126 Adventures in Scenery 



width from two to four miles. Borax was once manufactured 

 two or three miles north of the point where Furnace Creek 

 emerges from the hills of the west slope of Black Mountains 

 (Amargosa Range) . 



Soda Lake, southwest of Baker, is one of the largest playas 

 in the desert, having an area of approximately 60 square miles. 

 It is here that Mojave River ceases as a stream. To the north, 

 and separated by a low divide, is the playa of Silver Lake. The 

 great structural trough in which these playas lie is continuous 

 with the trough of Death Valley, and it is thought that waters 

 from the Mojave Valley in Pleistocene time moved northward 

 and joined the Amargosa, and then flowed into Death Valley. 

 Strand lines or beaches high above the valley bottom show that 

 a large body of water once filled Death Valley. 



Antelope Valley, lying north and east of the San Gabriel 

 Mountains and south and east of the Tehachapi Mountains, is 

 a closed basin, having no outlet for its surface waters. The 

 rainfall is so slight and the evaporation is so great that not 

 enough water reaches the bottom of the valley to form a lake. 

 Several playas occur, the largest of which are Rosamond, 

 Rogers, and Buckhorn. It is thought that at one time (Pleisto- 

 cene) all three formed a single large playa. The rainfall in 

 Antelope Valley ranges from 3 or 4 inches to 1 inches annually, 

 varying widely different years. The greater part of the annual 

 precipitation occurs during the winter months of January, Feb- 

 ruary, and March. The summer rainfall is so slight and so 

 irregular that it is not of much value to agriculture. Irrigation 

 is therefore important. The greatest development of agricul- 

 ture in the Mojave Desert region has been in the Antelope Val- 

 ley, where it is claimed 10,000 to 1 5,000 acres are under cultiva- 

 tion. Water for irrigation is obtained from mountain streams. 



Geology of the Region Very Complex 



The geology of Mojave Desert and the Death Valley region 

 is very complicated. The region embraces the southwestern 



