Located along the western edge of the Basin and Range Province of North America, Death Valley is a deep, down-faulted graben bound by uplifted horsts in the arid rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of eastern California.

The valley floor of Death Valley is situated 85 meters below sea-level. Many of the desert landforms you studied in Chapter 13 of your textbook can be identified in this Virtual Vista of Death Valley.

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In the valley floor, there is an ephemeral, salty lake known as a playa. Along the margins of the bounding mountain ranges, alluvial fans are evident (red hues) as mountain streams disgorge their sediment loads onto the valley floor.

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Some alluvial fans have coalesced to form a bajada. Note also the mountain spurs extending between major stream valleys are flat-faced or truncated (faceted) by the major normal fault marking the boundary between the graben (Death Valley) and horst (mountain range).

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To learn more about the fascintating geologic history of Death Valley, visit the website of the National Park Service.