Death Valley
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Death Valley is the lowest, driest and hottest valley in the United States. It is the location of the lowest elevation in North America at 85.5 m (281 ft) below sea level. It holds the record highest temperature in Western hemisphere and world's second highest. Located southeast of the Sierra Nevada range in the Great Basin and the Mojave Desert, it constitutes much of Death Valley National Park. It runs north-south between the Amargosa Range to the east and the Panamint Range to the west; the Sylvania Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about 3,000 square miles (~7,800 km²).[1]
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[edit] Geography
Geologically, Death Valley is considered one of the best examples of the Basin and Range configuration. It lies at the southern end of a geological trough known as the Walker Lane which runs north into Oregon. The valley is bisected by a right lateral strike slip fault system, represented by the Death Valley Fault and the Furnace Creek Fault. The eastern end of the left lateral Garlock Fault intersects the Death Valley Fault. Located on the border of California and Nevada, Death Valley is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve. Death valley also contains salt pans. Millions of years ago, there was an inland sea located over where Death Valley is today, but as the area turned to desert, the water evaporated, leaving behind the salt.[citation needed]
Temperatures in the Valley can range from up to 130 °F (54 °C) in the day in the summer, to below freezing at night in the winter. The lowest temperature on record at Furnace Creek Inn is 15 °F (-9 °C). The National Climatic Center reports that temperatures at Furnace Creek reach 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 189.3 days annually and 100 °F (38 °C) on an average of 138.0 days annually. Freezing temperatures occur on an average of 11.7 days each year.
Many of Death Valley's narrow, serpentine roads were built in the 1930s and cannot be driven on at high speed. Badwater, located within Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest point in North America. (Surprisingly, the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, is just 76 miles (123 km) west of Death Valley). At 282 feet (86 m) below sea level, Death Valley shares most of the characteristics found in other places around the world that lie below sea level.
Generally, the lower the altitude of a place, the higher the temperatures tend to be. This is especially true in Death Valley, due to the mountains that encircle the valley. The valley radiates extreme amounts of heat, creating temperatures that are among the highest on earth. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek (then known as Greenland Ranch), during a sandstorm (according to National Weather Service records), on July 10, 1913. The highest average high temperature in July is 117 °F (47 °C) with temperatures of 122 °F (50 °C) or higher being very common. Parts of the valley receive less than 2 in (50 mm) of rain annually. At Furnace Creek Inn, average annual precipitation is 2.33 inches and there are an average of 18.1 days annually with measurable precipitation. The greatest monthly precipitation was 2.59 inches in January 1995 and 1.47 inch of precipitation fell on April 15, 1988, the one-day record. The Amargosa River and Furnace Creek flow through the valley, disappearing into the sands of the valley floor.
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Winter storms moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass over mountain ranges to continue east. As the clouds rise up they cool and the moisture condenses to fall as rain or snow on the western side of the ranges. By the time the clouds reach the mountain's east side they no longer have as much available moisture, creating a dry "rainshadow". Four major mountain ranges lie between Death Valley and the ocean, each one adding to an increasingly drier rainshadow effect.
The depth and shape of Death Valley influence its summer temperatures. The valley is a long, narrow basin 85.5 m (282 feet) below sea level, yet is walled by high, steep mountain ranges. The clear, dry air and sparse plant cover allow sunlight to heat the desert surface. Heat radiates back from the rocks and soil, then becomes trapped in the valley's depths. Summer nights provide little relief as overnight lows may only dip into the 30°C to 35°C (85°F to 95°F) range. Heated air rises, yet is trapped by the high valley walls, is cooled and recycled back down to the valley floor. These pockets of descending air are only slightly cooler than the surrounding hot air. As they descend, they are compressed and heated even more by the low elevation air pressure. These moving masses of super heated air blow through the valley creating extreme high temperatures.[1] The average evaporation rate in the bottom of Death Valley is 150 inches a year.
While Death Valley gets very little rain, it is prone to flooding during heavy rains because the soil is unable to absorb the bulk of the water. The runoff can produce dangerous flash floods. In August 2004, such flooding caused two deaths and shut down the national park.
The National Climatic Center reports that, on a few rare occasions, light snow has fallen on the valley floor. The most recent snow flurries at Furnace Creek Inn were on January 5, 1974.
