355 



slowly. A granite ridge extends south from Cave Mountain. 

 Into this granitic rock in the bottom of the canyon the river 

 has eroded a channel 75 feet. The canyon has a total depth of 

 200 feet. The terraces observed south of Manix it is thought 

 may be related to the down-cutting of the outlet channel, the 

 terraces or benches representing successive stages in the down- 

 cutting, caused by rock barriers, encountered in the down- 

 cutting, that held back the waters, while the terrace benches 

 were cut by side erosion. Further down-cutting has lowered 

 the bed of the river and enabled it to trench the lake deposits 

 for 25 to 30 miles above the outlet rim. The river is still cut- 

 ting its narrow vertical-walled gorge through the hard rocks, 

 and while cutting down the hard rocks the river has widened 

 its trench or channel in the soft lacustrine beds to a width of 

 half a mile or more, as at Camp Cady south of Manix. 



Rugged Mountains Surround Soda 

 Lake Playa 



East of Field, at Midway station, the railroad descends into 

 Cave Canyon. The highway turns away from the railroad and 

 leads through a pass in Cave Mountains, crossing the gravel 

 ridge (beach) before mentioned. The highway runs through 

 the alluvial Cronise Valley between Cave Mountain (south) 

 and Cronise Mountain (north), crossing Soda Lake Mountains, 

 to Baker. Soda station (on the railroad) is on the east shore 

 of Soda Lake (playa) 4 miles east of Beacon station (on the 

 highway) . Soda Lake is one of the largest playas in Mojave 

 Desert, having an area of about 60 square miles. Soda Lake 

 and Silver Lake, to the north, occupy a great trough thought 

 to have been caused by faulting. Soda Lake Mountains form a 

 continuous and very rugged range for 20 miles on the west 

 side of the valley, with Turquoise Mountains rising as the east 

 wall. It is thought that faults form the valley walls on either 

 side. Turquoise Mountains, on the east side of the valley, are 

 greatly dissected by canyons extending eastward from Soda 



