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54-548: The Amargosa Valley ("the Valley") is located within the Basin and Range Province ("the Province") which is characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins. As is typical of the Province, the Valley is long from north to south and narrow from east to west. It lies to the east of Death Valley , separated from it by

108-510: A configuration which has given rise to increased shearing along the continental margin . The tectonic activity responsible for the extension in the Basin and Range is a complex and controversial issue among the geoscience community. The most accepted hypothesis suggests that crustal shearing associated with the San Andreas Fault caused spontaneous extensional faulting similar to that seen in

162-506: A convenient but rough route, confined to horseback and pack animals, to California. It ran north from Santa Fe to the Salt Lake area then back south along the edge of the mountains to San Diego, and had been used ever since the days of Cabeza De Vaca's journey through the country. Leaving the Salt Lake area, they were overtaken by another party led by a guide named Captain Smith. He assured them that

216-479: A description of the clear cool waters of Owens river and Lake Owens. The route would take them north and west of the then unknown Death Valley. Then, over Walker's Pass into California. Unfortunately, this map showed a fictitious mountain range, north of the Old Spanish Trail to Los Angeles and running roughly east–west across central Nevada, and it may have been this non-existent mountain range that contributed to

270-450: A farm and lived the remainder of his life. Near the end of his life, Rogers was suffering from Mercury poisoning , a common condition resulting from the use of mercury to extract gold from low-grade ore, and parts of his feet had been amputated, presumably from mercury-induced gangrene . Rogers lake is a dry lake in the Mojave desert, and is also on Edwards Airforce base. This is the lake that

324-578: A group of related geologic features formed by crustal extension during the Cenozoic era (66.0 million years ago to present). The study of metamorphic core complexes has provided valuable insight into the extensional processes driving Basin and Range formation. Prior to the Eocene Epoch (55.8 ±0.2 to 33.9 ±0.1 Ma) the convergence rate of the Farallon and North American plates was fast, the angle of subduction

378-558: A heroic climb over the Panamints to safety, while the Bennetts waited huddled around their wagons with water but no food. Four weeks later, after an incredible 500 mile round-trip trek across the Mojave Desert to Rancho San Francisco (approx. 30 miles north of Los Angeles), Manly & Rogers returned with some food supplies and a single mule (three other horses had died on the return trip), and

432-465: A map was presented to the group by a Captain Smith, who had been hired to guide a different group of emigrants, showing a purported "short cut" to California that crossed south-central Nevada along the foot of an east–west mountain range, along which water and grass for the animals would be available, then into California at a latitude much closer to the gold fields. The groups argued over this proposed short cut, and eventually split up, with some sticking to

486-762: A mild desert climate with very hot summer days and mild winters. The hottest recorded temperature in Amargosa Valley is 118 °F (47.7 °C) on July 9, 2002 and the coldest temperature was 6 °F (-14.4 °C) on December 22, 1990. Average yearly precipitation is 4.29 inches. The principal highways serving Amargosa Valley are U.S. Route 95 which runs north–south (NE-SW as it passes through Amargosa) connecting Las Vegas and Reno , and State Route 373 , which runs north–south connecting Amargosa Valley to Death Valley Junction via California State Route 127 . Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge features approximately 23,000 acres (93 km) of spring-fed wetlands and

540-415: A more direct route across the southern deserts existed which was quite passable for wagons and showed them a copy of John C. Fremont's map of his explorations. The map had a large portion, then known as "The Great American Desert", left blank with the word "unexplored" across it. On this Smith's friend Barney Ward had drawn in a trail which showed plenty of graze for the animals, and adequate water for all with

594-450: A pair of horses and a mule, and additional provisions, then they began the 250 mile trek back to Death Valley, arriving back at the Bennett's camp after almost a month's round trip journey, and with only the mule still alive, the two horses having died of exhaustion and privation along the return route. This heroic trek, nearly 500 miles through a completely unknown desert wilderness, resulted in

