1.
Mohave County, Arizona
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Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U. S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 200,186, the county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. Mohave County comprises the Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area, Mohave County contains parts of Grand Canyon National Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area and all of the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. The Kaibab, Fort Mojave and Hualapai Indian Reservations also lie within the county, Mohave County was the one of four original Arizona Counties created by the 1st Arizona Territorial Legislature. The county territory was defined as being west of longitude 113°20. Pah-Ute County was created from it in 1865 and was merged back into Mohave County in 1871 when much of its territory was ceded to Nevada in 1866, the countys present boundaries were established in 1881. Mohave County has had five county seats, Mohave City, Hardyville, Cerbat, Mineral Park, and Kingman. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 13,461 square miles. It is the second-largest county by area in Arizona and the fifth-largest in the contiguous United States, the county consists of two sections divided by the Grand Canyon, with no direct land communication between them. The northern section, smaller and less populated, forms the part of the Arizona Strip, bordering Utah. The larger southern section, borders Nevada and California across the Colorado River, the southern section includes Kingman, the county seat, and other cities, as well as part of the Mojave Desert. Their combined land area is 89,567.34 square miles and they include the #1, #2, #5, and #7 largest counties outside of Alaska. Most of these are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the population density was 12 people per square mile. There were 80,062 housing units at a density of 6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 90. 06% White,0. 54% Black or African American,2. 41% Native American,0. 77% Asian,0. 11% Pacific Islander,4. 00% from other races, and 2. 13% from two or more races. 11. 08% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,24. 10% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the family size was 2.87. In the county, the population was out with 23. 10% under the age of 18,6. 50% from 18 to 24,23. 20% from 25 to 44,26. 70% from 45 to 64
2.
Clark County, Nevada
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Clark County is a county located in the U. S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,951,269 and it is by far the most populous county in Nevada, accounting more than two-thirds of its residents. Las Vegas, Nevadas most populous city, has been the county seat since the county was established, the county was formed by the Nevada Legislature by splitting off a portion of Lincoln County on February 5,1909, and came into existence on July 1,1909. The Las Vegas Valley, a 600 sq mi basin, includes Las Vegas as well as the primary population center. Much of the county was part of Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory before Nevada became a state. The county was named for William Andrews Clark, a Montana copper magnate, Clark was largely responsible for the construction of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad through the area, a factor heavily contributing to the regions early development. Clark County is today known as a major tourist destination, with 150,000 hotel rooms. The Las Vegas Strip, home to most of the known to many around the world, is located not within the City of Las Vegas city limits. It is, however, located in the Las Vegas Valley, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 8,061 square miles, of which 7,891 square miles is land and 169 square miles is water. The Colorado River forms the southeastern boundary, with Hoover Dam forming Lake Mead along much of its length. The lowest point in the state of Nevada is located on the Colorado River just south of Laughlin in Clark County, where it flows out of Nevada into California and Arizona. By definition, Greater Las Vegas is a valley, surrounded by four mountain ranges, with nearby Mount Charleston being the highest elevation at 11,918 ft. Other than the forests on Mount Charleston, the geography in Clark County is a desert, creosote bushes are the main native vegetation, and the mountains are mostly rocky with little vegetation. Many of these are located in, or partially located in,24. 50% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the family size was 3.17. In the county, the population was out with 25. 60% under the age of 18,9. 20% from 18 to 24,32. 20% from 25 to 44,22. 30% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years, for every 100 females there were 103.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.80 males, the median income for a household in the county was $53,536, and the median income for a family was $59,485
3.
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
4.
Lake
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A lake is an area of variable size filled with water, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land, apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. Most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams, natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers, in some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them. The word lake comes from Middle English lake, from Old English lacu, from Proto-Germanic *lakō, cognates include Dutch laak, Middle Low German lāke as in, de, Moorlake, de, Wolfslake, de, Butterlake, German Lache, and Icelandic lækur. Also related are the English words leak and leach, none of these definitions completely excludes ponds and all are difficult to measure. For this reason, simple size-based definitions are used to separate ponds. One definition of lake is a body of water of 2 hectares or more in area, however, others have defined lakes as waterbodies of 5 hectares and above, or 8 hectares and above. Charles Elton, one of the founders of ecology, regarded lakes as waterbodies of 40 hectares or more. The term lake is used to describe a feature such as Lake Eyre. In common usage, many bear names ending with the word pond. One textbook illustrates this point with the following, In Newfoundland, for example, almost every lake is called a pond, whereas in Wisconsin, the majority of lakes on Earth are fresh water, and most lie in the Northern Hemisphere at higher latitudes. Canada, with a drainage system has an estimated 31,752 lakes larger than 3 square kilometres and an unknown total number of lakes. Finland has 187,888 lakes 500 square metres or larger, most lakes have at least one natural outflow in the form of a river or stream, which maintain a lakes average level by allowing the drainage of excess water. Some lakes do not have an outflow and lose water solely by evaporation or underground seepage or both. Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for power generation, aesthetic purposes, recreational purposes, industrial use. Globally, lakes are greatly outnumbered by ponds, of an estimated 304 million standing water bodies worldwide, 91% are 1 hectare or less in area
5.
Reservoir
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A reservoir is a storage space for fluids. These fluids may be water, hydrocarbons or gas, a reservoir usually means an enlarged natural or artificial lake, storage pond or impoundment created using a dam or lock to store water. Reservoirs can be created by controlling a stream that drains a body of water. They can also be constructed in river valleys using a dam, alternately, a reservoir can be built by excavating flat ground or constructing retaining walls and levees. Tank reservoirs store liquids or gases in storage tanks that may be elevated, at grade level, tank reservoirs for water are also called cisterns. Underground reservoirs are used to store liquids, principally either water or petroleum, a dam constructed in a valley relies on the natural topography to provide most of the basin of the reservoir. Dams are typically located at a part of a valley downstream of a natural basin. The valley sides act as walls, with the dam located at the narrowest practical point to provide strength. In many reservoir construction projects, people have to be moved and re-housed, construction of a reservoir in a valley will usually need the river to be diverted during part of the build, often through a temporary tunnel or by-pass channel. In hilly regions, reservoirs are constructed by enlarging existing lakes. Sometimes in such reservoirs the new top water level exceeds the height on one or more of the feeder streams such as at Llyn Clywedog in Mid Wales. In such cases additional side dams are required to contain the reservoir, where water is pumped or siphoned from a river of variable quality or quantity, bank-side reservoirs may be built to store the water. Such reservoirs are usually formed partly by excavation and partly by building a complete encircling bund or embankment, the water stored in such reservoirs may stay there for several months, during which time normal biological processes may substantially reduce many contaminants and almost eliminate any turbidity. The use of reservoirs also allows water abstraction to be stopped for some time. Service reservoirs store fully treated potable water close to the point of distribution, many service reservoirs are constructed as water towers, often as elevated structures on concrete pillars where the landscape is relatively flat. Other service reservoirs can be almost entirely underground, especially in hilly or mountainous country. In the United Kingdom, Thames Water has many underground reservoirs, sometimes called cisterns, built in the 1800s. A good example is the Honor Oak Reservoir in London, constructed between 1901 and 1909, when it was completed it was said to be the largest brick built underground reservoir in the world and it is still one of the largest in Europe
6.
