The Great Basin is a large, arid region of the western United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Its boundaries depend on how it is defined. Its most common definition is the contiguous watershed, roughly between the Wasatch Mountains, in Utah and the Sierra Nevada, that has no natural outlet to the sea. A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, The Wasatch Range is a Mountain range that stretches about from the Utah- Idaho border south through central Utah in the western United States The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. The Sierra Nevada ( Spanish for "Snowy Range" is a Mountain range located in the U Therefore it is endorheic. An endorheic basin (from Greek endo ‘inside’ + rhein ‘to flow’ also terminal or closed basin) is a closed Drainage basin The Great Basin Desert is defined by the extent of characteristic plant species, and covers a somewhat different (and smaller) area. The Great Basin Culture Area, home to several Shoshonean Great Basin tribes, extends further to the north and east than the hydrographic basin. The Great Basin tribes of Native Americans occupied an area of some 400000 mile² (1000000 km² between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada The Basin and Range Province is a geologic region that is most recognizable in the Great Basin but extends well into the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. Basin and range is a geologic term for a type of Topography characterized by a series of separate and parallel mountain ranges with broad valleys interposed extending The Sonoran Desert (sometimes called the Gila Desert after the Gila River or the Low Desert in opposition to the higher Mojave Desert) is For the indigenous American tribe see Mohave. The Mojave Desert (moʊˈhɑːvi or /məˈhɑːvi/ ( Hayikwiir Mat'aar in Mojave
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Description
The 200,000 square mile (520,000 square km) intermontane plateau covers most of Nevada and over half of Utah, as well as parts of California, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming. In Geography, an intermontane is a feature that lies between Mountains. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America. The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The State of Idaho ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. The Great Basin is not a single basin, but rather a series of contiguous watersheds, bounded on the west by watersheds of the Sacramento-San Joaquin and Klamath rivers, on the north by the watershed of the Columbia-Snake, and on the south and east by the watershed of the Colorado-Green. A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, The Sacramento River is the longest River entirely within the U The San Joaquin River ( 330 miles (530 km long is the second-longest River in California, United States. The Klamath River ( Ishkêesh in Karuk) approximately long is a major River in southern Oregon and northern California in the The Columbia River (known as The Snake River is a major Tributary of the Columbia River in the U The Colorado River (' Aha Kwahwat in Mojave) is a River in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately The Green River, located in the western United States, is the chief tributary of the Colorado River. Watersheds within the Great Basin include:
- Great Salt Lake - Utah, Idaho, Wyoming
- Death Valley - California, Nevada
- Salton Sea - California
- Honey Lake - California
- Mono Lake - California
- Humboldt Sink - Nevada (drainage of the Humboldt River, the longest river in the Great Basin)
- Pyramid Lake - Nevada
- Black Rock Desert - Nevada
- Carson Sink - Nevada
- Walker Lake - Nevada
- Winnemucca Lake - Nevada
- Harney Basin - Oregon
- Sevier Lake - Utah
- Abert Lake - Oregon
- Summer Lake - Oregon
- Silver Lake - Oregon
- Surprise Valley - California, Nevada
- Escalante Desert - Utah
Much of the Great Basin, especially across northern Nevada, consists of a series of isolated mountain ranges and intervening valleys, a geographical configuration known as the Basin and Range Province. The Basin and Range Province is a large geologic province which includes parts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, typified by Basin and Additionally the Great Basin contains two large expansive playas that are the lakebed remnants of prehistoric lakes that existed in the basin during the last ice age but have since largely dried up. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets Lake Bonneville extended over most of Western Utah and into Idaho and Nevada, leaving behind the Great Salt Lake, the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah Lake, and Sevier Lake. Lake Bonneville was a prehistoric Pluvial lake that covered much of North America 's Great Basin region The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 159 square mile (412 km² Salt flat in northwestern Utah. Utah Lake, at, is the largest natural Freshwater Lake in the state of Utah and a remnant of the Prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which Sevier Lake (sɛˈviːr is an intermittent and Endorheic lake which lies in the lowest part of the Sevier Desert, Millard County Utah. Likewise Lake Lahontan extended across much of northwestern Nevada and neighboring states, leaving behind such remnants as the Black Rock Desert, Carson Sink, Humboldt Sink, Walker Lake, Pyramid Lake, Winnemucca Lake, and Honey Lake, each of which now forms a separate watershed within the basin. Ancient Lake Lahontan was a large Endorheic Lake that existed during the Ice age, covering much of northwestern Nevada, extending into northeastern The Black Rock Desert is a Dry lake bed and the surrounding Endorheic basin in northwestern Nevada in the United States.
