The Mojave Desert 123 



by evaporation. The river ends in these depressions. The 

 region of these playas has been called "the Sink of the Mojave." 



Owens River is the principal stream occuping Owens Valley. 

 Owens Valley is a long narrow depression lying between the 

 Inyo Range on the east and the Sierra Nevada Range on the 

 west. Between these two ranges Owens River flows south to 

 its end in the saline sea called Owens Lake. The valley is 

 thought to have originated as an enclosed and undrained basin 

 through profound faulting of the crust of the earth. The 

 origin of the valley is thought to be similar to that of Death 

 Valley and most of the enclosed undrained areas of the Great 

 Basin. This great structural valley extends from the great 

 bend of Owens River north of Bishop southeast to the southern 

 end of Owens Lake, a distance of 100 miles. It is wholly in 

 Inyo County. 



Owens River rises in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near San 

 Joaquin Pass and descends the rugged eastern slopes as a turbu- 

 lent stream. The river emerges from a deep canyon cut in a 

 table-land of volcanic lava north of Bishop and enters upon 

 the level floor of Owens Valley, whence it pursues a meander- 

 ing course southeastward to Owens Lake. It is one of the few 

 perennial streams of the Great Basin. Owens Lake, into which 

 the river empties, lies in an undrained depression at the south 

 end of the valley, from which the water disappears by evapora- 

 tion. The waters of the lake constitute a dense brine containing 

 common salt, sodium carbonate, potassium sulphate, borax, and 

 other salts. The recovery of sodium carbonate is an important 

 chemical industry established near Keeler. About 40 miles 

 above the point where the river enters Owens Lake, near Big 

 Pine, the pure mountain water is diverted through the Los 

 Angeles Aqueduct and conveyed to that city. 



Fresh Water of Owens River forms 

 Saline Lake 



The waters that gather from the mountains to form Owens 