Inflow (hydrology)
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In hydrology, the inflow of a body of water is the source of the water in the body of water. It can also refer to the volume of incoming water in unit time. All bodies of water have multiple inflows, but often, one inflow may predominate, however, in many cases, no single inflow will predominate and there will be multiple primary inflows. For a lake, the inflow may be a river or stream that flows into the lake. Inflow may also be, strictly speaking, not flows, but rather precipitation, inflow can also be used to refer to groundwater recharge. The dictionary definition of inflow at Wiktionary
7.
Colorado River
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The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The 1, 450-mile-long Colorado River drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U. S. starting in the central Rocky Mountains in the U. S. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora. Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U. S. National Parks, the Colorados large flow and steep gradient are used for generating hydroelectric power, and its major dams regulate peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles of the river, beginning with small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. Most native peoples that inhabit the basin today are descended from groups that settled in the region beginning about 1,000 years ago. Europeans first entered the Colorado Basin in the 16th century, when explorers from Spain began mapping and claiming the area, early contact between Europeans and Native Americans was generally limited to the fur trade in the headwaters and sporadic trade interactions along the lower river. After most of the Colorado River basin became part of the U. S. in 1846, several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century – one of which, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. American explorers collected valuable information that would later be used to develop the river for navigation, lesser numbers settled in the upper basin, which was the scene of major gold strikes in the 1860s and 1870s. Large engineering works began around the start of the 20th century, with guidelines established in a series of international. The U. S. federal government was the driving force behind the construction of dams and aqueducts in the river system, although many state. Most of the dams in the river basin were built between 1910 and 1970, the system keystone, Hoover Dam, was completed in 1935. The Colorado is now considered among the most controlled and litigated rivers in the world, as demands for Colorado River water continue to rise, the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy. The Colorado begins at La Poudre Pass in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, after a short run south, the river turns west below Grand Lake, the largest natural lake in the state. As it flows southwest, it gains strength from many tributaries, as well as larger ones including the Blue, Eagle. In a few areas, such as the marshy Kawuneeche Valley near the headwaters, arcing northwest, the Colorado begins to cut across the eponymous Colorado Plateau, a vast area of high desert centered at the Four Corners of the southwestern United States. In Utah, the Colorado flows primarily through the slickrock country and this is one of the most inaccessible regions of the continental United States. Here, the San Juan River, carrying runoff from the slope of Colorados San Juan Mountains, joins the Colorado from the east. S
8.
Discharge (hydrology)
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In hydrology, discharge is the volume rate of water flow that is transported through a given cross-sectional area. It includes any suspended solids, dissolved chemicals, or biologic material in addition to the water itself, GH Dury and MJ Bradshaw are two hydrologists who devised the models showing the relationship between discharge and other variables in a river. The units that are used to express discharge include m³/s, ft³/s and/or acre-feet per day. For example, the discharge of the Rhine river in Europe is 2,200 cubic metres per second or 190,000,000 cubic metres per day. A commonly applied methodology for measuring, and estimating, the discharge of a river is based on a form of the continuity equation. In storm hydrology, an important consideration is the streams discharge hydrograph, the stream rises to a peak flow after each precipitation event, then falls in a slow recession. Because the peak flow also corresponds to the water level reached during the event. The amount of precipitation correlates to the volume of water that flows out of the river. The relationship between the discharge in the stream at a given cross-section and the level of the stream is described by a rating curve, average velocities and the cross-sectional area of the stream are measured for a given stream level. The velocity and the give the discharge for that level. After measurements are made for different levels, a rating table or rating curve may be developed. Once rated, the discharge in the stream may be determined by measuring the level, if a continuous level-recording device is located at a rated cross-section, the streams discharge may be continuously determined. Larger flows can transport more sediment and larger particles downstream than smaller flows due to their greater force, larger flows can also erode stream banks and damage public infrastructure
9.
Drainage basin
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A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
10.
Coastline paradox
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The coastline paradox is the counterintuitive observation that the coastline of a landmass does not have a well-defined length. This results from the properties of coastlines. The first recorded observation of this phenomenon was by Lewis Fry Richardson, more concretely, the length of the coastline depends on the method used to measure it. Various approximations exist when specific assumptions are made about minimum feature size, the basic concept of length originates from Euclidean distance. In the familiar Euclidean geometry, a straight line represents the shortest distance between two points, this line has only one length, the length of basic curves is more complicated but can also be calculated. Using shorter and shorter lines will produce sums that approach the true length. A precise value for this length can be established using calculus, the following animation illustrates how a smooth curve can be meaningfully assigned a precise length, However, not all curves can be measured in this way. A fractal is by definition a curve whose complexity changes with measurement scale, whereas approximations of a smooth curve get closer and closer to a single value as measurement precision increases, the measured value of fractals may change wildly. However, this relies on the assumption that space can be subdivided indefinitely. The Planck length, many orders of magnitude smaller than an atom, is proposed as the smallest measurable unit possible in the universe, coastlines differ from mathematical fractals because they are formed by numerous small events, which create patterns only statistically. In reality, permanent features of the coastline of order of size 1 cm or less do not exist, because of erosion, in most places the minimum size is much larger than this. Thus the concept of a fractal is not applicable to the coastline. For practical considerations, a choice of minimum feature size is on the order of the units being used to measure. If a coastline is measured in kilometers, then small variations much smaller than one kilometer are easily ignored, to measure the coastline in centimeters, tiny variations the size of centimeters must be considered. Using different measurement methodologies for different units also destroys the usual certainty that units can be converted by a simple multiplication, extreme cases of the coastline paradox include the fjord-heavy coastlines of Norway, Chile and the Pacific Northwest of North America. Coastline problem Fractal dimension Gabriels Horn, a figure with infinite surface area. Post, David G. and Michael Eisen, how Long is the Coastline of Law. Thoughts on the Fractal Nature of Legal Systems, journal of Legal Studies XXIX, January 2000
11.