The Basin and Range province's dynamic fault history has profoundly affected the region's water drainage system. Most precipitation in the Great Basin falls in the form of snow that melts in the spring. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. Rain that reaches the ground, or snow that melts, quickly evaporates in the dry desert environment. Rain is Liquid precipitation. On Earth it is the condensation of atmospheric Water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall often making it to Some of the water that does not evaporate sinks into the ground to become ground water. Groundwater is Water located beneath the Ground surface in Soil pore spaces and in the Fractures of lithologic formations The remaining water flows into streams and collects in short-lived lakes called playas on the valley floor and eventually evaporates. A stream is a body of Water with a current, confined within a bed and stream-banks Any water that falls as rain or snow into this region does not escape out of it; not one of the streams that originate within this basin ever finds an outlet to the ocean. An ocean (from Greek, ''Okeanos'' (Oceanus) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the Hydrosphere. The extent of internal drainage, the area in which surface water cannot reach the ocean, defines the geographic region called the Great Basin.
The Great Basin's internal drainage results from blockage of water movement by high fault-created mountains and by lack of sufficient water flow to merge with larger drainages outside of the Great Basin. Much of the present-day Great Basin would drain to the sea - just as it did in the recent Ice Ages - if there were more rain and snowfall.
Geology
The Great Basin is considered by geologists to be in the process of stretching and cracking. Although elevated, the crust here is actually relatively thin, and getting thinner. Some geologists speculate that the East Pacific Rise rift zone may be destined in the distant future to split the Great Basin, possibly by way of the Imperial Valley, letting the sea in from the Gulf of California. The East Pacific Rise is a Mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. The Imperial Valley is a region of southeastern California ( USA) located in part between the Colorado River and the Salton Sea, which " Sea of Cortez " redirects here For the book by John Steinbeck, see The Log from the Sea of Cortez.
The Walker Lane is a trough running from Oregon to Death Valley which may represent the alignment of this future inlet. The Walker Lane (also known as the Eastern California Shear Zone)is a geological trough oriented north-northwest-south-southeast roughly aligned with the border of the states
On February 21, 2008, a 6. 0 magnitude earthquake occurred near the town of Wells, Nevada, centered on the Independence Valley fault system. Wells is a town in Elko County, in northeast Nevada in the western United States. The Independence Valley fault system is a group of interrelated normal faults located in northeastern Nevada in the United States.
