Death Valley
Erosional landscape at Zabriskie Point, Amargosa Range, Death Valley National Park. It is composed of sediments from
Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago, long before Death Valley sank and widened.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabriskie_Point
This spectacular landscape is the product of hundreds - probably thousands - of years of weathering, wind and water erosion. No Noah’s Flood ever happened here to create such a
magnificient piece of scenery
Death Valley National Park Virtual Geology Field Trip
This field trip will take you to just a few of Death Valley's geological wonders. Most of the sites you'll
see are right off the highway, but we've included a few side trips that take you off the beaten path. If
you plan on visiting the park in person, you'll be interested in the "If you're going" link at the bottom
of each page.
Traveling through time
We've arranged the field trip stops so that you can travel through 1.7 billion years of
time. The menu below lists the oldest features and rocks first, with younger rocks and
features following. You may also navigate by using the clickable map link at the top of each page.
Are you ready to hit the road?
Death Valley Dawn - 1.8 billion years to 570 million years ago (Precambrian)
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Badwater
The oldest rocks - relics of the Precambrian world
Mosaic Canyon
Slot canyon, deformed and polished marble
Death Valley at the Equator - 570-250 million years ago (Paleozoic)
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Titus Canyon
Tropical seas
The Earth Shook, the Sea Withdrew 250-65 million years ago (Mesozoic)
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Uplift and erosion
Quiet to chaos 65 million to 10,000 years ago (Cenozoic)
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Dante's View
Basin and range
Amargosa Chaos
Death Valley rocks sliced and diced
Split cinder cone
Cinder cone sliced by fault
Artist's Drive
Colors of nature
Zabriskie Point
Remnants of ancient lakes
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tracking Death Valley's extinct inhabitants
Golden Canyon
Ramble through the Furnace Creek Formation
Shoreline Butte
Pleistocene lakeshores
Death Valley Today - 10,000 years ago to present
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Badwater
As low as you can go; fault scarps, salt pan
Death Valley dunes
Desert sands
Devil's Golf Course
Salt deposits
Furnace Creek
Focus on water
Harmony Borax works
Early mining in Death Valley
Racetrack Playa
Mysterious sliding rocks
Saratoga Springs
Desert oasis
Ubehebe Crater
Maar volcanoes
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