Week 7: Death Valley Field Trip - Gabbie Ramirez

Shown here are the youngest and largest volcanic features. Those eruptions that created this crater. Photo by W.R. Jones, NPS

https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftbad2.html

1.    At the Ubehebe Crater, a photo from the page shows the depths of the crater and the landscape of the volcanic field. The page discusses that the largest was over a half a mile wide and 70 feet deep I would like to know more about the largest eruptions produced in the Ubehebe Crater and how they affected the structure of this landscape. The page states that the Ubehebe Crater field’s ‘most dramatic’ eruptions occurred when the magma met water-soaked bedrock and alluvial fan sediments known as the hydrovolcanic eruption. This leads me to wonder what caused this hydrovolcanic eruption in the first place. I can’t imagine the intensity of these eruptions! There are tuff rings that are the center of the crater field which leads me to believe that this is the result of the hydrovolcanic eruption. I believe with more research into this topic, a look into the geological map of this area, and the history of hydrovolcanic eruptions, I can find this information to answer my questions.

Artist’s Drive. Would you look at these magnificent pastel colors?

Photo by Tom Bean, NPS.

https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftbad2.html

2.    First off, the name is cool! ‘Artist’s Drive’. The curvy, one-lane leads you up to the edge of the Black Mountains and you feel as though you are taking a roller-coaster ride through these dense purple hills. The face of The Black Mountains along Artist's Drive is made up of the multicolored rock of the Artist Drive Formation. Aprons of pink, green, purple, brown, and black rock debris drape across the mountain front, providing some of the most scenic evidence of one of Death Valley's most violently explosive volcanic periods. I would like to know more about the history of the flash floods in these mountains. There are steeply dipping beds that reveal the internal structure of the terrain. The countless floods created ‘desert varnish’ a gray or reddish-brown layer of rock surfaces that darkens and thickens with increasing age. This leads me to wonder if the continuous floods didn’t occur, how would Artist’s Drive look today? The page also states that the variety of colors is also from chemical weathering and hydrothermal alteration. I never knew the process of creating these gorgeous colored rocks. No wonder it’s called Artist’s Drive!  I will be conducting more research outside using geological maps and the topography map to help me understand the shapes and stories behind the colorful rocks.  I hope to visit the Artist Drive one day!

Polygonal cracks in the salt pan. Photo by Tom Bean, NPS.

https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftbad2.html

3.    Underneath the dark shadows of the Black Mountains, a great, extraordinarily flat expanse of shimmering white spreads out before you. You are at Badwater, at -282 feet it is the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere! The flat looks like sparkling table salt. This salt flat is the remnants of Death Valley’s relatively recent past. During Holocene (2000-4000 years ago), the climate was damper than today. As wet streams filled Death Valley, some minerals that were left behind dissolved in shallow water, creating a ‘briny solution.’ The climate went from wet to dry. This briny soup remains, a crystallized thick crust over Death Valley’s floor. My big question is: what happens when there is a frequent storm? Do the salt beds stay crystalized or break apart? This leads me to wonder how strong this murky cover is. As seen in the picture above, a person is walking on it. At first glance, I thought this was ice! There are several cracks which might stay like that or break off like an ice chunk. I will research more into this interesting salt pan to find how weather permitted it really is. By studying Death Valley’s geological makeup, the history of the Holocene era, and the weather around this area, I can find more information on Badwater.

Reference: 

Frank, D. (n.d.). Death Valley geology field trip. Retrieved from https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/deva/ftbad2.html