Flora and fauna
The Great Basin is predominantly high altitude desert, with the lowest basins just below 4,000 feet and several peaks over 12,000 feet. Most areas are dominated by shrubs, mostly of the Atriplex genus at the lowest elevations and sagebrush at higher elevations. A shrub or Bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of Woody plant, distinguished from a Tree Atriplex ( Á-tri-plex) is a plant Genus of 100-200 Species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache Open woodlands consisting of Utah Juniper, Single-leaf Pinyon (mostly southern areas) or Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany (mostly northern areas) form on the slopes of most ranges. Ecologically a woodland is an area covered in trees differentiated from a Forest. Juniperus osteosperma ( Utah Juniper; syn J utahensis) is a Shrub or small Tree reaching 3-6 m (rarely to 9 m tall The Single-leaf Pinyon ( Pinus monophylla) is a Pine in the Pinyon pine group native to the United States and northwest Mexico Mountain-mahogany ( Cercocarpus) is a small genus of five or six species of Deciduous Shrubs or small Trees in the rose family ( Rosaceae Stands of Limber Pine and Great Basin Bristlecone Pine can be found in some of the higher ranges. The Limber Pine ( Pinus flexilis; family Pinaceae) is a species of Pine Tree that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine ( Pinus longaeva) is one of the Bristlecone pines a group of three species of Pine found in the higher Mountains Cottonwoods and Quaking Aspen groves exist in areas with dependable water. The cottonwoods are three species of Poplars in the section Aegiros of the genus Populus, native to North America, Europe and western Aspens are Trees of the willow family and comprise a section of the Poplar genus Populus sect
Lagomorphs such as Black-tailed Jackrabbit and Desert Cottontail and the coyotes that prey on them are the mammals most often encountered by humans. The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two families, the Leporidae ( Hares and The Black-tailed Jackrabbit ( Lepus californicus) also known as the Desert Hare, is a common Hare of the western United States and Mexico The Desert Cottontail ( Sylvilagus audubonii) also known as Audubon's Cottontail, is a New World Cottontail rabbit, a member of the family The coyote (kaɪˈoʊti ˈkaɪoʊt ( Canis latrans) also known as the prairie wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands Ground squirrels are common, but they generally venture above ground in only the spring and early summer. The ground squirrels are the members of the Sciuridae most closely related to the Genus Marmota. Packrats, Kangaroo rats and other small rodents are also common, but these are predominantly nocturnal. A pack rat, also called a trade rat or wood rat, can be any of several Species in the genus Neotoma, but most commonly the Kangaroo rats, genus Dipodomys, are small Rodents native to North America. Pronghorn, Mule Deer, and Mountain Lion are also present throughout the area. The pronghorn ( Antilocapra americana) also pronghorn antelope or prong buck, is a species of Ungulate Mammal native to interior The mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus) is a Deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. The cougar ( Puma concolor) also puma, mountain lion, or panther, depending on region is a Mammal of the Felidae family Elk and Bighorn Sheep are present but uncommon. The elk, or wapiti ( Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest Species of Deer in the world and one of the largest Mammals in Bighorn Sheep ( Ovis canadensis) is a species of sheep in North America and Siberia with large horns which can weigh up to.
Small lizards such as the Western fence lizard, Longnose Leopard Lizard and Horned toad are common, especially in lower elevations. Lizards are a large and widespread group of Reptiles of the order Squamata, with nearly 5000 species and ranging across all continents except The Western Fence Lizard ( Sceloporus occidentalis) is a common Lizard of California and surrounding areas The Long-nosed Leopard Lizard ( Gambelia wislizenii) is a large predatory member of the Collared lizard family. Horned lizards ( Phrynosoma) are a genus of the Phrynosomatidae family of Lizards The horned lizard is popularly called a " horned toad," Rattlesnakes and Gopher snakes are also present. Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous Snakes, genera Crotalus and Sistrurus. Bull Snake is a Species ( Pituophis catenifer) and also a Subspecies ( Pituophis catenifer sayi of large non- venomous
Shorebirds such as Phalaropes and Curlews can be found in wet areas. A phalarope is any of three living Species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus Phalaropus of the Bird family Scolopacidae For alternative meanings of Numenius see Numenius (disambiguation. American White Pelicans are common at Pyramid Lake. The American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) is a very large (50"&ndash70" white Bird with black wing tips and a long wide orange bill Golden Eagles are perhaps more common in the Great Basin than anywhere else in the US. The Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere Mourning Dove, Western Meadowlark, Black-billed Magpie and Common Raven are other common bird species. For the Native American author of the same name see Mourning Dove (author The Mourning Dove ( Zenaida macroura) is a member of the The Western Meadowlark ( Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized blackbird, very similar in appearance to the Eastern Meadowlark. The Black-billed Magpie is a bird in the crow family that inhabits the western half of North America, from Central Western British Columbia to Southern
Two endangered species of fish are found in Pyramid Lake that lies in the Great Basin: the Cui-ui sucker fish and the Lahontan cutthroat trout. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation The cui-ui, Chasmistes cujus, is a large sucker Fish endemic to Pyramid Lake in northwestern Nevada. Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. Lahontan cutthroat trout ( Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) is the largest Cutthroat trout Subspecies, and the state fish of Nevada
Large invertebrates include tarantulas (Aphonopelma genus) and Mormon crickets. An invertebrate is an Animal lacking a Vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal Species — all animals except those in the Chordate Tarantula is the common name for a group of hairy and often very large Spiders belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species The so-called Mormon cricket ( Anabrus simplex) is actually a shieldbacked Katydid, and not a cricket at all