Las Vegas Strip
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The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip is approximately 4.2 miles in length, located south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise. However, the Strip is often referred to as being in Las Vegas, most of the Strip has been designated an All-American Road, and is considered a scenic route at night. Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located on the Las Vegas Strip, fourteen of the worlds 25 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms. One of the most visible aspects of Las Vegas cityscape is its use of dramatic architecture, historically, the casinos that were not in Downtown Las Vegas along Fremont Street were limited to outside of the city limits on Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1959 the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was constructed exactly 4.5 miles outside of the city limits, the sign is today about 0.4 miles south of the southernmost entrance to Mandalay Bay. In the strictest sense, the Strip refers only to the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that is roughly between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road, a distance of 4.2 miles. However, the term is used to refer not only to the road but also to the various casinos and resorts that line the road. The traditional definition considers the Strips northern terminus as the SLS, Mandalay Bay, located just north of Russell Road, is the southernmost resort considered to be on the Strip. Because of the number and size of the resorts, the Resort Corridor can be quite wide, Interstate 15 runs roughly parallel and 0.5 to 0.8 miles to the west of Las Vegas Boulevard for the entire length of the Strip. Paradise Road runs to the east in a fashion. The eastern side of the Strip is bounded by McCarran International Airport south of Tropicana Avenue, north of this point, the Resort Corridor can be considered to extend as far east as Paradise Road, although some consider Koval Lane as a less inclusive boundary. Interstate 15 is sometimes considered the edge of the Resort Corridor from Interstate 215 to Spring Mountain Road. North of this point, Industrial Road serves as the western edge, the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is located in the median just south of Russell Road, across from the now-demolished Klondike Hotel & Casino. Marketing for these casinos usually states that they are on southern Las Vegas Boulevard and not Strip properties. The first casino to be built on Highway 91 was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931 and that casino stood for almost 20 years before being destroyed by a fire in 1960. Its success spawned a second hotel on what would become the Strip, the funding for many projects was provided through the American National Insurance Company, which was based in the then notorious gambling empire of Galveston, Texas. Las Vegas Boulevard South was previously called Arrowhead Highway, or Los Angeles Highway, the Strip was named by Los Angeles police officer and businessman Guy McAfee, after his hometowns Sunset Strip
12.
Las Vegas
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The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment and it is the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and it is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the worlds most visited tourist destinations. The citys tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century, population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85. 2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to a 2013 estimate, perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo-Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago, a young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, the area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for the meadows, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as desert spring waters for westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C, frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street is named after him, eleven years later members of the LDS Church chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward, the remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when 110 acres of adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city,1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks and this year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935, in 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established. Currently known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the team called the Thunderbirds
13.
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
14.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
15.
Hoover Dam
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Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U. S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30,1935 and its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The dam was named after President Herbert Hoover. In 1928, Congress authorized the project, the winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium called Six Companies, Inc. which began construction on the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never built before. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties, nevertheless, Six Companies turned over the dam to the federal government on March 1,1936, more than two years ahead of schedule. Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume, the dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dams generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction, nearly a million people tour the dam each year. The heavily-traveled U. S. Route 93 ran along the dams crest until October 2010, as the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. Though water from the Imperial Canal allowed for the settlement of the valley. Even after the waterway was stabilized, it proved unsatisfactory because of constant disputes with landowners on the Mexican side of the border, as the technology of electric power transmission improved, the Lower Colorado was considered for its hydroelectric-power potential. In 1902, the Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles surveyed the river in the hope of building a 40-foot rock dam which could generate 10,000 horsepower. However, at the time, the limit of transmission of power was 80 miles. Edison allowed land options it held on the river to lapse—including an option for what became the site of Hoover Dam. In the following years, the Bureau of Reclamation, known as the Reclamation Service at the time, Service chief Arthur Powell Davis proposed using dynamite to collapse the walls of Boulder Canyon,20 miles north of the eventual dam site, into the river. The river would carry off the pieces of debris. In 1922, the Reclamation Service presented a report calling for the development of a dam on the Colorado River for flood control, the report was principally authored by Davis, and was called the Fall-Davis report after Interior Secretary Albert Fall. The Fall-Davis report cited use of the Colorado River as a concern, because the rivers basin covered several states
16.
Lake Powell
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Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona. It is a vacation spot that around two million people visit every year. It is the second largest man-made reservoir by water capacity in the United States behind Lake Mead. Lake Powell was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the Glen Canyon Dam, which led to the creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The reservoir is named for explorer John Wesley Powell, a one-armed American Civil War veteran who explored the river via three wooden boats in 1869, in 1972, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was established. It is public land managed by the National Park Service, and it lies in parts of Garfield, Kane, and San Juan counties in southern Utah, and Coconino County in northern Arizona. The northern limits of the lake extend at least as far as the Hite Crossing Bridge, a map centered at the confluence of the Escalante River 37°17′22″N 110°52′20″W with the Colorado River gives a good view of the extent of the lake. Lake Powell is a storage facility for the Upper Basin states of the Colorado River Compact. The Compact specifies that the Upper Basin states are to provide an annual flow of 7,500,000 acre feet to the Lower Basin states. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation planned to construct a series of Colorado River dams in the rugged Colorado Plateau province of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Glen Canyon Dam was born of a controversial damsite the Bureau selected in Echo Park, by agreeing to a relocated damsite near Lees Ferry between Glen and Grand Canyons, however, Brower did not realize what he had gambled away. At the time, Brower had not actually been to Glen Canyon, when he later saw Glen Canyon on a river trip, Brower discovered that it had the kind of scenic, cultural, and wilderness qualities often associated with Americas national parks. Over 80 side canyons in the colorful Navajo Sandstone contained clear streams, abundant wildlife, arches, natural bridges, by then, however, it was too late to stop the Bureau and its commissioner Floyd Dominy from building Glen Canyon Dam. Brower believed the river should remain free, and would forever after consider the loss of Glen Canyon his lifes ultimate disappointment. Construction on Glen Canyon Dam began with a demolition blast keyed by the push of a button by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his desk in the Oval Office on October 1,1956, the first blast started clearing tunnels for water diversion. On February 11,1959, water was diverted through the tunnels so dam construction could begin, later that year, the bridge was completed, allowing trucks to deliver equipment and materials for the dam, and also for the new town of Page, Arizona. Concrete placement started around the clock on June 17,1960, the last bucket of concrete was poured on September 13,1963. Over 5 million cubic yards of concrete make up Glen Canyon Dam, the Dam is 710 feet high, with the surface elevation of the water at full pool being approximately 3700 feet
17.