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648-598: Is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . The refuge provides habitat for at least 24 plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Four fish ( Devil's Hole Pupfish , Amargosa Pupfish , Warm Springs Pupfish, and Ash Meadows Speckled Dace ), one insect ( Ash Meadows Naucorid ), and one plant ( Amargosa Niterwort ) are currently listed as endangered species . Ash Meadows NWR can be accessed via SR 373 in Amargosa Valley, SR 160 near Crystal, Nevada or from Bell Vista Road west of Pahrump . Entrances to

702-417: Is mostly arid and sparsely populated, although there are several major metropolitan areas, such as Reno , Las Vegas , Salt Lake City , Phoenix , Tucson , El Paso — Ciudad Juárez , Mexicali , and Hermosillo . It is generally accepted that basin and range topography is the result of extension and thinning of the lithosphere , which is composed of crust and upper mantle . Extensional environments like

756-473: Is therefore thought to be unrelated to the kind of extension produced by mantle upwelling which may cause narrow rift zones, such as those of the Afar triple junction . Geologic processes that elevate heat flow are varied, however some researchers suggest that heat generated at a subduction zone is transferred to the overriding plate as subduction proceeds. Fluids along fault zones then transfer heat vertically through

810-592: The Amargosa Range and Funeral Mountains . The Valley lies within the Mohave Desert region of the Province. The more narrowly bounded Amargosa Desert forms the eastern portion of the Valley. It is not known when the first humans settled in the Amargosa Desert. Ancient campsites have been found that date back at least 10,000 years, to the end of the last ice age. Recent examination of archaeological remains in

864-467: The Amargosa Range , and on a direct westward course, they had four more ranges to cross to reach California. The route they were following began to descend along a dry arroyo that is today known as Furnace Creek Wash, which deposited the teams in the bottom of Death Valley, with the Panamint Range blocking any further progress westward. They were now completely lost, and both people and animals were on

918-832: The Wasatch Fault , the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande Rift . The province extends north to the Columbia Plateau and south as far as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in Mexico , though the southern boundaries of the Basin and Range are debated. In Mexico, the Basin and Range Province is dominated by and largely synonymous with the Mexican Plateau . Evidence suggests that the less-recognized southern portion of

972-600: The Amargosa desert. They were followed by another small group, the Wade family party who stayed back one day. Not having to scout or break trail, the Wades had an easy journey compared to the others. After leaving Ash Meadows, they drove over the Amargosa range, and down into Death Valley through Furnace Creek Wash where they were quickly bogged down on the valley floor. Many of their oxen had died from lack of forage and they were immobilized, as

1026-427: The Basin and Range are characterized by listric normal faulting , or faults that level out with depth. Opposing normal faults link at depth producing a horst and graben geometry, where horst refers to the upthrown fault block and graben to the down dropped fault block. The average crustal thickness of the Basin and Range Province is approximately 30–35 km and is comparable to extended continental crust around

1080-542: The Basin and Range province are controversial, and several competing hypotheses attempt to explain them. Key events preceding Basin and Range extension in the western United States include a long period of compression due to the subduction of the Farallon plate under the west coast of the North American continental plate which stimulated the thickening of the crust. Most of the pertinent tectonic plate movement associated with

1134-456: The Bennett and Arcane families walked and rode their remaining oxen out of what they named, "Death Valley". There appears to have been only one death among the '49er emigrants within Death Valley itself, a Capt. Culverwell. Two weeks before the return of Manly and Rogers, a small group had attempted to walk out to the southwest, and Capt. Culverwell, a middle-aged man, was unable to keep up with

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1188-561: The Early Miocene with the southern portion of the province representing a greater degree of displacement than the north. Evidence exists to suggest that extension initially began in the southern Basin and Range and propagated north over time. Clarence Dutton famously compared the many narrow parallel mountain ranges that distinguish the unique topography of the Basin and Range to an "army of caterpillars crawling northward." The tectonic mechanisms responsible for lithospheric extension in

