though it was used before him, the term was employed by the American geologist G. K. Gilbert in 1890 to describe the process of mountain building as distinguished from epeirogeny. Formation of an orogen is accomplished in part by the processes of subduction or convergence of two or more continents. Orogeny usually produces long arcuate structures, known as orogenic belts, generally, orogenic belts consist of long parallel strips of rock exhibiting similar characteristics along the length of the belt. Orogenic belts are associated with zones, which consume crust, produce volcanoes. Geologists attribute the arcuate structure to the rigidity of the descending plate and these island arcs may be added to a continent during an orogenic event. The processes of orogeny can take tens of millions of years, frequently, rock formations that undergo orogeny are severely deformed and undergo metamorphism. Orogenic processes may push deeply buried rocks to the surface, sea-bottom and near-shore material may cover some or all of the orogenic area. If the orogeny is due to two continents colliding, very high mountains can result, an orogenic event may be studied, as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and as a chronological event. The foreland basin forms ahead of the orogen due mainly to loading and resulting flexure of the lithosphere by the mountain belt. The basin migrates with the front and early deposited foreland basin sediments become progressively involved in folding and thrusting. Sediments deposited in the basin are mainly derived from the erosion of the actively uplifting rocks of the mountain range. The fill of many such shows an change in time from deepwater marine through shallow water to continental sediments. Although orogeny involves plate tectonics, the tectonic forces result in a variety of associated phenomena, including magmatism, metamorphism, crustal melting, what exactly happens in a specific orogen depends upon the strength and rheology of the continental lithosphere, and how these properties change during orogenesis. In addition to orogeny, the orogen is subject to other processes, for example, the Caledonian Orogeny refers to the Silurian and Devonian events that resulted from the collision of Laurentia with Eastern Avalonia and other former fragments of Gondwana. The Caledonian Orogen resulted from events and various others that are part of its peculiar orogenic cycle
40.
Volcano
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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
41.
Crust (geology)
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In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle. The crust of the Earth is composed of a variety of igneous, metamorphic. The crust is underlain by the mantle, the upper part of the mantle is composed mostly of peridotite, a rock denser than rocks common in the overlying crust. The boundary between the crust and mantle is conventionally placed at the Mohorovičić discontinuity, a boundary defined by a contrast in seismic velocity, the crust occupies less than 1% of Earths volume. The crust of the Earth is of two types, oceanic and continental. The oceanic crust is 5 km to 10 km thick and is composed primarily of basalt, diabase, the continental crust is typically from 30 km to 50 km thick and is mostly composed of slightly less dense rocks than those of the oceanic crust. Some of these less dense rocks, such as granite, are common in the continental crust, both the continental and oceanic crust float on the mantle. Because the continental crust is thicker, it both to greater elevations and greater depth than the oceanic crust. The slightly lower density of continental rock compared to basaltic oceanic rock contributes to the higher relative elevation of the top of the continental crust. As the top of the continental crust reaches elevations higher than that of the oceanic, the temperature of the crust increases with depth, reaching values typically in the range from about 200 °C to 400 °C at the boundary with the underlying mantle. The crust and underlying relatively rigid uppermost mantle make up the lithosphere, because of convection in the underlying plastic upper mantle and asthenosphere, the lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates that move. The temperature increases by as much as 30 °C for every kilometer locally in the part of the crust. Earth has probably always had some form of basaltic crust, in contrast, the bulk of the continental crust is much older. The oldest continental crustal rocks on Earth have ages in the range from about 3.7 to 4, some zircon with age as great as 4.3 billion years has been found in the Narryer Gneiss Terrane. The average age of the current Earths continental crust has been estimated to be about 2.0 billion years, most crustal rocks formed before 2.5 billion years ago are located in cratons. Such old continental crust and the underlying mantle asthenosphere are less dense than elsewhere in Earth, formation of new continental crust is linked to periods of intense orogeny, these periods coincide with the formation of the supercontinents such as Rodinia, Pangaea and Gondwana. The continental crust has a composition similar to that of andesite. The most abundant minerals in Earths continental crust are feldspars, which make up about 41% of the crust by weight, followed by quartz at 12%, Continental crust is enriched in incompatible elements compared to the basaltic ocean crust and much enriched compared to the underlying mantle
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Basin and Range Province