Elwood Mead
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Elwood Mead was a professor, politician and engineer, known for heading the United States Bureau of Reclamation from 1924 until his death in 1936. During his tenure, he oversaw some of the most complex projects the Bureau of Reclamation has undertaken and these included the Hoover, Grand Coulee and Owyhee dams. Mead was born in Patriot, Indiana, and graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in 1882 and he worked for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers in Indianapolis for seven months and departed for Fort Collins, Colorado, by the end of the year. There he started work as a professor by teaching mathematics at Colorado Agricultural College from 1883 until 1884 and he developed and taught the first class on irrigation engineering in the United States. Mead also worked for the Colorado State Engineers Office, in 1888, Mead became the territorial and state engineer of Wyoming. From 1888 until 1899, he was key in drafting the laws for Wyoming. He was also a key supporter of the Cody Canal, one of the nations first Carey Act projects undertaken by a group of investors, in 1899, Mead was appointed head of irrigation investigations for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, based out of Cheyenne. There he had an important role of directing irrigation studies across the west, in 1907, Mead was appointed Chairman of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria, Australia. He served there for four years, though the Australian records show that he continued to work there until May,1915. In 1911, he returned to the United States to become the professor of Rural Institutions, University of California and his ideas about developing efficient rural communities would later influence what would become the Resettlement Administration communities of the New Deal. He continued to serve in California until 1924, when he was appointed Chairman of the Bureau of Reclamation by President Calvin Coolidges administration, in 1923 and again in 1927, he went to Palestine to help the Zionists develop irrigation and development plans. At the USBR, Mead oversaw the planning and execution of construction of water control and irrigation projects in the West. Mead died on January 26,1936, at the age of 78 in Washington, D. C. from thrombosis, just four months after the completion of Boulder Dam. Originally interred at Abbey Mausoleum, he was reburied at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia, lake Mead, formed by the construction of the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, was named after Mead. A Liberty ship, the SS Elwood Mead, was launched in 1944, National Irrigation Congress J. M. Powell, Mead, Elwood, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press,1986, pp 467–468
18.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
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On June 17th 1902, in accordance with the Reclamation Act, Secretary of the Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock established the U. S. Reclamation Service within the U. S. Geological Survey. The new Reclamation Service studied potential water development projects in each state with federal lands—revenue from sale of federal lands was the initial source of the programs funding. Because Texas had no lands, it did not become a Reclamation state until 1906. From 1902 to 1907, Reclamation began about 30 projects in Western states, then, in 1907, the Secretary of the Interior separated the Reclamation Service from the USGS and created an independent bureau within the Department of the Interior. Frederick Haynes Newell was appointed the first director of the new bureau, in 1923 the agency was renamed the Bureau of Reclamation. In 1928 Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon Project, and large appropriations began, for the first time, the authorization came only after a hard-fought debate about the pros and cons of public power versus private power. The heyday of Reclamation construction of water facilities occurred during the Depression, from 1941 to 1947, Civilian Public Service labor was used to carry on projects otherwise interrupted by the war effort. Even the 1976 failure of Teton Dam as it filled for the first time did not diminish Reclamations strong international reputation in water development circles, however, this first and only failure of a major Reclamation Bureau dam led to subsequent strengthening of its dam-safety program to avoid similar problems. Reclamation operates about 180 projects in the 17 western states, the total Reclamation investment for completed project facilities in September 1992 was about $11 billion. Reclamation projects provide agricultural, household, and industrial water to about one‑third of the population of the American West. About 5% of the area of the West is irrigated. Reclamation is a major American generator of electricity, as of 2007, Reclamation had 58 power plants on‑line and generated 125,000 GJ of electricity. From 1988 to 1994, Reclamation underwent major reorganization as construction on projects authorized in the 1960s, Reclamation wrote that The arid West essentially has been reclaimed. The major rivers have been harnessed and facilities are in place or are being completed to meet the most pressing current water demands, emphasis in Reclamation programs shifted from construction to operation and maintenance of existing facilities. Reclamations redefined official mission is to manage, develop, and protect water, in redirecting its programs and responsibilities, Reclamation substantially reduced its staff levels and budgets but remains a significant federal agency in the West. Mead guided the bureau during the development, planning, and construction of the Hoover Dam, since his confirmation in December of 2014, Estevan Lopez of New Mexico has been serving as commissioner of the bureau. “‘The Wilderness and the Dry Land Will Be Glad, and the Desert Will Rejoice and Blossom like a Rose’, The Origins of the Bureau of Reclamation, ” Journal of the West 50, marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert, The American West and Its Disappearing Water
19.
Dam
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A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity, a dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The word dam can be traced back to Middle English, and before that, from Middle Dutch, the first known appearance of dam occurs in 1165. However, there is one village, Obdam, that is mentioned in 1120. The word seems to be related to the Greek word taphos, so the word should be understood as dike from dug out earth. The names of more than 40 places from the Middle Dutch era such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the level, for Mesopotamias weather affected the Tigris. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan,100 kilometres northeast of the capital Amman and this gravity dam featured an originally 9-metre-high and 1 m-wide stone wall, supported by a 50 m-wide earth rampart. The structure is dated to 3000 BC, the Ancient Egyptian Sadd-el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, located about 25 km south of Cairo, was 102 m long at its base and 87 m wide. The structure was built around 2800 or 2600 BC as a dam for flood control. During the Twelfth Dynasty in the 19th century BC, the Pharaohs Senosert III, Amenemhat III, two dams called Ha-Uar running east-west were built to retain water during the annual flood and then release it to surrounding lands. The lake called Mer-wer or Lake Moeris covered 1,700 km2 and is today as Berkat Qaroun. One of the wonders of the ancient world was the Great Dam of Marib in Yemen. Repairs were carried out during various periods, most important around 750 BC and these extensive works were not actually finalized until 325 AD and allowed the irrigation of 25,000 acres. By the mid-late 3rd century BC, an intricate water-management system within Dholavira in modern-day India was built, the system included 16 reservoirs, dams and various channels for collecting water and storing it. Eflatun Pınar is a Hittite dam and spring temple near Konya and it is thought to be from the time of the Hittite empire between the 15th and 13th century BC
20.
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
21.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
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Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U. S. National Recreation Area located in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed, the area surrounding Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936. In 1964, the area was expanded to include Lake Mohave and its surrounding area, Lake Mead NRA features water recreation, including boating, swimming, and fishing, on both lakes as well as the stretches of river between the lakes. It also features hiking trails and views of the desert landscape. Three of the four desert ecosystems found in the United States — the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin Desert, tours of Hoover Dam – administered by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation – are also a major attraction within the recreation area. About 200,000 acres of the area are managed separately under the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. Water covers about 186,000 acres of the recreation area, there are currently nine officially designated wilderness areas under the National Wilderness Preservation System lying within Lake Mead National Recreation Area. All are in the Nevada portion
22.