1242-481: The Great Basin. However, plate movement alone does not account for the high elevation of the Basin and Range region. The western United States is a region of high heat flow which lowers the density of the lithosphere and stimulates isostatic uplift as a consequence. Lithospheric regions characterized by elevated heat flow are weak and extensional deformation can occur over a broad region. Basin and Range extension

1296-593: The Pacific-Farallon Ridge was subducted beneath North America ending subduction along this part of the Pacific margin; however, the Farallon plate continued to subduct into the mantle . The movement at this boundary divided the Pacific-Farallon Ridge and spawned the San Andreas transform fault , generating an oblique strike-slip component. Today, the Pacific plate moves north-westward relative to North America,

1350-735: The Panamint Range; their names are given in Manly's journal as Mr. Fish and Mr. Isham. While the main motivation of the emigrants was to join the California gold rush, the 1849 rush wasn't nearly as profitable as the later silver rush of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Amargosa Valley is near the controversial Yucca Mountain Repository , a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility on federal land, designed for

1404-833: The Sierra Nevada mountains, which happened just before the news of California gold became public, a loose group arrived in October 1849 at the Great Salt Lake. They organized under the guidance of a Captain Hunt to head for the San Bernardino–Los Angeles area. The best alternative to risking the Donner route was to try an end run to the south of the Sierras. The Old Spanish Trail had long been used by Indians, traders, explorers, and mountain men as

1458-648: The Wisconsin farm country who decided to risk it on the assurances that Smith, with the map, would accompany them. Hunt objected, but agreed to stay on as long as he was needed. Soon after their leaving Salt Lake, Smith's group split off as did their guide Hunt as the country got really rough for wagon passage with the main group of less adventurous emigrants and the map. Smith and Hunt both arrived with their parties in San Bernardino after tough but quick journeys around Death Valley. Manly, Brier, and Bennett led straight on into

1512-523: The autumn of 1849, several groups of emigrant gold-seekers were assembled in Salt Lake City , Utah , preparing to head for Southern California via the Old Spanish Trail . Although this route would have brought the emigrants to California about 200 miles south of the gold fields, they knew it was too close to winter to attempt a crossing of the central Sierra Nevada over Donner Pass . At this point,

1566-505: The brink of starvation. The group crossed the valley, heading south along the foot of the Panamints in search of a pass. They camped at a spring, now called Bennett's Well, and determined that their only possibility of survival was to send a small party on foot to scout an escape route and perhaps bring help if a settlement could be found. Two young men volunteered to make this attempt, William Lewis Manly and John Rogers, and they were provided with enough provisions for about two weeks, and all of

1620-416: The crust. This model has led to increasing interest in geothermal systems in the Basin and Range, and requires consideration of the continued influence of the fully subducted Farallon plate in the extension responsible for the Basin and Range Province. In some localities in the Basin and Range, metamorphic basement is visible at the surface. Some of these are metamorphic core complexes (MCC), an idea that

1674-559: The emigrant's decision to chance leaving the established trail, under the assumption that water, and grass for the oxen, would be easier to locate along the base of the mountains. In later times, the exploration and mapping of Nevada would show that all of the mountain ranges in central Nevada run north–south, directly across the path the Bennett-Arcane Party took. The party was led by William L. Manly , Rev. James Brier, and Asahel Bennett, all experienced outdoorsmen and farmers out of

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1728-419: The few remaining animals were starving and were too weak to pull wagons up and over the mountains to the west and south, even if a pass were found. The Wades, not so bad off, quickly turned south and drove themselves out of the valley and on to safety, probably via Wingate Wash. The Manley, Brier, & Bennett party sent Manley and a companion, John Haney Rogers , south out of the valley for help. The Briers made

