Eastern Mojave Vegetation Tom Schweich
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Eastern Mojave Vegetation | U. S. Interstate 15 |
| Tom Schweich |
Topics in this Article: Montana Idaho Utah Leeds Arizona Nevada California Literature Cited | (No Preface) |
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| U. S. / Canada Border | | Montana
| | Sweetgrass
| | Butte
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Junction:
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Montana above … | Idaho below …
| | Idaho
| | Pocatello
| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 91: at US I-15 Jct: US Hwy
91, south past Zenda to Logan, then west back to US I-15.
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Idaho above | Utah below
| | Utah
| | TremontonJct: I-84 | Other Articles: U. S. Highway 91: Brigham City | Brigham CityJunction: US Hwy 91, east to Logan, then north back to US I-15.A reason to take US Highway 91 as an alternate to Interstate 15 would be to see the spillway of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville into the Snake River drainage. The bedrock threshold that established the Provo shoreline is at Red Rock Pass, while an earlier failed alluvial dam is placed at Zenda. | Locations: Salt Lake City.
| Salt Lake City
| Other Articles: Interstate 80: at US I-15 North Junction:
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| Other Articles: Interstate 80: at US I-15 South Junction:
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| Locations: Scipio. | Scipio
| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 50: at US Hwy 50 North Junction:
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| Locations: Holden. | Holden
| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 50: at US Hwy 50 South Junction:
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| Other Articles: Interstate 70: at US I-15 Junction:
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| Other Articles: Utah Highway 21: Beaver | BeaverJunction: UT Highway 21, west through Minersville and Milford to the Nevada border near Great Basin National Park and US Highway 50. |
Beaver River basin to the north ... | Beaver Ridge Parowan Valley to the south. |
Beaver County above … | Iron County below …
| Locations: Parowan Valley.
| Parowan Valley
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Junction: Utah Highway 271, access road to Paragonah. |
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| ParagonahRed Creek exits through the Hurricane Cliffs into Paragonah. On Red Creek, S. L. Welsh made a collection of Swertia albomarginata. | | Parowan
| Other Articles: Utah Highway 130: at I-15 Junction: Utah Highway 130,
north to Minersville. | | Locations: Cedar City.
| Cedar City
| Other Articles: Utah Highway 56: at US I-15 Junction: Utah Highway 56,
West to Nevada. | | Other Articles: Utah Highway 14: Cedar City Junction: Utah Highway 14,
East. | | Other Articles: Field Notes: May 31st, Kolob Cyns. View of Fort Harmony, and the
Harmony Mountains across US Interstate 15. |
| Other Articles: Field Notes: May 31st, Kolob Cyns. Locations: Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park.
Overlook in Kolob Canyons, Zion National Park. |
| Other Articles: Field Notes: May 31st, Kolob Cyns. View southwest toward Saint George
along US Interstate 15. | | Other Articles: Blackbrush: 406500 Utah Highway 17: Anderson Junction | Anderson JunctionJunction: Utah Highway 17, South to Toquerville.
| Literature Cited: Other Articles: Swertia albomarginata: near Italian Spring Locations: Italian Spring. Cross Grapevine
Wash. | Grapevine Wash drains Italian Wash, which drains Italian Spring. There is a collection of Swertia albomarginata from Italian Spring. | Other Articles: Oak Grove Road: at US I-15 Exit 23: Silver Reef Road,
to Oak Grove Road and the Oak Grove Campground. |
| Other Articles: Swertia albomarginata: near Silver Reef near Leeda Locations: Leeds. Silver Reef.
| LeedsSite of Silver Reef to the north. | Other Articles: Utah Highway 9: at US I-15 Junction: Utah Highway 9,
east to Hurricane and Zion National Park. |
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Exit 8: Saint George Blvd., UT Highway 34 |
| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 91: at St. George Locations: Saint George. | Saint George
| Other Articles: Utah Highway 18: at US I-15 Riverside Drive: 10000
Exit 6: |
| Other Articles: Field Notes: 20050530070 Locations: Virgin River. Virgin River Gorge Recreation
Area. | We stopped here for lunch one time and watched some rafters launch their raft, and drift downstream into the gorge.
| Other Articles: Field Notes: in Virgin River Gorge. Locations: Virgin River. I have driven through the Virgin
River Gorge on US I-15 twice in the northeasterly direction, and neither time have I seen a good place to stop for a photograph.