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The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region that covers much of the inland Western United States and northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, characterized by changes in elevation. The physiography of the province is the result of tectonic extension that began around 17 Mya in Early Miocene time, the numerous ranges within the Province in the United States are collectively referred to as the Great Basin Ranges, although many are not actually in the Great Basin. Major ranges include the Snake Range, the Panamint Range, the White Mountains, the Sandia Mountains, pico de Orizaba is unambiguously part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt which has little in common with the Basin and Range Province. The highest point fully within the Province is White Mountain Peak in California, the Provinces climate is arid, with numerous ecoregions. Most North American deserts are located in the Province, the Basin and Range Province includes much of western North America. The Basin and Range Province extends north to the Columbia Plateau and south as far as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in Mexico, though the boundaries of the Basin. In Mexico, the Basin and Range Province is dominated by, common geographic features include numerous endorheic basins, ephemeral lakes, plateaus, and valleys alternating with mountains. The area is arid and sparsely populated, although there are several major metropolitan areas, including Mexico City. It is generally accepted that basin and range topography is the result of extension and thinning of the lithosphere, extensional environments like the Basin and Range are characterized by listric normal faulting, or faults that level out with depth. Opposing normal faults link at depth producing a horst and graben geometry, the average crustal thickness of the Basin and Range Province is approximately 30 –35 km and is comparable to extended continental crust around the world. The crust in conjunction with the mantle comprises the lithosphere. The base of the lithosphere beneath the Basin and Range is estimated to be about 60 –70 km, opinions vary regarding the total extension of the region, however, the median estimate is about 100% total lateral extension. Evidence exists to suggest that extension began in the southern Basin and Range. The tectonic mechanisms responsible for extension in the Basin and Range province are controversial. Most of the pertinent tectonic plate movement associated with the Basin and Range Province occurred in Neogene time, by Early Miocene time, much of the Farallon Plate had been consumed, and the seafloor spreading ridge that separated the Farallon Plate from the Pacific Plate approached North America. The movement at this boundary divided the East Pacific Rise and spawned the San Andreas transform fault, today, the Pacific Plate moves north-westward relative to North America, a configuration which has given rise to increased shearing along the continental margin. The tectonic activity responsible for the extension in the Basin and Range is a complex, the most accepted hypothesis suggests that crustal shearing associated with the San Andreas Fault caused spontaneous extensional faulting similar to that seen in the Great Basin
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Glacial period
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A glacial period is an interval of time within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the hand, are periods of warmer climate between glacial periods. The last glacial period ended about 15,000 years ago, the Holocene epoch is the current interglacial. A time when there are no glaciers on Earth is considered a greenhouse climate state, within the Quaternary glaciation, there have been a number of glacials and interglacials. The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age, occurring in the Pleistocene epoch, the glacial advance reached its maximum extent about 18,000 BP. In Europe, the ice sheet reached northern Germany, since orbital variations are predictable, computer models that relate orbital variations to climate can predict future climate possibilities. Work by Berger and Loutre suggests that the current warm climate may last another 50,000 years
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Lake Manly
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Lake Manly is a former pluvial lake in Death Valley, California. The lake formerly covered much of Death Valley with an area of 1,600 square kilometres during the so-called Blackwelder stand. The lake received water mainly from the Amargosa River and at various points from the Mojave River, the lake and its substantial catchment favoured the spread of a number of aquatic species, the spread of some lizards, pupfish and springsnails was aided by its waters. A number of diatoms developed in the lake, which supported a substantial ecosystem. Lake Manly existed during different times in the geological past, after the drying of this lake a later lake stage occurred 35,000 -10,000 years ago during the Tioga/Wisconsin glaciation, this lake was smaller than the Blackwelder lake. During the Holocene, the disappeared, today only ephemeral lakes occur in Death Valley during strong floods. Lake Manly is one among many major lakes that formed in the Great Basin, Lake Manly collected the overflow from a number of lakes including Lake Tecopa, Mono Lake, Lake Owens, Searles Lake, Lake Panamint, Lake Mojave, Lake Dumont and Lake Manix. Not all of them existed or drained into Lake Manly simultaneously, the formation of Lake Manly was caused by decreasing temperatures and hence decreasing evaporation as well as increased precipitation during the