HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA
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HARTMAN MULTIMEDIA
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Providence Mountains These mountains are among the highest and the most
spectacular in the eastern Mojave. On
the east, they rise over 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) above the floor of the
alluvial Clipper Valley; on the west, near the divide, an escarpment rises some
600 meters (2,000 feet) above the sharp-ridged buttresses which rise from the
Kelso Basin.. Though vegetation is sparse on the rocky slopes, a
variety of plant communities is found here, including creosote bush scrub in the
alluvial fans between the buttresses and ridges, shadscale scrub, Joshua tree
woodland and, in the higher elevations, the pinyon-juniper woodland.
The area is the southernmost extension in the California desert of
numerous elements of the Great Basin flora (see Mid Hills
and New York Mountain Highlands).
Three of the four species of Yucca found in California are native here, Yucca
baccata, Mojave yucca, Yucca schidigera, and Joshua tree, Yucca
brevifolia,
as are six species of Opuntia. There
is a disjunct stand of the canyon live oak, Quercus chrysolepis, some 270
kilometers (170 miles) east of its main distribution.
Three rare plants, Penstemon calcareus, Penstemon stephensii, and
Eriogonum
heermannii var. floccosum, occur in the mountains.
The hackberry, Celtis reticulata, which is uncommon in California, grows
here. Animal life is typical of the Mojave, with a wide
variety of forms here. Among the
larger mammals are the porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, puma, Felis
concolor, mule
deer, Odocoileus hemionus, and the Noteworthy birds include the pinyon jay, Gymnorhinus
cyanocephalus, broad-tailed hummingbird, Selasphorus platycercus, and the
hepatic tanager, Piranga flava. There are numerous reptiles here, including several
species of rattlesnake, Crotalus spp., and the desert rosy boa, Lichanura
trivirgata gracia. Geologically the area is complex, with 13 stratigraphic
units represented including nine of Paleozoic origin, one Mesozoic, one Tertiary
and two Quaternary. North of Foshay Pass most of the mountain range is of
Paleozoic sedimentary and Tertiary intrusives, largely volcanic; to the south it
is underlain with Pre-Cambrian and younger crystalline rocks.
The western escarpment rests on a Mississippian limestone.
A number of caves occur in the limestone including the Mitchell Caverns.
The northern section
of the mountains is an easterly tilted block, with the East Providence fault
forming the eastern border, and is pre-Miocene in age. A number of fossils have been found in the area, ranging
from marine species dating to the Permian, to the late Pleistocene ground sloth,
Nothrotherium sp. Petrified Sequoia langsdorfia has been found in what is
probably Miocene ash. Integrity: Much
of the area is virtually pristine though there has been some mining and grazing
in the periphery. Use: Educational, research, light recreational. Ref: Johnson, D. H., M. D. Bryant and A. H. miller, 1948. Vertebrates of the Providence Mountains. University of California, Berkeley.Hazzard, J. C. 1959.
Rocks and Structure of the Northern Providence Mountains, San Bernardino
County, California, in Geology of Southern California.
California Division of Mines, Bull. 170, San Francisco. December 1975.
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