Eastern Mojave Vegetation Tom Schweich
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Eastern Mojave Vegetation | California Highway 127 |
| Tom Schweich |
 Topics in this Article: Literature Cited |
CA Hwy
127 is the southern gateway to Death Valley. |
| Other Articles: NV Hwy 373: at Calfornia State Line Nevada above
… | California below … Junction: Nevada Highway 373, north to US Highway 95 in Amargosa Valley. |  The Amargosa
Opera House at Death Valley Junction. Other Articles: CA Hwy 190: at CA Hwy 127 Tonopah & Tidewater: Death Valley Junction Locations: Death Valley Junction. | Death Valley JunctionJunction: California Highway 190, west to Death Valley.
|
 Is
this a landslide? Other Articles: Field Notes: May 24, 2004
Every time I drive by this canyon at the very southeastern tip of the Funeral Mountains, I wonder whether it might be a landslide. Of course, I'll also have to confess that I've not been sufficiently curious that I went to any effort to go look at it.
| |  Southeastern
tip of the Funeral Mountains. Other Articles: Field Notes: May 24, 2004 |
|  Eagle Mountain
in the Amargosa River Valley. Locations: Eagle Mountain.
Eagle Mountain | | Other Articles: CA Hwy 178: near Shoshone Junction:
California Highway 178, west over Salsberry Pass and Jubilee Pass to southern Death Valley.
| |  Moonrise over
Shoshone Locations: Shoshone.
Moonrise over Shoshone, at the Shoshone Motel |
|  Nighthawks in Shoshone. Locations: Shoshone.
On this warm May evening, there were nighthawks flying over the lights of the motel parking lot.
| |  Downtown
Shoshone in the early morning. Locations: Shoshone.
| Shoshone
| Other Articles: CA Hwy 178: near Shoshone Junction:
California Highway 178, east to Pahrump Nevada. |
| Other Articles: Furnace Creek Road: 20000 Junction: Furnace
Creek Road | |
Highway 127 skirts Tecopa Valley. To the east you can see the town of Tecopa. You can read about the geology of Tecopa Valley in
Geophysical constraints on the cessation of extension and thickness of basin fill in Tecopa Valley, California.
| |  Borax Spring
at Zabriskie.
| | Other Articles: Old Spanish Trail Road: 20000 Junction: Old
Spanish Trail Road | | Locations: Ibex Hills. Ibex Pass. Sperry Hills.
| Ibex PassSperry Hills on the east; Ibex Hills on the west. | Literature Cited: Locations: Dumont Dunes. Junction: Dumont
Dunes Road | |  Looking north toward the Ibex Hills and Ibex Pass from the Amargosa River.
Locations: Amargosa River. |
|  The Amargosa River where it crosses California Highway 127.
Locations: Amargosa River. Amargosa River. | Amargosa River
| Other Articles: Harry Wade Road: 18000 Junction: Harry
Wade Road, west turning north into Death Valley. |
|  Dumont Dunes, as seen from California Highway 127
Locations: Dumont Dunes. |
| Locations: Avawatz Mountains.
Avawatz Mountains to the southwest. |
|  Salt Creek, looking downstream toward the Amargosa River
| |  Large Athel
tree at Salt Creek
| |  View of Salt
Creek Locations: Salt Creek.
| Salt CreekWater flow generated by several small desert springs, as well as winter drainage from neighboring Silurian Valley, come together at Salt Spring Hills to form a unique tributary to the Amargosa River known as Salt Creek. In an otherwise very harsh environment, this water provides the gift of life to a huge variety of desert wildlife like bighorn sheep to drink, but also food and shelter necessary for animals such as Gambels Quail to survive and raise young. The march, mesquite trees and succulent vegetative scrub this water supports, provide countless homes for animals like the ring-tail, bobcat, badger and over 150 bird species. The riparian habitat, or streamside vegetation, present at Salt Creek is virtually the only water based habitat in over fifteen square miles of desert. Ensuring continued water flow and the health of the native plant communities found here are essential to sustaining numerous wildlife species. Extensive efforts are being made by the Bureau of Land Management, California Dept. of Fish and Game, and numerous partners such as Quail Unlimited and the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, to remove exotic weeds, restore native plants and maintain this scarce water resource. |  Honey
Mesquite at Salt Creek
| |  Salt Creek,
looking upstream, to the southeast.