Lake Mohave
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Lake Mohave is a reservoir on the Colorado River between the Hoover Dam and Davis Dam in Cottonwood Valley defining the border between Nevada and Arizona in the United States. A maximum width of 4 miles wide and an elevation of 647 feet, there are three resorts on Lake Mohave, Katherine Landing and Willow Beach in Arizona and Cottonwood Cove in Nevada. Katherine Landing and Cottonwood Cove resorts offer lodging, RV parks with utility hook-ups, campgrounds, a restaurant a store, popular recreational activities in Lake Mohave are swimming, kayaking, fishing, boating, and skiing. There are kayaking, scuba diving, and fishing supplies in Bullhead City, Lake Mohave offers year-round recreational opportunities. Its clear water caters to boaters, swimmers, and fishermen while its desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers and it is also home to thousands of desert plants and animals, adapted to survive in an extreme place where rain is scarce and temperatures soar. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which encompasses Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, at Lake Mohave, divers can explore Black Canyon, which has excellent diving conditions. Advanced divers can check out Ringbolt Rapids, where swift water makes for an additional challenge, work Barge on the Arizona side has a 38-foot tow barge that sank in 1946. Cabinsite Point has two boat wrecks to view, PWCs allowed to be operated within Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which encompasses Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, include any four-stroke, and two-strokes meeting EPA2006 emission standards. As of December 31,2012 many two-stroke personal watercraft are no longer allowed to operate within Lake Mead National Recreation Area and these include any PWC with a carbureted two-stroke engine. Enforcement began January 1,2013 as part of a ten-year phase-in, the volcanic origin of Black Canyon and Cottonwood Valley has resulted in a number of hot springs along the northern portion of Lake Mohave. Gold Strike Hot Springs is located close to the shore which is accessible from a trailhead 1.2 miles south of the Hoover Dam. These springs are available from the Gold Strike Hot Springs Trail Head two miles east of the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada. Due to the two mile hike from public parking and consistent pools, these springs are frequently visited. Two Mile Hot Springs and Arizona Hot Springs are within a few miles of this same area, the habitats are composed primarily of bundled salt cedar trees attached to wooden pallets. When placed in the water, the structures create cover for sport fish, additionally, Lake Mohave contains one of the largest and most genetically diverse population of razorback sucker remaining in the wild. Larvae are then transported by boat to Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery where they grow in protected raceways for up to three years. When individuals have reached approximately 14 inches in length, they are released back into Lake Mohave in order to avoid predation by larger, introduced game fish such as striped bass
23.
St. Thomas, Nevada
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St. Thomas, Nevada is a ghost town in Clark County, Nevada, near where the Muddy River flows into the Colorado River. St. Thomas was purchased by the US Federal Government and abandoned as the waters of Lake Mead submerged the town in the 1930s, however, as the level of Lake Mead dropped in the 2000s, the ruins of the town resurfaced. It is now located within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the town was founded by Mormon settlers led by Thomas Smith in 1865. With a population of about 500 at its peak, St. Thomas became a town of farms and businesses. The state of Nevada then attempted to collect taxes for previous years only in gold from the residents. They chose to leave without paying in 1871, the Mormons moved to Utah, where many of them founded new towns in Long Valley. When the Mormons left in 1871, others claimed their abandoned properties, one of the few to remain was Daniel Bonelli of St. Thomas, who farmed, mined and owned Bonellis Ferry on the Colorado River at Junction City later Rioville. After being deserted by most of its first settlers, new Mormon settlers came to the St. Thomas and other places in the area in the 1880s. The construction of Hoover Dam and the rise in the waters of the Colorado River forced the abandonment of the town, with the last resident, Hugh Lord. The ruins of St. Thomas, which became visible after the level in Lake Mead lowered, are protected by the National Park Service as a historic site. The cemetery was relocated to Overton, Nevada where there is a St. Thomas interpretive center with a staff archaeologist doing on-going research into the history and settlement of the Muddy River
24.
Callville, Nevada
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Callville is a former settlement of Clark County in the U. S. state of Nevada. Abandoned in 1869, it was submerged under Lake Mead when the Colorado River was dammed, at one time, it was noted to be the southernmost outpost of the Mormon settlement. Located 350 miles from Salt Lake City, Calville was situated on the west bank of the Colorado River, in what was at the time Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory. The main road to the settlement was along the Virgin River close to St. Thomas, a road connected Callville with the main highway at Las Vegas. Callville was established on December 2,1864 by Anson Call, Dr. James M. Whitmore, A. M. Cannon, Jacob Hamblin and it was at the time the southernmost outpost of Mormon settlement. A number of Salt Lake City merchants worked in conjunction with the plan to build a warehouse on the Colorado River for goods portage, in order to accomplish this, in St. George, he employed Hamblin and son, Cannon and Whitmore. It was located just below the confluence of Callville Wash with the Colorado River, Callville became the county seat of Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory, in December 1865, before the seat was moved on October 1,1867 to St. Thomas. During the American Civil War in the 1860s, it was used as a garrison by the Army, the military shut down the garrison at Callville in 1869. A year after the American Civil War ended, steamboat began to travel on the Colorado River from the Gulf of California to Callville, but immediately thereafter, Congress realigned the states of Arizona and Nevada, which incorporated Callville into the state of Nevada. From 1867-69, Octavius Decatur Gass was Callvilles postmaster, but by 1869, the Deseret News noted that the port of Callville was abandoned in June of that year. The news story was in connection with the escape of thieves who used four large doors from the abandoned settlements warehouse as a raft. The storehouse was still noted as standing in 1892, later in 1921, a large deposit of colemanite was discovered near Callville Wash. Callville was submerged under 400 feet of water after the Colorado River was dammed to form Lake Mead, Callville Bay recreation area is located at the site. Photos from hdl. huntington. org, The Huntington Digital Libraty, The Otis Marston Colorado River Collection, The steamer Colorado takes on fuel and cargo, Callville. If this is Callville before it was deserted in 1869 then this steamboat can only be the Esmerelda, otherwise it must be another landing, unless, unknown to history, Callville had been revived as a seasonal woodyard landing between 1879 and 1887. In those years the Colorado Steam Navigation Company sent the Gila many times and once in 1881, the Mohave II, up to Rioville from the El Dorado Canyon mines for salt during the high water months. The Colorado was never sent up to point on the river. 15,1912, Photographer, Ellsworth Kolb Ruins at Callville,1923 Ruins of old Callville as Lake filled
25.
Las Vegas Valley
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The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area located in the southern part of the U. S. state of Nevada. The largest urban agglomeration in the state, it is the heart of the Las Vegas–Paradise-Henderson, the Valley is largely defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a 600 sq mi basin area surrounded by mountains to the north, south, east and west of the metropolitan area. The Valley is home to the three largest incorporated cities in Nevada, Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, six unincorporated towns governed by the Clark County government are part of the Las Vegas Township and constitute the largest community in the state of Nevada. Since the 1990s the Las Vegas Valley has seen exponential growth, in 2014, a record breaking 41 million visited the Las Vegas area, producing a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion. The first reported non-Native American visitor to the Las Vegas Valley was the Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. Las Vegas was named by Mexicans in the Antonio Armijo party, including Rivera, in the 19th century, areas of the valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas, or meadows, hence the name Las Vegas. The area was settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864. Since the 1930s, Las Vegas has generally been identified as a center as well as a resort destination. Nellis Air Force Base is located in the northeast corner of the valley, the ranges that the Nellis pilots use and various other land areas used by various federal agencies, limit growth of the valley in terms of geographic area. Businessman Howard Hughes arrived in the late 1960s and purchased many casino hotels, as well as television, legitimate corporations began to purchase casino hotels as well, and the mob was run out by the federal government over the next several years. The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos was augmented by a new source of money from the establishment of what is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of personnel and casino job-hunters helped start a land building boom which is now leveling off. The Las Vegas area remains one of the top entertainment destinations. The valley is contained in the Las Vegas Valley landform and this includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson, and the unincorporated towns of Paradise, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor, Enterprise, Winchester, and Whitney. The valley is located within the larger metropolitan area, as the metropolitan area covers all of Clark County -including parts that do not fall within the valley. The government of Clark County has an Urban Planning Area of Las Vegas and this definition is a roughly rectangular area, about 20 mi from east to west and 30 miles from north to south. Notable exclusions from the Urban Planning Area include Red Rock, Blue Diamond, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the largest police department in the valley and the state and exercises jurisdiction in the entire county. The department does not exercise jurisdiction in areas with separate police forces such as North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Nellis Air Force Base
26.