During the late Pleistocene, the valley was inundated by prehistoric Lake Manly. The valley received its name in 1849 during the California Gold Rush by emigrants who sought to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields. During the 1850s, gold and silver were extracted in the valley. In the 1880s, borax was discovered and extracted by mule-drawn wagons.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average daily maximum temperature | 64 °F 18 °C |
71 °F 22 °C |
80 °F 27 °C |
89 °F 32 °C |
98 °F 37 °C |
107 °F 42 °C |
114 °F 46 °C |
113 °F 45 °C |
105 °F 41 °C |
91 °F 33 °C |
75 °F 24 °C |
64 °F 18 °C |
89 °F 32 °C |
|
| Average daily minimum temperature | 37 °F 3 °C |
44 °F 7 °C |
51 °F 11 °C |
60 °F 16 °C |
69 °F 21 °C |
78 °F 26 °C |
86 °F 30 °C |
84 °F 29 °C |
73 °F 23 °C |
59 °F 15 °C |
46 °F 8 °C |
37 °F 3 °C |
60 °F 16 °C |
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| Average monthly rainfall | 0.3" 7.6mm |
0.4" 10.2mm |
0.3" 7.6mm |
0.1" 2.5mm |
0.1" 2.5mm |
0.0" 0.0mm |
0.1" 2.5mm |
0.1" 2.5mm |
0.2" 5.1mm |
0.1" 2.5mm |
0.2" 5.1mm |
0.2" 5.1mm |
2.1" 53.3mm |
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| Source: Weatherbase | ||||||||||||||
[edit] Native population
Death Valley is home to the Timbisha tribe, who have inhabited the valley for at least the past 1000 years. Some families still live in the valley at Furnace Creek. The name of the valley, tümpisa, means 'rock paint' and refers to the valley as a source of red ochre paint. Another village in the valley was located in Grapevine Canyon near the present site of Scotty's Castle. It was called maahunu in the Timbisha language, the meaning of which is uncertain although hunu means 'canyon'
[edit] In popular culture
- The song Death Valley '69 by Sonic Youth mentions both Death Valley and the Charles Manson murders that took place in California in 1969.
- Mark Lanegan wrote a song called "Driving Death Valley Blues" on his 2004 album Bubblegum.
- Dir en grey has a song titled "Bottom of the Death Valley"
- Death Valley Days, a 420-episode television series ran from 1952 until 1975. However, some of it was shot in Apache Junction, Arizona.[citation needed]
- The final chapters of Frank Norris's 1899 novel McTeague are set in Death Valley, and the final scenes of the film adaptation it inspired, Greed, were shot on location there.
- Death Valley is shown in the movies Death Valley, Queen of the Damned (where Lestat's concert took place), and Zabriskie Point (the location of the film's famous desert love scene).[citation needed]
- It was a location for filming in the Star Wars films.[citation needed]
- It was a filming location for Six-String Samurai.[2]
- WWE wrestler The Undertaker is billed from Death Valley, although he is really from Houston, Texas.
- Death Valley is the name given when referring transported from Death Valley to the Clemson University campus. A well-known tradition in college football is players "rubbing the rock" and running down a hill into Death Valley before the start of football games during the fall season.
- Robot Jox (1990) takes place in Death Valley, where the giant robots of two opposed superpower nations fight for the contested claim of Alaska in a post-apocalyptic world.
- Death Valley is featured in the BBC documentary series Planet Earth.
- A segment of the Kate Bush Documentary, "Come Back Kate Bush" had an interview took place in Death Valley; which Melanie Nelson was featured.
- A song called "Death Valley Nights" appears on the 1977 Blue Öyster Cult album Spectres.
- Left-field in Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees, is known as 'Death Valley' due to the image that a fly ball hit there appears to 'die' suddenly and drop. It also refers to the fact that during a day game, the left-fielder cannot see the baseball because the sun is directly in his eyes.
[edit] See also
- Places of interest in the Death Valley area
- Death Valley National Park
- Geology of the Death Valley area
- Death Valley pupfish
- Racetrack Playa
- Richard Benyo
- Stan Jones (songwriter)
- Mark Calaway
[edit] External links
- Death Valley on the PBS show Nature
- Death Valley travel guide from Wikitravel
- Pictures from Death Valley
- Death Valley in a Week: 1000 photos 800x600
[edit] References
- UNESCO Biosphere Preserve: Mojave and Colorado Deserts
- Strange moving rocks of the valley
- Death Valley Weather
- Death Valley and surrounding area sites - GPS coordinates
- ^ Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac, 2007, New York, New York: Penguin Books, 456. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
- ^ Six-String Samurai (1998) - Filming locations
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