Death Valley- Delia Madril

Death Valley 

My virtual field trip to Death Valley consisted of visiting three different locations. Devils Golf Course, Zabriskie Point, and the Death Valley Dunes. My first stop was to Devils Golf Course.

Devils Golf Course is made up of lumps salts that were left behind from the last significant lake in Death Valley. It is estimated around 2000 years ago. Minerals dissolved in the lake and then concentrated as the water evaporated thus creating salty pools. Devils Golf Course is made up of mostly salt pinnacles. Looking at how much salt there is in this location made me wonder if the salt pinnacles have changed over time or if they were formed that way and have stayed that way? I also wondered how long the lake existed in that area before is dried up? Having answers to those questions can help me determine why the salt pinnacles are made up the way that they are.

My second stop was at Zabriskie Point. Zabriskie Point are developed on a mudstone foundation. Fine-grained sediments such as silt and clay were deposited into a lake, and then buried by more sediment. Finally compressed and weakly cemented to form the soft rock. Zabriskie Point is made up of mostly mudstone that are shaped like a plate. The questions I had as I visited this location was how big of a role did water play in making Zabriskie Point? Did the slight rain in the valley have anything to do with how this was created? How much rain actually existed during the time of the formation? These questions would help me understand how all of the gullys and rills were formed and why they look different through out the area.

The third and final stop of my visit to Death Valley was to the Death Valley Dunes. The wind in the area is what put the sand into motion. A small breeze can blow the sand. The sand begins to pile up, and ripple. This is how the dunes are formed. A constant repeating cycle of sand blowing is what ensures the dunes still exist. The bedrock in the area is broken down and then natural events such as flash floods, or storm waters push it towards the valley floor. Questions that came to mind while visiting this location were how long does it take for the ripple to form, and how much force does it take to form the ripple? This would help with the understanding of why there are ripples in some areas and not others.