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| Utah
above. | Arizona below.
| | Arizona
| Other Articles: Black Rock Mountain Road: at US I-15
Exit 27: Black Rock Mountain Road |
| Locations: Beaver Dam Mountains. Virgin Mountains.
Beaver Dam Mountains to the northwest. Vrigin Mountains to the southeast.
| | Other Articles: U. S. Highway 91: Littlefield Locations: Littlefield.
| Littlefield
| Literature Cited: Other Articles: Summaries of Literature: Patterns of Canopy Development and Carbon Gain The road north from Littlefield
goes to the Joshua Tree Natural Area in southwestern Utah. I have been unable to find a name for this road. Comstock, Cooper and Ehleringer's (1988) site two for their study of patterns of canopy development and carbon gain is 16 km north of Littlefield within the Joshua Tree Natural Area.
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Arizona above … | Nevada below …
| | Nevada
| Other Articles: Interstate 15 - Business: at I-15S Junction: N.
Sandhill Blvd., E. Pioneer Blvd., I-15 Business |
| Locations: Mesquite.
| Mesquite
| Other Articles: Interstate 15 - Business: at I-15S Junction: W.
Mesquite Blvd., Interstate 15 Business |
| Locations: Bunkerville.
Bunkerville to the southeast across the Virgin River. |
| Literature Cited: Locations: Virgin Mountains. Virgin Mountains in
Clark County, Nevada, to the southeast across the Virgin River. |
| Other Articles: Nevada State Route 170: at US I-15 Junction: Nevada
State Route 170, to Bunkerville and Gold Butte Road. |
| Other Articles: NV State Route 12: at US I-15 Junction: Nevada State Route
12 | | Other Articles: Nevada State Route 168: at US I-15 | GlendaleJunction: Nevada State Route 168, for Glendale, to Moapa, and US Highway 93 at Coyote Springs. | Other Articles: NV State Route 169: at US I-15 Junction: Nevada State Route
169 | | Other Articles: U. S. Highway 93: at US I-15 Junction: U. S. Highway 93,
North. | |
| Las Vegas, North City Limit.
| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 95: Las Vegas U. S. Interstate 515: 11000 U. S. Highway 93: at US I-15 Junction:
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| Other Articles: Nevada State Route 159: at US I-15 Junction: Nevada State Route 159
"W. Charleston Blvd." | | Locations: Las Vegas.
| Las Vegas
| Las
Vegas, South City Limit. |
| Other Articles: NV Highway 160: 60000 Junction: Nevada Highway
160, the Blue Diamond Highway, which goes to Blue Diamond, and Pahrump.
| | Locations: Potosi Mountain.
The high mountain to the west of U. S. Interstate 15 is Potosi Mountain, considered to be a southern extension of the Spring Mountains.
| | Other Articles: NV Hwy 161: Jean Locations: Goodsprings. Jean. Sheep Mountain. | JeanJunction: NV Hwy 161, to Goodsprings and Sandy ValleySheep Mountain, type locality of the Goodsprings Dolomite, is across the valley to the southeast. | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Glossary: hypabyssal Locations: Devil Peak. Devil Peak to the
northwest. | Devil Peak is a small (~2.5 km diameter) hypabyssal rhyolite dome that intruded into Paleozoic carbonate strata of the southern Spring Mountains (Guest, et al., 2007). It is also the probable source for megabreccia sheets, pyroclastic deposits, and obsidian rock avalanche deposits that make up the crest of Black Butte. These deposits are evidence for about 30 km of dextral slip along the Stateline Fault System.
