Title: Geology - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
Headings: Geology
Geology
Contact the Park
Mailing Address:
Tools

Content: At that time, compression was replaced by extensional forces. This "pulling apart" of Earth’s crust allowed large blocks of land to slowly slide past one another along faults, forming alternating valleys and mountain ranges. Badwater Basin, the Death Valley salt pan and the Panamint mountain range comprise one block that is rotating eastward as a structural unit. The valley floor has been steadily slipping downward, subsiding along the fault that lies at the base of the Black Mountains. Subsidence continues today. Evidence of this can be seen in the fresh fault scarps exposed near Badwater. Erosion and Deposition
Concurrent with the subsidence has been slow but continuous erosion. Water carries rocks, gravel, sand and silt down from surrounding hills and deposits them on the valley floor. Beneath Badwater lies more than 11,000 feet of accumulated sediment and salts. Lost Lakes
In addition to structural changes, Death Valley has been subjected to major climatic changes throughout the past three million years.