Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, United States

You can purchase this photo on Getty Images

Zabriskie Point is a part of Amargosa Range located in east of Death Valley in Death Valley National Park in the United States noted for its erosional landscape. It is composed of sediments from Furnace Creek Lake, which dried up 5 million years ago — long before Death Valley came into existence.

Millions of years prior to the actual sinking and widening of Death Valley and the existence of Lake Manly (see Geology of the Death Valley area), another lake covered a large portion of Death Valley including the area around Zabriskie Point. This ancient lake began forming approximately nine million years ago. During several million years of the lake's existence, sediments were collecting at the bottom in the form of saline muds, gravels from nearby mountains, and ashfalls from the then-active Black Mountain volcanic field. These sediments combined to form what we today call the Furnace Creek Formation. The climate along Furnace Creek Lake was dry, but not nearly as dry as in the present. Camels, mastodons, horses, carnivores, and birds left tracks in the lakeshore muds, along with fossilized grass and reeds. Borates, which made up a large portion of Death Valley's historical past were concentrated in the lakebeds from hot spring waters and alteration of rhyolite in the nearby volcanic field. Weathering and alteration by thermal waters are also responsible for the variety of colors represented there.

Regional mountains building to the west influenced the climate to become more and more arid, causing the lake to dry up, and creating a dry lake. Subsequent widening and sinking of Death Valley and the additional uplift of today's Black Mountains tilted the area. This provided the necessary relief to accomplish the erosion that produced the badlands we see today. The dark-colored material capping the badland ridges (to the left in the panoramic photograph) is lava from eruptions that occurred three to five million years ago. This hard lava cap has retarded erosion in many places and possibly explains why Manly Beacon, the high outcrop to the right, is much higher than other portion of the badlands. Manly Beacon was named in honor of William L. Manly, who along with John Rogers, guided members of the ill-fated Forty-niners out of Death Valley during the gold rush of 1849. The primary source of borate minerals gathered from Death Valley's playas is Furnace Creek Formation. The Formation is made up of over 5000 feet (1500 m) of mudstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. The borates were concentrated in these lakebeds from hot spring waters and altered rhyolite from nearby volcanic fields.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabriskie_Point

Taken in: United States / Arizona (show map)

Taken on: January 31, 2010

Tags:

Zabriskie Point

Zabriskie

Amargosa Mountains

Death Valley

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley NP

United States

United States of America

USA

Inyo County

Inyo Couny, California

Inyo

California

The Golden State

landscape

geology

geological power

Ferry Vermeer

travel

travel photography

米国

アメリカ

Amerika Serikat

ארצות הברית

Birleşik Devletler

Estados Unidos

États-Unis

Förenta Staterna

Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες

美國

미국 Съеднинени

Щати สหรัฐ Сполучені

Штати Stany

Zjednoczone Vereinigte

Staaten Verenigde

Staten

clear

day

Scenics, not just landscapes! « less

Sets appears in: • For sale @ Getty Images • Landscapes, Skyscapes & Seascapes more » • American Southwest « less

Groups appears in: • Landscape • The American Southwest more » • Death Valley • Landscape Exploration • Favorites: 100 • The World Through My Eyes ... • Death Valley National Park • Views: 10,000 • Geologicpedia: learn geology through images. • calatorind prin.... viatza ( Journey through..... life ) • De Doka • Património Geológico e Mineiro • Project Weather « less

Camera: Sony DSC-W120, f/8.0, 1/125 sec, 7.6mm, ISO 125 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony DSC-W120
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	7.6mm
ISO:	125
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Landscape
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Landscape
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Windows
Show full info

Stats: 23,388 views / 124 comments