| Locations: Primm. | Primm | Other Articles: Keany Pass Road: at Primm Junction: Keany
Pass Road. | |
Nevada above … | California below …
| | California
| Other Articles: Nipton Road: 10000 Locations: Lakeview. Junction: Nipton
Road. | This is the former location of Lakeview, California. Annie Alexander and Louise Kellogg collected here on May 17, 1940. I found the location indicated on a 1939 edition of a AAA highway map.
| Other Articles: Zinc Mine Road: at Mountain Pass Locations: Mountain Pass. | Mountain PassThe largest known rare earth deposits in the world exist near Mountain Pass Summit. Today, the Molybdenum Corporation of America is processing the highly concentrated rare earth ore, the only remaining productive mining activity in the area.Prior to 1924, an unpaved road known as Arrowhead Trail, which was oil-treated shortly thereafter, generally followed meandering "dry" streambeds through Mountain Pass and Wheaton Canyon. Between 1933 and 1937, a greatly improved two-lane highway was constructed, which served as U.S. Highway 91 and 466 until 1963.
| Locations: Clark Mountain Station.
| Clark Mountain StationAnnie Alexander and Louise Kellogg stayed at Clark Mountain Station May 12-16, 1939. | Other Articles: Kessler Springs Road: at Valley Wells Kingston Road: Valley Wells Locations: Valley Wells.
| Valley WellsNo gasoline (May 2000, September 2000). Gasoline (May 2003)Junction:
| Locations: Clark Mountain. Halloran Summit. Yucca Grove.
| Halloran SummitGasoline and some services available (September 2000). I believe this is the former location of Yucca Grove. It was on the north side of then US Highways 91 and 466, and included an Auto Camp, in addition to gasoline and other services.
| Other Articles: Halloran Springs Road: at Halloran Springs at US I-15 Locations: Halloran Springs. | Halloran SpringsNo services (September 2000)Junction: Halloran Springs Road, west to Silver Lake on California Highway 127. | Other Articles: Tonopah & Tidewater: Baker California Highway 127: at Baker Kelbaker Road: in Baker Locations: Baker. | BakerRoad Junctions at Baker:
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| | View
of Little Cow Hole Mountain. | The photo is taken from Zzyzx Road, but a similar view can be had from US I-15. | Other Articles: FAQ: Zzyzx Zzyzx Road: at US I-15 Locations: Zzyzx. Junction: Zzyzx Road
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| Soda
Springs Desert Studies Center |
| Literature Cited:
I've been privileged to stay here for several classes and field trips. In this photograph, Allan Schoenherr, author of A Natural History of California, leads an early morning field trip to examine traps set along a transect the previous night. For information about the center see, http://biology.fullerton.edu:80/facilities/zzyzx.html
| | Locations: Soda Mountains. Soda Mountains to the north.
| | Literature Cited:
| Ventifact HillThe easily accessible vertifacts at "Ventifact Hill," east of Afton Canyon, are just a few of the many spectacular examples of sandblasted rocks that are to be found in the east-central Mojave Desert. They have formed in a corridor of wind transport which moved sand from the Mojave River eastward through the Devil's Playground, and ultimately towards the Kelso Dunes. Most of the ventifacts in this region are fossil or relict in nature, attesting to a time of greater sediment availability and possibly higher velocity winds. Today, areas of active ventifact formation are limited to a few hill crests where dune sand is being reworked by bidirectional winds (From the Author's Introduction, Laity, 2000).
| Literature Cited: Other Articles: Eastern Mojave Geology: 595110
The Cronese "Cat," a falling sand dune on the west side of the Cronese Basin, as seen from US Interstate 15. Evans (1962) studied these sand dunes, and his work is summarized in my article on eastern Mojave geology.