ice ages. Other lake systems in the Great Basin expanded due to the causes as well. The lake was named in honour of William Lewis Manly, Manly in 1849 rescued white immigrants from Death Valley. The name Lake Rogers for a potential northern lake in Death Valley was derived from a compatriot of Manly, the name Lake Manly was coined in 1932, and is sometimes spelled as Manley, which is a misspelling. Other names for the lakes in Death Valley are Death Valley Pleistocene lakes and Death Valley Lake, the existence of a lake in Death Valley in the past was also considered during that time, although it was at first not universally accepted that it had been a large lake. The first evidence for it to have been a lake was described in 1924 by Levi F. Noble. Already before in 1890 did Grove Karl Gilbert assume a lake had existed in Death Valley, while the deposits were once attributed to a single lake stand, later evidence of various lake cycles going back to the Pliocene was found. The history of Lake Manly is not as well understood as that of Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville, more recently, the fact that Lake Manly formerly drained the area of Yucca Mountain, a proposed nuclear waste repository, has lead to renewed scientific interest. The Badwater Basin is the deepest point in North America, Death Valley started to form about 14 million years ago, and by the Pliocene it was well developed. The valley is kept deep by vertical faulting, which is faster here than anywhere else in the US, various types of rocks form the surface areas of Death Valley, some going back as far as the Precambrian. Thus, shorelines from the lake stands are often not at the same altitude in various parts of the basin
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Dark-sky preserve
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A dark-sky preserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that is kept free of artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy, because different national organizations have worked independently to create their programs, different terms have been used to describe the areas. This has led to confusion between the reserve, preserve, and park. The International Dark-Sky Association chooses reserve to avoid confusion with park, in 1999, the first permanent preserve was established at Torrance Barrens in the Muskoka region of southern Ontario. Nevertheless, protection zones around observatories existed well before the creation of that preserve, the IDA recognizes protected areas outside the United States. The Mont Mégantic Observatory in Quebec is the first such site to be recognized as International Dark Sky Reserve, IDA has also recognized Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah as the worlds first International Dark Sky Park. Canada has established a standard for dark sky preserves that addresses lighting within the DSP. This was based on the work of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, there are no other established standards for dark sky preserves. Outside Canada, such designations are generally through self-proclamation, as a result, the validity of such a designation may be dubious. In some cases, dark sky preserves are neither dark nor protected and it is generally understood that a Dark Sky Preserve, or Dark Sky Reserve, should be sufficiently dark to promote astronomy. However this is not always the case, the lighting protocol for a Dark Sky Preserve is based on the sensitivity of wildlife to artificial light at night. The lighting protocol for the RASC is based primarily on wildlife sensitivity, International Dark Sky Parks - Parks are publicly or privately owned spaces protected for natural conservation that implement good outdoor lighting and provide dark sky programs for visitors. International Dark Sky Reserves - Reserves consist of a dark “core” zone surrounded by a populated periphery where policy controls are enacted to protect the darkness of the core, International Dark Sky Sanctuaries - Sanctuaries are the most remote places in the world whose conservation state is most fragile. Some regions, like the following, are protected without any reference to an observatory or a park and these guidelines are more stringent than in other countries that lack the extensive wilderness areas that still exist in Canada. The management of a Canadian DSP extends their outreach programs from the public visit the site to include the promotion of better lighting policies in surrounding urban areas. Currently, dark-sky preserves have more control over internal and external lighting than other programs, with the increase in regional light pollution, some observatories have actively worked with cities in their region to establish protection zones where there is controlled light pollution. These areas may not yet have been declared dark-sky preserves, although dark-sky preserve designations are generally sought by astronomers, it is clear that preserving natural darkness has positive effects on the health of nocturnal wildlife within the parks. Noctcaelador Scotobiology United States National Radio Quiet Zone Izera Dark-Sky Park Poloniny Dark-Sky Park Torrance Barrens Veľká Fatra Dark-Sky Park
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International Dark-Sky Association
