Week 7 - Death Valley - James Cebry

 

One of the areas of Death Valley I found interesting is the salt flats in Badwater Basin.  The one thing that fascinated me the most is that the salt flats are the lowest point in North America at 282 ft below sea level.  It is the largest protected salt flat in the world and covers almost 200 square miles.  The salt flats are main composed of sodium chloride or table salt along with calcite, gypsum, and borax.  The salt flats are on the site of the once lake Manly.  The lake had no outlet and eventually evaporated and large deposits of salt where left.  This has left the area very flat and baron.  There is not much living around due to the high salt levels of the flats.  On the rim there are some salt tolerant plants and animals which include an endemic snail and the pickleweed plant.

Badwater Salt Flat 

referances:

https://www.nps.gov/places/badwater-basin.htm

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/salt-flats.htm