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| Other Articles: Field Notes: 200004260090 Basin Road: 50000 Locations: Cronese Basin. Junction: Basin
Road. | |  Cronese Basin with Cave Mountain.
The Cronese Basin with Cave Mountain on the south (left) side. The Basin Road overpass over U. S. Interstate 15 can be seen at the extreme left.
| | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Field Notes: 20050419080 Afton Road: 12000 Locations: Afton Canyon. Junction: Afton
Road | The history of lakes in the eastern Afton basin is very short compared with most Mojave Desert basins. The basin apparently did not exist prior to the rapid rise of the Cady Mountains in the Middle Pleistocene, as the oldest lacustrine evidence in eastern Afton basin is no older than about 300 ka. Afton area lacustrine sections provide evidence for three major lake events. The most prominent lake stand occurred during OIS 6 (Illinoian). All of the thick green clays visible in the Afton area are from this lake stand. Some of the clays have gypsum crystals, suggesting that this lake eventually dessicated. The Illinoian lake was followed by a lengthy dry interval probably starting in the Sangamon (OIS 5e). Next a tufa deposit dated at 80 ka, suggests that an OIS 4 lake reached an elevation of 525 m. Correlable strata are located near Camp Cady. Finally, there are several beach ridges and tufas at elevation of 542.5 m, show in the photograph at left, that have been reliably dated by radiocarbon methods to between 21.5 and 18 ka. This is slightly above the approximate elevation of the topographic divide into Coyote Basin, suggesting the maximum level of Lake Manix was maintained internally by overflows into Coyote Basin. Sometime about 18 ka., water overtopped the lowest rim of the Manix basin immediately above Afton Canyon and the water spilled out, removing that part of the canyon above the lake floor in a matter of hours. Since that time the Mojave River has continued to cut Afton Canyon, and the landscape is still adjusting to the rapid base level drop (Meek, 2000)
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Who is this guy? Why does he keep showing up in my Mojave Desert photos?
Between Field Road and Afton Road,
US I-15 passes through lake beds of Pleistocene Lake Manix. |
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Junction: Field Road, access to Field, a station on the Union Pacific, and access to Camp Cady Wildlife Area via Yermo Road.
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Manix Overcrossing, Alvord Mountain Road.
| There is no freeway exit here. The nearest exits are Harvard Road to the west and Field Road to the east. | Camp
Cady Wildlife Area | | Locations: Camp Cady. Camp Cady
| Former military fort, guarding the Mojave Road, on the Mojave River about 1 1/2 miles south of US I-15. | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Field Notes: 20020420070 Locations: Harvard Hill. There are many
ranches in the Lower Mojave Valley that rely on pumping of groundwater for the crops. The combination of soil disturbance and declining water tables has destabilized the landscape resulting in increased sand movement and dust storms that have been blamed for fatal highway accidents (Laity, 2000).
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Junction: Harvard Road, access to Harvard Hill, east to Camp Cady Wildlife Area, and south across Mojave Valley to Newberry Springs.
| | Other Articles: Field Notes: 20020420070 Locations: Harvard Hill. Harvard Hill
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Minneola Road | |
View of Mojave Valley from Dagget Ridge
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Junction Road: Calico Road. |
| Other Articles: Old California Highway 58: 16000
Junction: Old California Highway 58 |
| Locations: Barstow.
| BarstowCalifornia city, crossroads for early emigrant trails, railroads and highways in the California Desert, on the Mojave River. Once a small mining center and railroad town in California's Mojave Desert, Barstow is located at the junction of 3 major highways -- Interstate 15, Interstate 40 and State Highway 58. It is centrally located in the western Mojave at the entrance to the Mojave National Preserve and is home of the U.S. Army National Training Center, Marine Corps Logistics Base, NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Network and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad Yards. Population is 21,500 and elevation is 2,106 feet above sea level | Other Articles: U. S. Interstate 40: at Barstow Junction: U. S. Interstate
40, east across the Colorado River at Needles, across northern Arizona, New Mexico, and parts east to Wilmington, North Carolina.
