HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA
Nature Based Multimedia Information Systems
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HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA
Nature Based Multimedia Information Systems |
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This is an area of extensive sand dunes along the
northeastern edge of the playa, Cadiz Dry Lake. These dunes, which are of recent
origin and rest on an alluvial fan, and the outliers of the low Kilbeck Hills
are formed by the strong winds that carry sand and finer particles along the
Bristol-Cadiz-Danby trough. Vegetation
is sparse and is creosote bush scrub, with the more alkaline-tolerant species
occurring on the playa. On the lake bed there are several unusual features
including pedestals one-to-two-meter high and capped with gypsum, which are
erosional remnants, the gypsum acting as a protective cover for the looser
underlying material. There are also
low pedestals with clusters of potato-like concretions of celestite capping
them. Also found are rounded mounds
of sand up to four meters high, capped by brush, which have been formed by the
accumulation of sand around the base of plants growing at the playa level; the
build-up of the sand resulted in the elongation of the stems. The trough in which the dunes and lake lie is transverse
to the dominant structural trend of the region and is possibly a part of the old
drainage system connecting the western Mojave and Death Valley with the Colorado
River. Use: Educational,
research, observational. Ref: Basset,
A. and D. Kupfer, 1964. A Geological
Reconnaissance in the Southwestern Mojave Desert, Calif.
Calif. Div. of Mines & Geo. Sp. Rep. 83, San Francisco. November 1975
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