Before tramping down the boardwalk surrounding the pool of salty water at Badwater, I stopped to read the sign posted by the park service. It was a tale of the birth of Death Valley, fascinating...
Shake Down
This geographic region - known as "Basin and Range" - is spreading apart, fracturing the earth's crust along parallel faultlines. Huge blocks of land between the faults tilt like seesaws as the extension continues. You are standing above the dropping edge of a fault block that is rising on its other side to create the Panamint Mountains. Behind you, the steep face of the Black Mountains is another rising fault block edge. These forces are still active. The next large earthquake could cause Badwater Basin to drop a few more feet below sea level.
Filling in the Gaps
Even as the basins and ranges form, erosion wears down the mountains. Debris from the surrounding area washes into this basin since it has no outlet to the sea. But erosion cannot keep up with the geologic forces that continue to create Death Valley - the basin drops faster than it fills. After millions of floods, nearly 9,000 feet (2,750 m) of sand, silt, gravel, and salt fill the valley basin.
Quoted information courtesy of Death Valley National Park signage |
