42 BULLETIN 54, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



Pass, opening into the Eureka Basin. The present di-\ade in this canyon is over 400 

 feet above the bottom of the Deep Springs Valley, but has probalily been raised to some 

 extent by post-Lahontan allu^"ium. It is not possible to be certain that this canyon 

 ever served as a line of discharge, but the -writer considers it probable that it did, 

 especially since the basin drains high and well-watered mountain slopes on which the 

 Lahontan period rainfall must have been quite high. It is probable, therefore, that 

 the basin was once tributary to the Eureka Basin. The drainage area of the Deep 

 Springs Valley is 185 square miles. It contains a small variable lake, fed largely by 

 springs. 



THE KANE BASIN. 



Mention has already been made of the zone of less concentrated uplift which lies 

 south of the great north and south troughs of Owens, the Panamint, Death Valley, 

 and the Amargosa. Of the four permanent basins which the zone contains, the largest 

 and westernmost is that of Kane Lake. It lies immediately south of Searles and might 

 be considered a part of the Owens-Searles trough, being separated therefrom by the 

 cross uplift of the El Paso Moimtaius. The southeastern diAide of the basin runs 

 across a region of less definite topography bordering the Mojave Desert, and ia fre- 

 quently inconspicuous. It is possible that the basin once discharged over some unde- 

 termined point on this quarter of its rim, but the general difference in elevation be- 

 tween rim and flat is about 600 feet and discharge is not considered probable. The 

 present bottom of the basin is a playa with an area of about !1 5 square miles and having 

 a considerable salinity. There are also several local playas north, east, and southeast 

 of the main playa, but all are recent and unimportant. Into the southwest corner of 

 the basin opens the.high Tehathapi Valley, on the crest of the mountains of that name. 

 Stream decay and alhndal damming have cut off a portion of this A^alley, with the for- 

 mation of a local playa of little antiquity and slight importance. The area of the Kane 

 Basin, including the Tehachapi Valley, is approximately 900 square miles, a moderate 

 possible error being introduced by imcertainty as to the exact position of the south- 

 eastern divide. 



THE WILLARD BASIN. 



The Willard Basin is a small basin lying just east of the Kane and not unlike it. The 

 diAide which separates it from the MojaA'e drainage is neither well defined nor well 

 known, and previous outflow is distinctly a possibility. The deepest depression is 

 occupied by the playa of Willard Lake, wliich offers no exceptional features. The 

 basin area is somewhat tmcertain, because of lack of exact knowledge of the divides, 

 but is certainly less than 250 square miles. 



THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN BASIN. 



The Granite Mountain Basin is a small structural basin south of the Leach Valley 

 extension of the Panamint and between the Leach and Granite ^Moimtains. It is 

 Little known, but is believed to be entirely surroimded by high and permanent di- 

 vides. Its floor carries seA'eral plaj^a areas, the mutual relations of which are im- 

 known. The basin area is 150 square miles. 



THE OWL BASIN. 



The easternmost and smallest of the four permanent basins of the transition group is a 

 tiny mountain valley just south of Death Valley and which contains the Owl Lake 

 playa. It has never been mapped or scientifically studied, and its nature is almost 

 entirely imknovvn. Its inclosed condition is believed to be structural and pre- 

 Lahontan, but a previous drainage into Death Valley is not impossible. In any case 

 its area of leas than 60 square miles makes it of little importance. 



