Title: Death Valley | Environment, Location, & Facts | Britannica
Headings: Death Valley
Death Valley
region, California, United States
Explore California's diverse landscapes from Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada to Death Valley
Physical environment

Content: Most rainfall is blocked by the mountains to the west, so the valley is extremely arid. In a 50-year period in the 20th century, the average annual rainfall at Furnace Creek was only 1.66 inches (42.2 mm), the maximum annual rainfall was 4.5 inches (114.3 mm), and two years passed with no measurable rainfall. Most of the surface water in Death Valley is in the saline ponds and marshes around the salt pan. The Amargosa River brings some water into the southern end of the valley from desert areas to the east, but most of its flow is underground. Salt Creek, draining the northern arm of the valley, also has only short stretches of perennial surface flow. At times in the past, much more water reached Death Valley. During the Wisconsin Glacial Stage of the Pleistocene Epoch, perhaps about 50,000 years ago, a body of water ( Lake Manly) filled the valley to a depth of as much as 600 feet (180 metres). More recently, some 2,000 to 5,000 years ago, a shallow lake occupied the floor of the valley, its evaporation producing the present salt pan. Load Next Page