Welcome to Death Valley!

Death Valley is one of the classic regions in which to study processes of landform evolution related to tectonics. In this stark desert landscape, the relationship between active faulting, volcanism, and the present landforms is particularly striking.

Tectonic motions and volcanism in this region are geologically young and still active today. Meanwhile the locally slow rates of erosion have done little to modify the resulting effects on the landscape. By comparing the size and shape of the Black Mountain alluvial fans on the east side of Death Valley with those of the Panamint Range on the west side for example, one can see the effects of active faulting. The fault-bounded Black Mountains have very small alluvial fans while the non-fault-bounded Panamint Range has large fans.

The visualizations below also allow one to see the planar nature of the Black Mountains - another result of fault-bounding.