Chukar, Grey Partridge and Himalayan Snowcock have been successfully introduced to the Great Basin, although the latter has only thrived in the Ruby Mountains. The Chukar, Alectoris chukar is a Eurasian upland gamebird in the Pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, The Grey Partridge, Perdix perdix also known as the English Partridge, Hungarian Partridge or Hun is a Gamebird in the pheasant The Himalayan Snowcock ( Tetraogallus himalayensis) is a Snowcock in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous The Ruby Mountains comprise one of the many mountain ranges of the Great Basin in the western United States. Cheatgrass, which was unintentionally introduced, forms a critical portion of their diets. Drooping brome ( Bromus tectorum) is a grass native to Europe, southwestern Asia and northern Africa. Feral horses (Mustangs) and wild burros are other highly successful, though controversial, alien species. A feral organism is one that has escaped from Domestication and returned partly or wholly to its wild state The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. The donkey or ass, Equus asinus, is a member of the Equidae or horse family and an odd-toed ungulate. Most of the Great Basin is open range and domestic cattle and sheep are widespread. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family
History
The history of human habitation in the Great Basin goes back at least 12,000 years. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Archaeological evidence of primitive habitation sites along the shore of prehistoric Lake Lahontan date from the end of the ice age when its shoreline was approximately 500 ft (150 m) higher along the sides of the surrounding mountains. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos
At the time of the arrival of Europeans, the region was inhabited by a broad group of Uto-Aztecan-speaking Native American tribes known collectively as the Great Basin tribes, including the Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute. Uto-Aztecan (also Uto-Aztekan) is a Native American Language family. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States The Shoshone ( or) are a Native American tribe with three large divisions the Northern the Western and the Eastern The Utes (/juːts/ " yoots " are an ethnically related group of American Indians now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. The first Europeans to encounter the area were the early Spanish explorers in the southwest in the late 18th century. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. By the early 19th century, fur trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company had explored the upper Basin in the Oregon Country. The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal Fur. Oregon Country or Oregon (to be distinguished from the American State also called Oregon) was a predominantly American term referring to The first comprehensive and accurate map of the region was made by John C. Frémont during several expeditions across the region in the 1840s. John Charles Frémont ( January 21, 1813 July 13, 1890) was an American military officer, explorer, the
The United States acquired complete control of the area through the 1846 Oregon Treaty (giving it the small portion north of the 42nd parallel) and the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Pony Express was a fast Mail service crossing the North American continent from St The Oregon Treaty, officially known as the Treaty with Great Britain in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains, Buchanan-Packenham The 42nd parallel north is a Circle of latitude that is 42 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo in Spanish) is the Peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to The first large-scale white settlement in the region was by early Mormon pioneers in the late 1840s in the arable areas around Salt Lake City and the Cache Valley. Mormonism is a term used to describe the religious, ideological and cultural elements of certain branches of the Latter Day Saint movement Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U Cache Valley is a broad arid agricultural valley in northern Utah and southern Idaho in the United States. The Mormons quickly established a provisional government and drafted a proposal for a new state, called the State of Deseret, that encompassed the entire Great Basin, as well as the coast of southern California. The State of Deseret was a provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by Mormon settlers in Salt Lake City. The region became successively organized by the creation of the Oregon Territory in 1848, the admission of California to the Union in 1850, and the creation of the Utah Territory in 1850. The Oregon Territory is the name applied both to the unorganized Oregon Country claimed by both the United States and Britain (but normally referred to The discovery of gold in California, in 1848, brought waves of migrants across the Great Basin along the California Trail, which followed the Humboldt River across Nevada. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 The California Trail was a major overland Emigrant route across the Western United States from Missouri to California in the middle 19th In 1860-61, the Pony Express, came through the area transporting mail from the eastern United States to California. The Pony Express was a fast Mail service crossing the North American continent from St
The part of the first North American transcontinental railroad that was built by the Central Pacific railroad crossed the Great Basin between Reno, Nevada, and Ogden, Utah. Another major railroad southwest from Salt Lake City into Nevada led to the founding of Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas ( Spanish: "The Meadows" is the most populous City in the state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally
In 1986, the Great Basin National Park was established by the Federal Government, encompassing 122 square miles of land in Nevada, near the Utah border. Great Basin National Park is a United States National Park established in 1986 located in east-central Nevada near its border with Utah. The new National Park subsumed the much smaller Lehman Caves National Monument, which had been established in 1922. All of this land is within the Great Basin, and it includes basin and mountainous land, and it is the home of much wildlife.