| | Other Articles: Kingston Wash Road: Renoville Locations: Renoville.
| Renoville
| Locations: Silurian Valley.
| |  Silurian
Hills in the late afternoon. Other Articles: Field Notes: 20060422150 | | Locations: Silurian Lake.
| Silurian Lake
|  Photography on Silurian Lake in the late Afternoon
| |  Lower
spillway, looking downstream.
| |  Lower
spillway, looking upstream.
| | Literature Cited: Locations: Silver Lake. | Silver Lake SpillwayLake Mojave, the name given to a large lake filling the present day Soda and Silver Lakes, overflowed at hills on the north side of Silver Lake, cascading down a narrow channel and thence to Death Valley. Full Lake Mojave and associated overflow to Death Valley occurred between 19 and 17 ka, and episodically from 14 to 9 ka. Since that time, there has been no fluvial communication between the Mojave River and points lower than Silver Lake, but episodic flow of the Mojave River from the San Bernardino Mountains to Silver Lake occurs regularly, including Winter 2005 (Miller, 2005). |  Upper
spillway, looking downstream.
| |  Upper
spillway, looking upstream.
| |  Upper
spillway, looking upstream.
| | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Field Notes: 23-Apr-06 Halloran Springs Road: at Silver Lake Routes to Water: at Silver Lake at Silver Lake Locations: Silver Lake (site). | Silver Lake (site)Silver Lake was once a main crossroads in the eastern Mojave desert at a time when Baker, now the major crossroads, was only a station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Major trails from Silver Lake include:
Junction: Halloran Springs Road, east through the Halloran Hills to Halloran Springs at US Interstate 15. |  View west
across Silver Lake from Silver Lake. Locations: Silver Lake.
|
| Locations: Silver Lake.
| Silver Lake
|
 Avawatz Mountains from CA Highway 127.
View of the Avawatz Mountains to the northwest across Silver Lake.
| | Other Articles: Kelbaker Road: in Baker Interstate 15: Baker Locations: Baker.
| BakerJunctions:
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| Literature CitedA list of all literature cited by this web site can be found in the Bibliography.
|
| Miller, David M. 2005. Summary of the Evolution of the Mojave River [Abstract]. pp. 10-11 in Reheis, Marith C.. Geologic and Biotic Perspectives on Late Cenozoic Drainage History of the Southwestern Great Basin and Lower Colorado River Region: Conference Abstracts. USGS Open File Report 2005-1014. 2005. ... Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Ore, H. Thomas, and Claude N. Warren. 1971. Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Geomorphic History of Lake Mojave, California. GSA Bulletin. 82: 2553-2562. {TAS-pdf}
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| Owen, Lewis A., et al. 2007. Numerical dating of a Late Quaternary spit-shoreline complex at the northern end of Silver Lake playa. Quaternary International. 166(1):87-110.
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| Pavlik, Bruce Michael. 1985. Sand dune flora of the Great Basin and Mojave deserts of California, Nevada, and Oregon. Madroño. 32(4):197-213. {TAS} Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Thompson, David G. 1929. The Mohave Desert Region, California. Water-Supply Paper 578. Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey, 1929. {TAS} Location records referred to by this literature:
If you have a question or a comment
you may write to me at: tas4@schweich.com I sometimes post
interesting questions in my FAQ, but I never disclose your full name or address.
| | Date and time this article was prepared: 5/15/2008 12:32:41 PM |
