42 BULLETIN 54, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Pass, opening into the Eureka Basin. The present divide in this canyon is over 400. 
feet above the bottom of the Deep Springs Valley, but has probably been raised to some 
extent by post-Lahontan alluvium. 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 Mountains. The southeastern divide of the basin runs 
across a region of less definite topography bordering the Mojave Desert, and is 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 15 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 Tehachapi Valley, on the crest of the mountains of that name. 
Stream decay and alluvial damming have cut off a portion of this valley, with the for- 
mation of a local playa of little antiquity and slightimportance. The area ofthe Kane 
Basin, including the Tehachapi Valley, is approximately 900 square miles, a moderate 
possible error being introduced by uncertainty as to the exact position of the south- 
eastern divide. ; 
THE WILLARD BASIN. 
The Willard Basin isa small basin lying just east of the Kane and not unlikeit. The 
divide which separates 1t from the Mojave 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, which offers no exceptional features. ‘The 
basin area is somewhat uncertain, 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 Mountains. It is 
little known, but is believed to be entirely surrounded by high and permanent di- 
vides. Its floor carries several playa areas, the mutual relations of which are un- 
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 unknown. 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 less than 60 square miles makes it of little importance. 