1782-616: The greater Basin and Range physiographic region. Nor should it be confused with the Basin and Range National Monument , located in Southern Nevada, which is one small part of the much larger province. The Basin and Range Province includes much of western North America . In the United States, it is bordered on the west by the eastern fault scarp of the Sierra Nevada and spans over 500 miles (800 km) to its eastern border marked by

1836-570: The later wagon road called the Old Mormon Road or Salt Lake Road , ran through the south end of Amargosa Valley, passing from Resting Springs , east of present-day Tecopa, 7 miles to Willow Spring on the east bank of the canyon of the Amargosa River (then called Saleratus Creek), below Tecopa and above the mouth of China Ranch Wash . After the Donner Party 's disastrous winter of 1847 in

1890-494: The money in the camp - about $ 30 - with which to buy supplies and animals if such could be found. Manly and Rogers started southwest, and after two weeks of walking through the Mojave Desert , with little more than a few pounds of dried meat and a makeshift canteen made of gunpowder cans, they stumbled into a settlement, Rancho San Fernando, 30 miles or so northeast of Los Angeles near Tejon Pass . Here they were able to procure

1944-410: The natural hot springs. Basin and Range Province The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region covering much of the inland Western United States and northwestern Mexico . It is defined by unique basin and range topography , characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins. The physiography of

1998-484: The original route, and others adopting the short cut. The "short cut" group included families with children (generally referred to as the Bennett-Arcane party in Manly's book), and several unmarried men, including William Lewis Manly and his friend John H. Rogers. Unfortunately for these emigrants, the east–west mountain range shown on the map turned out to be a figment of the map-maker's imagination, and for three weeks

2052-697: The preservation of the lives of all but one of the members of the Bennett-Arcane Party (a Captain Culverwell had died a day or two before Manly and Rogers' return) Manly and Rogers led the Bennett-Arcane party safely back to Los Angeles , after which they parted ways. Rogers spent some time at gold mining, then moved to Gilroy, California in Santa Clara County , where he was the town's first constable in 1852. Later, he settled in Merced, California , where he owned

2106-702: The province is White Mountain Peak in California , while the lowest point is the Badwater Basin in Death Valley at −282 feet (−86 m). The province's climate is arid, with numerous ecoregions . Most North American deserts are located within it. The Basin and Range Province should not be confused with the Great Basin , a region defined by its unique hydrological characteristics (internal drainage) that overlaps much of

2160-701: The province is bounded on the east by the Laramide Thrust Front of the Sierra Madre Oriental and on the west by the Gulf of California and Baja Peninsula with notably less faulting apparent in the Sierra Madre Occidental in the center of the southernmost Basin and Range Province. Common geographic features include numerous endorheic basins , ephemeral lakes, plateaus, and bolson valleys alternating with mountains (as described below). The area

2214-654: The province is the result of tectonic extension that began around 17 million years ago in the early Miocene epoch. The numerous ranges within the province in the United States are collectively referred to as the "Great Basin Ranges", although many are not actually in the Great Basin . Major ranges include the Snake Range , the Panamint Range , the White Mountains , and the Sandia Mountains . The highest point fully within

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2268-578: The province occurred in the Neogene period (23.03-2.58 million years ago) and continues to the present. By the Early Miocene sub-epoch (23.03-15.97 million years ago), much of the Farallon plate had been consumed, and the seafloor spreading ridge that separated the Farallon plate from the Pacific plate ( Pacific-Farallon Ridge ) approached North America. In the Middle Miocene (15.97-11.63 million years ago),

2322-509: The refuge are marked with road signs. Big Dune is a formation of sand dunes, cresting approximately 300 feet (91 m) above surrounding terrain. The dune formation and surrounding land is administered by the BLM and is open to motorized and non-motorized recreational uses. Big Dune is accessible from Valley View Road, approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of U.S. 95. Tecopa Hot Springs offer several opportunities to soak in private baths fed by