Interstate 15 in Nevada
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Interstate 15 is an Interstate Highway in the U. S. state of Nevada that begins in Primm, continues through Las Vegas and it crosses the border with Arizona in Mesquite. The freeway runs entirely in Clark County, many motorists use I-15 to visit Las Vegas, as it is the only primary Interstate Highway in the city. The highway was built along the corridor of the older U. S. Route 91 and Arrowhead Trail, motorists in California leave the mountainous Mojave Desert and begin a long descent through Ivanpah Valley and Ivanpah Dry Lake. I-15 crosses the Nevada state line at the first exit, Primm, once I-15 leaves Primm, the route travels north through the desert with few services. The highway then enters the Las Vegas urban area upon passing the State Route 146 interchange, quickly thereafter, the Interstate meets I-215 at the Southern Beltway Interchange, which provides access to Henderson and McCarran International Airport. Originally, this interchange was termed Son of Spaghetti Bowl by the Las Vegas Review-Journal when the interchange was built, I-15 travels along the west side of the Las Vegas Strip corridor and just west of downtown Las Vegas just before its junction with I-515 and US95. Once I-15 leaves North Las Vegas, the freeway travels northeast and crosses the Muddy River at Glendale, at Mesquite, the freeway then crosses the Arizona state line and cuts through the extreme northwestern corner of Arizona through the Virgin River Gorge before entering Utah. The general location of the I-15 corridor through Nevada can be traced as far back as the early 1900s, regular automobile travel through southern Nevada was established by 1914 along the Arrowhead Trail, a road connecting Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Two years later, the route was revised to pass through Las Vegas, US91 was later proposed as part of the original 1925 U. S. Highway System plan. As originally proposed, US91 would have followed SR6 southwest from Mesquite to downtown Las Vegas, the revised 1926 plan had proposed US91 follow SR6 through Las Vegas and Jean to the California state line. Nevadas 1927 official highway map reflects the routing of the final 1926 plan, however, US 91/SR6 began at Primm and followed the Los Angeles Highway towards Las Vegas. Within the city limits, it ran along Fifth Street through downtown and into North Las Vegas, exiting the Las Vegas area to the northeast, US91 became the Salt Lake Highway and then headed towards Apex and Glendale. The highway then curved east-northeast before following present-day SR170 through Riverside, US91 was routed through that city on Mesquite Boulevard, Sandhill Boulevard and Fairview Avenue before crossing the Arizona state line. By 1929, the alignment of US 91/SR6 was graded throughout much of the state, the route eventually gained two other highway overlaps. US466 was christened in 1934, and was routed concurrently along US91 from California to downtown Las Vegas before heading southeast to Hoover Dam. Also, in 1936, US93 was extended from its 1932 southern terminus at Glendale, a new alignment of US91 was completed in 1955. This bypassed both Bunkerville and Mesquite to the northwest, along what would become the path of I-15. The original alignment through Bunkerville is now SR170, the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 quickly brought upgrades to the US91 corridor
27.
Valley of Fire State Park
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Valley of Fire State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly 46,000 acres located 16 miles south of Overton, Nevada. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone and these features, which are the centerpiece of the parks attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the suns rays. It is Nevadas oldest state park, as commemorated with Nevada Historical Marker #150 and it was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968. Valley of Fire is located 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas and it abuts the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on the east at the Virgin River confluence. It lies in a 4 by 6 mi basin, complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. The rough floor and jagged walls of the park contain brilliant formations of eroded sandstone, other important rock formations include limestones, shales, and conglomerates. Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Ancient Pueblo Peoples, also known as the Anasazi and their approximate span of occupation has been dated from 300 BC to 1150 AD. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, fine examples of rock art left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park. The creation of Valley of Fire State Park began with transfer of 8,760 acres of land to the state at Nevada in 1931. Work on the park was initiated by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, the park opened in 1934, it achieved official designation by the state legislature in 1935. The Valley of Fire State Park has a dry and warm climate typical of the Mojave Desert in which it lies, winters are mild with daytime temperatures ranging from 54 °F to 75 °F. and over night lows in the mid 30°Fs to mid 40°Fs. Storms moving east from the Pacific Ocean occasionally bring rain during winter months, daily summer highs usually range from 100 °F to 115 °F and on occasion may reach near 120 °F. Thunderstorms from the Southwestern Monsoon can produce heavy showers during summer. The average annual precipitation is 6.50, Valley of Fire Road is the main road through the park. The 10.5 mi road connects the east and west entrances of the park and it was designated as a Nevada Scenic Byway on June 30,1995. Although petroglyphs are present throughout the park, Mouses Tank. The park also contains three cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, there are facilities for picnicking, camping, and hiking. Valley of Fire is a location for shooting automobile commercials. The Professionals with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, and Claudia Cardinale was filmed in 1966, Valley of Fire was one of three locations used in the film
28.
Moapa River Indian Reservation
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Moapa River Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located northeast of Las Vegas, near Moapa. It is the land-base for the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, Moapa River Indian Reservation consists of 71,954 acres. As of the census of 2010, the population was 238, the reservation is crossed from northeast to southwest by the I-15 highway. In the southeast, it is adjacent to Valley of Fire State Park, in particular, Exit 75 of the highway and the local road leading to the west park entrance, down to the entrance, belong to the reservation. US Census Bureau Tract Map for T2315 - Moapa River Indian Reservation
29.