In the 1950s, the area northwest of Las Vegas was the site of numerous above-ground atomic bomb tests, followed in the 1960s by underground testing. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.
Present habitation
The Basin has remained among the most sparsely-inhabited areas of the United States. The two largest cities in the basin are Salt Lake City, Utah on its eastern edge and Reno, Nevada on its western edge. Salt Lake City is the Capital and the most populous city of the U Suburbs of Los Angeles, including Lancaster and Palmdale, and Victorville and Hesperia, California combine for about 600,000 residents on the area's southwestern edge. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Lancaster is the eighth-largest city in Los Angeles County and the 9th fastest growing city in the United States Palmdale, the first community within the Antelope Valley to incorporate as a city (on August 24, 1962 Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of western San Bernardino County, California, US The City of Hesperia is part of San Bernardino County California located in the Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles Smaller cities in the basin include Carson City, Nevada; Winnemucca, Nevada; Elko, Nevada; Ogden, Utah; Provo, Utah; and Logan, Utah. Winnemucca (Win-ah-muc-ah is the County seat of Humboldt County in the U Elko is a city in Elko County, Nevada, United States. The population was 16980 at the 2000 census. Ogden is a city in and the County seat of Weber County, Utah, United States. Provo is a city in and the County seat Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 42670 a substantial increase
The Great Basin is traversed by major long-distance railroads and expressways, such as the parts of Interstate 80 between Reno and Salt Lake City, Interstate 15 between southwest Utah and Idaho, and Interstate 70 from its junction with Interstate 15 in central Utah from the Great Basin, across the Colorado Plateau to westernmost Colorado. Interstate 80 (I-80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States (after I-90) Interstate 15 (I-15 is the fourth-longest north-south transcontinental interstate highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. The State of Idaho ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. Interstate 70 (I-70 is an Interstate highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort Utah, to a Park and Ride The Colorado Plateau, also called the Colorado Plateaus Province, is a physiographic region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. Railroads, such as the Union Pacific, which through merger now owns the routes of the former Southern Pacific and Western Pacific lines, extend from the major metropolitan areas of Denver, Colorado, through Salt Lake City, Utah, and Reno, Nevada, to the San Francisco, California, Bay Area; and from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, California.
See also
- Great Basin National Park
- Lake Bonneville
- List of deserts by area
- List of rivers in the Great Basin
- Wasatch Range
- Basin and Range Province
References
- USGS: Geologic Provinces of the United States: Basin and Range Province
- Basin and Range, John McPhee (1980)
- The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin, Stephen Trimble (1999) ISBN - 0874173434
- USGS: North America Basins Map
External links
- Great Basin project of the American Land Conservancy
- Map of Great Basin from Great Basin Web
- Great Basin--Mojave Desert Region
- Exploring the Great Basin
- Great Basin Shrub Steppe images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version)
- Great Basin Montane Forests images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version)
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