2376-447: The storage of high-level nuclear waste . President George W. Bush signed House Joint Resolution 87 on July 23, 2002, authorizing the DOE to proceed with construction at Yucca Mountain , although the facility was not expected to accept its first shipments of radioactive materials before 2012. The facility's main entrance will be in Amargosa Valley, approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of

2430-452: The storage tunnels. In 2009 President Barack Obama stated that the repository was no longer being considered as a site for the long-term storage of nuclear waste. Controversy over water rights resulted in 2009 when Solar Millennium , a German company, announced plans to build a solar thermal energy plant in the Amargosa Valley. It would require 20% of the groundwater available in the valley's aquifer . Amargosa Farm Road Solar Project

2484-501: The team's westward travel was through barren sagebrush desert with hardly any drinkable water and even less forage for the oxen and horses. At the end of November, they had arrived at the base of a mountain range and started to climb, believing this to be the Sierra Nevada, with the California Central Valley just a few more day's travel on the other side. This impression was horribly wrong: the mountains they were climbing were

2538-704: The valley implies more extensive use by aboriginal peoples than had been previously estimated. Pottery and other artifacts have been found that date back from approximately 1000 A.D. to even earlier times. During the nineteenth century, two groups of Native Americans occupied the Amargosa Valley: the Southern Paiute and the Western Shoshone . Both were extremely adept at extracting a living from their marginal environment, subsisting on wild plant foods and supplemented by wild game. The Old Spanish Trail and

2592-424: The world. The crust in conjunction with the upper mantle comprises the lithosphere . The base of the lithosphere beneath the Basin and Range is estimated to be about 60–70 km. Opinions vary regarding the total extension of the region; however, the median estimate is about 100% total lateral extension. Total lateral displacement in the Basin and Range varies from 60 to 300 km since the onset of extension in

2646-583: The younger, stronger men and had turned back to re-join the Bennett/Arcane party. He never made it, and succumbed to dehydration. His body was found by Manly & Rogers only a couple of miles short of the Bennett camp on their return trek from Rancho San Francisco. Two members of another group of emigrants, the Jayhawkers, who had been traveling with the Bennett/Arcane Party, died along the trail west of

2700-535: Was a pioneer of the California Gold Rush , and was one of the first known group of European-Americans to travel through Death Valley, California , in December 1849. Little is known of Rogers's life, other than what is recounted in the autobiography of William L. Manly , "Death Valley in 1849", and there are no known photographs or portraits of him. Rogers is notable primarily for the incident recounted here. In

2754-456: Was a proposed 500 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Nye County, Nevada at 36° 34' 31.52"N, -116° 29' 35.52"W. Originally designed as a concentrating solar power (CSP) project, the project was converted to photovoltaic (PV) technology. Solar Millennium went bankrupt and the project stalled. A smaller 65MW PV plant on private land was proposed by First Solar in 2013. Amargosa Valley has

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2808-523: Was completely consumed and volcanic activity ceased, in part. Olivine basalt from the oceanic ridge erupted around 17 Ma and extension began. In addition to small amounts of Nevada petroleum , the Basin and Range Province supplies nearly all the copper and most of the gold , silver , and barite mined in the United States. John Haney Rogers John Haney Rogers , born 1822 in Tennessee , died December 27, 1906 Merced, California ,

2862-404: Was first developed based on studies in this province. A metamorphic core complex occurs when lower crust is brought to the surface as a result of extension. MCCs in the Basin and Range were not interpreted as being related to crustal extension until after the 1960s. Since then, similar deformational patterns have been identified in MCCs in the Basin and Range and has led geologists to examine them as

2916-459: Was shallow, and the slab width was huge. During the Eocene the Farallon plate subduction -associated compressive forces of the Laramide , Sevier and Nevada orogenies ended, plate interactions changed from orthogonal compression to oblique strike-slip , and volcanism in the Basin and Range Province flared up ( Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up ). It is suggested that this plate continued to be underthrust until about 19 Ma, at which time it

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