Lake Manly formed in Death Valley, a tectonic depression framed by the Cottonwood Mountains and Panamint Range to the west, Owlshead Mountains to the south and Black Mountains, Funeral Mountains and Grapevine Mountains to the east. Death Valley is about long and wide and consists of three basins: Badwater Basin which reaches a depth of beneath sea level, Cottonball Basin and Middle Basin. The Badwater Basin is the deepest point in North America. Death Valley began forming about 14 million years ago, and by the Pliocene it was well developed. The valley remains deep due to vertical faulting, which occurs faster there than anywhere else in the US. Various types of rocks form the surface areas of Death Valley, some going back as far as the Precambrian.