Vegetation on the sand dunes in Death Valley, CA
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- Unknown
- Location
- Death Valley, California
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2009. All Rights Reserved
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- Search LEARN NC for arid, badlands, Badwater Basin, California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, deserts, dry, dunes, erosion, lowest point, mountains, national parks, rain, rainstorm, salt, salt flats, sand, sand dune, sedimentary, and volcanic.
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Ridged sand dunes at Death Valley National Park, California. In the foreground, low brush grows in clumps, and in the background, a set of footprints zig-zags up the spine of a dune. Some visitors are surprised that Death Valley is not covered in dunes, but in reality, only one percent of the desert is actually covered in dunes. Dunes require a source of sand, winds to move the sand, and a protected place for the sand to collect, such as the base of a mountain. Very few of these places exist, though wind and sand eroded from the canyon are plentiful.
Death Valley National Park is located east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It is home to the lowest point in North America at Badwater, which is 282 feet below sea level, but it also encompasses parts of several mountain ranges. Its highest point is Telescope Peak, at 11,049 feet. Located in an rainshadow exaggerated by the presence of four major mountain ranges between it and the ocean, Death Valley receives less than two inches of rainfall a year and is famous as one of the hottest and driest places in North America. Summer temperatures often hover around 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