Lake Mead
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Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States, measured by water capacity. It is on the Colorado River about 24 mi from the Las Vegas Strip southeast of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the states of Nevada and Arizona. The lake has not reached full capacity, however, since 1983 due to a combination of drought, owing to current low water level, Lake Sakakawea holds claim over Lake Mead in terms of the United States largest reservoir by total area and water in reserve. The reservoir serves water to the states of Arizona, Nevada and California, providing sustenance to nearly 20 million people, Lake Mead was established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936, administrated by the National Park Service. The name was changed to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1964, and Lake Mohave, both lakes and the surrounding area offer year-round recreation options. The accumulated water from Hoover Dam forced the evacuation of communities, most notably St. Thomas, Nevada. The ruins of St. Thomas are sometimes visible when the level in Lake Mead drops below normal. Lake Mead also covered the sites of the Colorado River landings of Callville and Rioville, at lower water levels, a high-water mark or bathtub ring is visible in photos that show the shoreline of Lake Mead. The bathtub ring is white because of the deposition of minerals on previously submerged surfaces, nine main access points to the lake are available. On the west are three roads from the Las Vegas metropolitan area, access from the northwest from Interstate 15 is through the Valley of Fire State Park and the Moapa River Indian Reservation to the Overton Arm of the lake. The lake is divided into several bodies, the large body closest to the Hoover Dam is Boulder Basin. The narrow channel, which was known as Boulder Canyon and is now known as The Narrows. The Virgin River and Muddy River empty into the Overton Arm, the next basin to the east is Temple Basin, and following that is Gregg Basin, which is connected to the Temple Basin by the Virgin Canyon. In addition, two basins, the Muddy River Inlet and the Virgin River Basin, are flooded when the lake is high enough where these two rivers flow into the lake. As of February 2015, these basins remain dry, jagged mountain ranges surround the lake, offering a scenic backdrop, especially at sunset. Two mountain ranges are within view of the Boulder Basin, the River Mountains, oriented northwest to southeast, bonelli Peak lies to the east of the Virgin Basin. Las Vegas Bay is the terminus for the Las Vegas Wash which is the outflow from the Las Vegas Valley. Lake Mead receives the majority of its water from snow melt in the Colorado, Wyoming, inflows to the lake are largely moderated by the upstream Glen Canyon Dam, which is required to release 8.23 million acre feet of water each year to Lake Mead
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Boulder Canyon (Colorado River)
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Boulder Canyon, originally Devils Gate Canyon, is a canyon on the Colorado River, above Hoover Dam, now flooded by Lake Mead. It lies between Clark County, Nevada and Mohave County, Arizona and it heads at western end of the Virgin Basin of Lake Mead, at 36°09′05″N 114°32′51″W. The Canyon divides the Black Mountains into the Black Mountains of Arizona, and its mouth is under the eastern end of the Boulder Basin of Lake Mead, between Canyon Point in Nevada and Canyon Ridge in Arizona. Its original mouth is under Lake Mead between Beacon Rock and Fortification Ridge on the shore in Arizona. In April 1883, Captain J. A, mellon took a small boat up river to Devils Gate Canyon to plant six ring bolts eight inches in diameter, four feet long, made of 1.75 inches of iron
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Virgin River
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The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U. S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles long and it was designated Utahs first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park. The river is named for Thomas Virgin, a member of the first American party to see it, Smith named it Adams River, after then-president John Quincy Adams, but later explorer and mapmaker John C. Fremont gave it its current name, after the Smith party successfully descended the river on the way to California, Thomas Virgin was badly wounded in an attack by Mohave people during the crossing of the Mojave Desert. Virgin recovered from his wounds but was killed, along with most of Smiths companions. The Old Spanish Trail followed the Virgin River for part of its length from near St. George to the point it ascended the Mormon Plateau to cross to the Muddy River in present-day Nevada. The river flows in a direction, passing south of the old townsite of St. George where the Santa Clara River joins the Virgin at a place the Paiutes called Tonaquint. The river then flows across the corner of Arizona through the Virgin River Gorge and past the towns of Beaver Dam. It enters southern Nevada near the town of Mesquite and empties into the Colorado at the Lake Mead reservoir, the last 30 miles of the Virgin River forms the north arm of Lake Mead. Despite flowing through a region, the Virgin River is home to a surprisingly diverse array of plants. Southwestern Utah is located at the intersection of three regions, the Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin, and the Mojave Desert. The exceptional landscapes and habitats of this region harbor unique plant, without the water of the Virgin River system, these species could not exist. Many of these species are endangered or are considered sensitive species within the State of Utah, the Virgin River Program was established to balance increasing human demand and maintain this unique system. Woundfin Federally listed endangered species Size, 4″ One of the rarest species on earth, woundfin have large fins and scale-less, streamlined bodies that help them survive in swift, silty conditions. Although small, it is shark-like in both appearance and action as it feeds on insects in shallow areas along the river. Woundfin live only one to two years and their survival depends upon sufficient flow within the river, especially during hot summer months, Virgin River chub Federally listed endangered species Size,18 ” Rare and beautiful, this fish is the top native predator in the Virgin River. Chub are a fast streamlined fish with a forehead, humped back. The Virgin River chub feeds on fish, insects
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Muddy River (Nevada)
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The Muddy River, formerly known as the Moapa River, is a short river located in Clark County, in southern Nevada, United States. It is in the Mojave Desert, approximately 60 miles north of Las Vegas, the Muddy River is approximately 32 miles long. It begins as a series of springs in the Moapa Valley before continuing on its course to Lake Mead. Before the Hoover Dams construction, the Muddy River flowed into the Virgin River, near the town of Glendale the Muddy River collects the flow from the Meadow Valley Wash, forming the principal drainage system for southeastern Nevada. The Moapa Valley area is home to a variety of rare and endangered species, including fish, invertebrates, birds. Three endangered fish inhabit the area, the Moapa dace, the Virgin River chub, and these species can be found throughout the various springs, called the Muddy Springs, that feed the Muddy River. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has created the Moapa National Wildlife Refuge at the Warm Springs Natural Area, the area was part of the Native American Paiute peoples homeland for centuries, with the Mojave to the south. Moapa is a Southern Paiute language word meaning muddy, although Moapa River was formerly the name, local usage tended to translate the name. The Old Spanish Trail originally followed the Virgin River all the way to the Colorado River, in 1844, the expedition of John C. By 1855 it had become a cold season freight route between Utah and Southern California that remained in use in Southern Nevada into the 20th century. Mormon settlers established several settlements in the Muddy River area in 1864, including the town of St. Thomas, some of the towns ruins can be still seen during low water levels. Some Paiutes fought to protect and reclaim their homeland, for a variety of reasons, including the harsh climate, unpredictable periods of drought, and a tax dispute with the State of Nevada, the Mormons abandoned the area in 1871. Many of the LDS people returned to the area in the 1880s, Mormon Corridor Category, Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
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Peach Springs, Arizona
