548 O. E. MEINZER LAKES OF THE BASIN-AND-RANGE PROVINCE 



and especially by the fact that the unknown quantity (Pleistocene cli- 

 mate) contains at least two unknown factors — temperature and precipi- 

 tation. But, on the other hand, it is made tangible by the large number 



Figure 4. — Map cow paring the Pleistocene Lake and the Present Areas of Ground-water 

 Discharge in the North Basin of Big Smoky Valley, Nevada 



Figure on left represents present area of ground-water discharge, 160 square miles. 

 Figure on right represents the Pleistocene lake. ■_':- > .~> square miles. 



and convenient variety of basins, by the fact that these basins are so 

 nearly independent of one another that they lend themselves well to com- 



