Death Valley National Park:

Geology

Throughout Death Valley, there are basins,

valleys, canyons, mountains, and sand dunes.
Badwater Basin is the most well known basin
in Death Valley and can actually contain a
lake for a short period of time after a rare
heavy rain.
Death Valley gets its name from the fact that
most of the park is a flat valley between two
mountains.
Frequently visited canyons in Death Valley
include Golden Canyon and Twenty Mule
Team Canyon.
One of the best places to see giant sand dunes
is near Mesquite Flat, where the height of the
dunes is around 100 ft above the valley floor.
During warm seasons near the dunes, visitors
have to be aware of rattlesnakes after dark.
Dantes View is accessed by a paved road to
the top of a 5000 ft mountain. It is the highest
point in Death Valley and is also said to be the
most beautiful view in the whole park.

Landforms

Rock and Tectonic Activity

As shown in the diagram, the

main rock type in Death Valley
is sedimentary, however there
are also sources of igneous and
metamorphic rock.
In literal geological terms,
Death Valley is a graben; that
is, a rift valley formed by the
sinking of the bedrock lying
between parallel, uplifted, tiltblock mountain ranges. In this
case, the two mountain ranges
are the Amargosa to the east
and the Panamints to the west.
-OhRanger.com

Erosion and Deposition

The few water sources in
the park carry gravel,
sand, silt, and rocks from
surrounding mountains
and hills and deposits
them down to the valley
floor.
Beneath Badwater lies
more than 11,000 feet of
accumulated sediment
and salts. -NPS.gov