| | Other Articles: California Highway 247: at US I-15
Junction:
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| Other Articles: California Highway 58: just west of Barstow Junction: California Highway
58, west through Mojave and Bakersfield to US Highway 101 at Santa Margarita.
| | Other Articles: Lenwood Road: 80000 Junction: Lenwood Road.
| | Locations: Victorville.
| Victorville
| Other Articles: California Highway 18: at US I-15 N Junction: California
Highway 18, east to Apple Valley, and Lucerne Valley. |
| Other Articles: California Highway 18: at US I-15 S Junction: California
Highway 18, west to Palmdale and US I-5 near Gorman |
| Locations: Hesperia.
Junction: Phelan Road, Hesperia to the east. |
| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 395: at US I-15 Junction: U. S. Highway 395.
| | | Cajon Pass
| Other Articles: California Highway 138: Cajon Junction
Junction: California Highway 138 |
| Other Articles: US I-10: 10992 Junction: U. S. Interstate
10, west to Los Angeles, east to San Bernardino. |
| Other Articles: California Highway 78: at US I-15 Junction:
California Highway 78 | | Locations: San Diego.
| San Diego
| | Literature CitedA list of all literature cited by this web site can be found in the Bibliography.
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| Comstock, J. P., T. A. Cooper, and J. R. Ehleringer. 1988. Seasonal patterns of canopy development and carbon gain in nineteen warm desert shrub species. Oecologia (Berlin). 75(3):327-335. {TAS} ...
| | Evans, James R. 1962. Falling and climbing sand dunes in the Cronese ("Cat") Mountain area, San Bernardino County, California. Journal of Geology. 70: 107-113. {TAS} Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Guest, Bernard, Nathan Niemi, and Brian Wernicke. 2007. Stateline fault system: A new component of the Miocene-Quaternary Eastern California shear zone. GSA Bulletin. 119(11/12):1337-1346. {TAS&pdf} Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Kartesz, John Thomas. 1988. A flora of Nevada. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno, 1988.. Location records referred to by this literature:
| | Laity, June. 2000. Ventifacts in the Mojave River Corridor and at "Ventifact Hill". pp. 37-39 in Reynolds, Robert E., and Jennifer Reynolds, 2000. Empty Basins, Vanished Lakes: A Field Guide to Afton, Baxter, Tecopa, Shoshone, Pahrump and Kingston. San Bernardino County Museum Association Quarterly. 47(2). Redlands, CA: San Bernardino County Museum Association, 2000. ...
| | Laity, June. 2000. The Lower Mojave Valley: Mojave Desert, California: A Destabilizing Aeolian Environment (Abstract). pp. 78-79 in Reynolds, Robert E., and Jennifer Reynolds, 2000. Empty Basins, Vanished Lakes: A Field Guide to Afton, Baxter, Tecopa, Shoshone, Pahrump and Kingston. San Bernardino County Museum Association Quarterly. 47(2). Redlands, CA: San Bernardino County Museum Association, 2000. ... Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Meek, Norman. 2000. The Late Wisconsinian History of the Afton Canyon Area. pp. 32-34 in Reynolds, Robert E., and Jennifer Reynolds, 2000. Empty Basins, Vanished Lakes: A Field Guide to Afton, Baxter, Tecopa, Shoshone, Pahrump and Kingston. San Bernardino County Museum Association Quarterly. 47(2). Redlands, CA: San Bernardino County Museum Association, 2000. ... Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Post, Douglas M. 1956. Studies in the Gentianaceae: Frasera and Swertia of North America. Ph.D. dissertation. University of California, Berkeley. 1956.. Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Schoenherr, Allan A. 1992. A Natural History of California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. {TAS} 772 p. 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: 6/28/2009 8:24:10 AM |
