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Death Valley
Brendan William Doll
What year did it become a national park and why
Death Valley became a national park in feb 11 1877. Because of it’s importance and natural
beauty. It was part of the American gold rush as part of it’s esteemed history as a American
national park. Several mining companies set their house operation in the future national park
of death valley. It was established because of it’s esteemed and amazing mountain views of
the Mojave Desert.
How was the park formed
The geologic history of Death Valley is complex and involves different types of fault
activity at various times, as well as crustal sinking, volcanic activity and erosion. Death
Valley is a graben -- a rift valley -- formed by the sinking of the bedrock lying between
parallel, uplifted, tilt-block mountain ranges to the east and west, the Amargosa and
the Panamints.
A type of fault activity called block faulting, in which huge pieces of rock move
vertically, began to form Death Valley about 30 million years ago. The sinking of
crustal blocks and the uplift of the adjacent mountain ranges to form the great
depression has been occurring for millions of years and continues to the present
time.
What types of rock can be found in
side your park
Death valley is home to some of the rarest igneous rocks in the world
such as andesite, felsite and pyroxonite death valley is home to one
of the most heavily populated areas of moving of the tectonic plates
. That’s why this park is so amazing.
Landforms and special features
• Death Valley National Park covers almost 3,000 square miles and is a vast
natural museum, larger than the Yellowstone National Park. The floor of
the Valley is almost 300 feet below sea level (at Badwater basin) and it is
recognized as the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and one of the
hottest places on earth. 134 degrees F was recorded, second only to the
136 degrees registered in Libya in 1936. From the top of the 11,049 foot
Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range Mountains, the floor of the Valley
spreads out almost 2 miles below. It bears the grim name Death Valley.
How does the land change
• Death valley shifts by the common sand storms the sand is picked and
sometimes travels miles across the national park the sandstorms shift the
levels of the sand inside death valley this is especially because of
weathering. Also on the mountains the rocks are loose often causing land
slides causing the mountains to very slowly erode.
What environmental issues
• Some times the park gets so hot that it causes wild fires witch is bad
cause it is surrounded by a residential area. It is also key for American oil
so it sometimes leaks and hurts the wildlife and the plants of death valley
the wild fires kill off plants that wild life eats the oil company is the fith
largest in the world.
How is technology used to maintain the park
• Death Valley National Park has one of the largest solar energy systems in
the United States. Built in the summer of 2008 by Xanterra Parks &
Resorts, the 5,740 solar panels cover five acres of the park's 3.3 million
acres, and help power the park's resort, The Furnace Creek Inn & Ranch
Resort, as well as its many other facilities, including the lowest elevation
golf course on the planet. The National Park Service awarded the new
solar facility the 2008 Environmental Achievement Award. More recently,
Flex Your Power, California’s statewide energy efficiency and conservation
campaign, and Southern California Edison, an electric utility company,
recognized the facility for its energy conservation efforts during peak
electricity demand times.
Topographical Map of death valley.
Pictures that explain geological features.
Bibliography
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Death valley.com
http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm
www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.death-valley.html National geographic
death valley-pamphlet
Death valley a place of wonders book
The End