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The mission of the IDA is to preserve and protect the night time environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting. Light pollution is the result of outdoor lighting that is not properly shielded, allowing light to be directed into the eyes, light that shines into the eyes is called glare and light shining into the night sky above the horizon causes skyglow. Lighting can also cause light trespass when it is directed into areas that it is not wanted, e. g. a neighbors yard, IDA was the first organization in the dark-sky movement, and is currently the largest. In 2011, the organization had about 5,000 members in 70 countries, among many concerns, IDA and related organizations are collating research on light at nights effects on human health and ecology as a result of artificial light at night. The hypothesis is that humans have evolved over millennia exposed to roughly equal periods of light, the disruption of this circadian rhythm can cause hormone imbalance in all living organisms. In the last century, artificial lighting has reduced the period of darkness. Light at night has been linked to increased incidence of hypertension, attention deficit disorder, obesity, diabetes and some forms of cancer
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Death Valley
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Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. It is one of the hottest places in the world at the height of summertime along with deserts in Africa, Death Valleys Badwater Basin is the point of the lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. This point is 84.6 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, Death Valleys Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest reliably recorded air temperature in the world,134 °F on July 10,1913. This has been contested by other weather experts and it is located mostly in Inyo County, California. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi, the highest point in Death Valley itself is Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet. Death Valley is one of the best geological examples of a basin and it lies at the southern end of a geological trough known as Walker Lane, which runs north into Oregon. The valley is bisected by a right lateral slip fault system, represented by the Death Valley Fault. The eastern end of the left lateral Garlock Fault intersects the Death Valley Fault, Furnace Creek and the Amargosa River flow through the valley but eventually disappear into the sands of the valley floor. Death Valley also contains salt pans, according to current geological consensus, at various times during the middle of the Pleistocene era, inland lakes formed in Death Valley. Lake Manly received water overflowing from a chain of other Pleistocene lakes, Death Valley has a subtropical, hot desert climate, with long, extremely hot summers and short, warm or mild winters, as well as little rainfall. As a general rule, lower altitudes tend to have higher temperatures, when the sun heats the ground, that heat is then radiated upward, but the dense below-sea-level air absorbs some of this radiation and radiates some of it back towards the ground. In addition, the valley walls trap rising hot air and recycle it back down to the valley floor. This process is important in Death Valley, as it provides its specific climate. The valley is surrounded by mountains, while its surface is flat and devoid of plants, so much of the suns heat can reach the ground, absorbed by soil. When air at ground level is heated, it begins to rise, moving up past steep, high mountain ranges, which then cools slightly, sinking back down towards the valley more compressed. This air is reheated by the sun to a higher temperature, moving up the mountain again, whereby the air moves up and down in a circular motion in cycles. This heated air increases ground temperature markedly, forming the hot wind currents that are trapped by atmospheric pressure and mountains, Death Valley holds temperature records because it has an unusually high number of factors that lead to high atmospheric temperatures. The depth and shape of Death Valley influence its summer temperatures, the valley is a long, narrow basin 282 feet below sea level, yet is walled by high, steep mountain ranges
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Panamint Valley
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The northern end of the valley is in Death Valley National Park and Inyo County, California. The valley lies in a direction, and stretches from the Panamint Dunes in the north to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in San Bernardino County in the south. The valley is approximately 65 miles in length, and is more than 10 miles wide in the Hall Canyon area, the ghost town of Ballarat is located in the Panamint Valley about three miles east of Trona Road, near Happy Canyon. The former Epsom Salts Monorail crossed the valley on a wooden trestle, a radar station is located near the town of Ballarat at the south end of the valley. Multiple sites along SR190, which crosses the north part of the valley, Barker Ranch, the last hideout of Charles Manson and the site at which he was arrested in 1969, is located at the southern end of the valley off Goler Canyon Road. Most of the Barker Family Ranch was burned down in 2009, the valley is an internally drained endorheic basin and its central salt flat/hardpan can contain an ephemeral lake, like it did after unusually heavy rains in the spring of 2005. During pluvial periods of the Pleistocene, inflow from a chain of streams, the airspace over Panamint Valley is part of the U. S. militarys vast R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex. The airspace is used by military aircraft from Nellis AFB, Edwards AFB, NAWS China Lake. R-2508 Panamint MOA/ATCAA Operating Procedures Desert. usa, Panamint Valley Areas of Interest
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Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Park Service.