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Peach Springs is a census-designated place in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,090 at the 2010 census, Peach Springs serves as the administrative headquarters of the Hualapai people, and is located on the Hualapai Reservation. Peach Springs is located at 35°32′4″N 113°25′24″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.9 square miles, all of it land. As of the census of 2000, there were 600 people,166 households, the population density was 87.3 people per square mile. There were 219 housing units at a density of 31. 9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 4. 33% White,93. 00% Native American,2. 33% from other races,5. 33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 3.61 and the average family size was 3.83. In the CDP the population was out with 40. 5% under the age of 18,10. 0% from 18 to 24,25. 8% from 25 to 44,17. 3% from 45 to 64. The median age was 24 years, for every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males, the median income for a household in the CDP was $18,194, and the median income for a family was $17,292. Males had an income of $20,833 versus $15,500 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $6,756, about 38. 2% of families and 36. 6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38. 7% of those under age 18 and 55. 4% of those age 65 or over. The town has the Hualapai Lodge, a motel and a grocery market with fuel. Peach Springs is located on the route of the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Route 66 brought large numbers of cross-country travellers through the town until Interstate 40 was opened 25 miles to the south in 1978. I-40 diverges from Route 66 at Seligman 37 miles to the east, as no connecting roads join the two highways at Peach Springs, the town went from being on the beaten path to being more than thirty miles from the new main road overnight. The new road shortened the distance from Kingman to Seligman by 14 miles at the expense of turning villages like Truxton, Valentine and Hackberry, Arizona. Peach Springs survived as the base of the Hualapai tribe. The John Osterman Shell Station, built by a Swedish immigrant in 1929, in 2007, the Hualapai Tribe received a $28,000 federal matching grant to rehabilitate the building, which has yet to re-open but which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012
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Las Vegas Wash
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Las Vegas Wash is a 12-mile-long channel which feeds most of the Las Vegas Valleys excess water into Lake Mead. The wash is sometimes called a river, and it exists in its present capacity because of an urban population. The wash also works in a conjunction with the pre-existing wetlands that formed the oasis of the Las Vegas Valley. The wash is fed by runoff, shallow ground water, reclaimed water. The wetlands of the Las Vegas Valley act as the kidneys of the environment, the wetlands filter out harmful residues from fertilizers, oils, and other contaminants that can be found on the roadways and in the surrounding desert. Near its terminus at Las Vegas Bay, the wash passes under the man made Lake Las Vegas through two 7 foot pipes, before development in the valley above the wash, it was able to contain the flows from rain water that fell in the valley and hills above. When the first sewage treatment plant went on line, the flows began increasing to the point that the expanded in size as the increased flows eroded the washs stream-banks. This erosion also deepened the channel draining one of the largest desert wetlands in the U. S. southwest as the water flowed down the channel rather than flooding the wetlands area
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Las Vegas Valley (landform)
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Las Vegas Valley is a basin located in the U. S. state of Nevada. The valley in the northwest section is a northwest-by-southeast trending area, U. S. Route 95 leaves Las Vegas northwest and goes northwesterly through the northwest valley section, with Las Vegas Wash about 2 miles northeast. U. S.95 lies on the southwest perimeter of the valley bottomlands, a distorted surface, a playa-like region, occurs at the farthest northwest area, for about 15 to 18 miles, starting from Nevada Route 157. At Nevada Route 156,10 miles northwest, the surface, bottom land turns north. It lies at the drainage section of the Three Lakes Valley. The Corn Creek Dunes lie about 5 miles southwest of Route 156s intersection with U. S.95, the Las Vegas Valley is an area about 1,600 square miles. Only the U. S. Route 95 northwest follows an actual valley, the valley is a fault-bounded structural and hydrologic basin made of alluvial-fan deposits. There are several aquifers contained within the valley including the Las Vegas Aquifer and these heavily depleted water sources exist at about 660–980 feet in depth. As of 1986, estimate show that the floor in Downtown Las Vegas has subsided by about 6.2 feet. The valley is an earthquake zone crossed by multiple fault. Corn Creek Dunes, trails. com 1959 Topographic map of the Las Vegas Valley area,1959
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Glen Canyon Dam
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Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page. The 710-foot high dam was built by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, a dam in Glen Canyon was studied as early as 1924, but these plans were initially dropped in favor of a dam in Black Canyon. After a long fight, the USBR agreed not to build the dam in Dinosaur, since first filling to capacity in 1980, Lake Powell water levels have fluctuated greatly depending on water demand and annual runoff. Operation of Glen Canyon Dam helps ensure a distribution of water between the states of the Upper Colorado River Basin and the Lower Basin. During years of drought, Glen Canyon guarantees a water delivery to the Lower Basin states, in wet years, it captures extra runoff for future use. The dam is also a source of hydroelectricity, averaging over 4 billion kilowatt hours per year. Water managers and utilities state that the dam is a source of renewable energy. Annual discharge from the Colorado River and its tributaries ranges from 4 to 22 million acre feet, flooding, and the rivers enormous silt or sediment load, created problems for settlements in the Lower Colorado River Valley and navigation on the lower portion of the river. During droughts, there was too little water available for irrigation, in 1904, the Colorado River was accidentally redirected after it damaged a canal gate in Mexico, causing the river to flood part of Californias Imperial Valley and create the Salton Sea. After this catastrophe, California and Arizona began to call for a dam to control the tempestuous river, in 1922, six U. S. states signed the Colorado River Compact to officially allocate the flow of the Colorado River and its tributaries. The third lower basin state, Arizona, did not ratify the Compact until 1944 because it was concerned that California might seek to appropriate a portion of its share before it could be put to use. The total,16.5 million acre feet, was based on thirty years of streamflow records starting in the late 1890s. It was believed to represent the flow as measured at Lees Ferry. As it turned out, the early 20th century was one of the wettest periods in the last 800 years, the dependable natural flow past Lees Ferry is now believed to be about 13.5 to 14.6 million acre feet. These studies found that the lower Colorado sites had stronger foundation rock which might result in less reservoir seepage, the Glen Canyon site, furthermore, was so remote that delivering supplies and transporting workers there would be infeasible at the time. However, what killed the first Glen Canyon proposal was the fact that it lies upstream of the Lees Ferry dividing line. With its substantial Congressional clout, California refused to allow the virtual faucets of a Colorado River dam to be built in what amounted to hostile territory. However, it was not able to weather the worst floods or droughts, but most importantly, Hoover only controlled the lower portion of the river
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Cactus
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A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek κάκτος, kaktos, Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought, many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth. Cacti show many adaptations to conserve water, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, as well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of leaves, enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis, Cacti are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north—except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which also grows in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch, areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular, Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by long drought periods. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a mechanism called crassulacean acid metabolism as part of photosynthesis. Transpiration, during which carbon enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced. Many smaller cacti have globe-shaped stems, combining the highest possible volume for water storage, the tallest free-standing cactus is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m, and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm in diameter at maturity. A fully grown saguaro is said to be able to absorb as much as 200 U. S. gallons of water during a rainstorm, a few species differ significantly in appearance from most of the family. At least superficially, plants of the genus Pereskia resemble other trees and they have persistent leaves, and when older, bark-covered stems. Their areoles identify them as cacti, and in spite of their appearance, they, Pereskia is considered close to the ancestral species from which all cacti evolved. In tropical regions, other cacti grow as forest climbers and epiphytes and their stems are typically flattened, almost leaf-like in appearance, with fewer or even no spines, such as the well-known Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus. Cacti have a variety of uses, many species are used as ornamental plants, others are grown for fodder or forage, cochineal is the product of an insect that lives on some cacti
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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
