Owens Valley Geology History References External Links

The Owens Valley stretches from Haiwee Reservoir in the south to the Sherwin Summit in the north (just north of the town of Bishop). Other towns in the Owens Valley include Lone Pine, Independence and Big PineBig Pine is a census-designated place located in Inyo County, California. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 1,350. Geography Big Pine is located at 37°9'55" North, 118°17'47" West (37. 165377, -118. According to the United States Ce.

1 Geology

Beginning about 3 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains fault systems became active with repeated episodes of slip ( earthquakeAn earthquake is a trembling or shaking movement of the Earth's surface. Earthquakes typically result from the movement of faults, quasi-planar zones of deformation within its uppermost layers. The word earthquake is also widely used to indicate the sourcs) gradually producing the impressive relief of the eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountain escarpmentIn geology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves an elevation differential, often involving high cliffs. Most commonly, an escarpment, also called a scarp, is a transition from one series of sedimens that bound the northern Owens Valley- Mono Basin region.

Owens Valley is a grabenIn geology, a graben is a depressed fault block bordered by normal faults. See also rift (geology). There are municipalities and communities names that have the name Graben ; In Germany Graben bei Augsburg Graben bei Treuchtlingen ; In Switzerland Graben,: a downdropped block of land between two vertical faults. Owens Valley is the westernmost graben in the Basin and Range Province.

The western flank of much of the valley has large moraineMoraine is the general term for debris of all sorts originally transported by glaciers or ice sheets that have since melted away. The following are commonly recognized types of moraine: Lateral moraine The talus and other material from the sides of a glacs coming off the Sierra Nevada. These unsorted piles of rock, boulders and dust were bulldozed to where they are by glacierA glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. Equivalently, it is a multi-year ice accretion in mountainous terrain. The glacier fringe is the area where the glacier has recently melted. There ares during the last ice ageFor the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie . For the band, see Ice Age (band . An ice age is a period of long-term downturn in the temperature of Earth's climate, resulting in an expansion of the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers (" glaciation"). Glaci. An excellent example of a moraine is on California Highway 168 as it climbs into Buttermilk Country .

This graben was formed by a long series of earthquakes, such as the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake, that have moved the graben down and helped move the Sierra Nevada up. The graben is in fact much larger than the depth of the valley infers; gravity studies suggest that 10,000 feet (3 km) of sedimentary rock mostly fills the graben and that a very steep escarpment is buried under the western length of the valley. The topmost part of this escarpment is exposed at Alabama Hills.

2 History

The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the land of little rain". In the early 20th century the valley became the scene a struggle between local residents and the city of Los Angeles over water rights. William Mulholland, superindendent of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) planned the 223 mile (359 km) Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913, which diverted water from the Owens River. Much of the water rights were acquired through subterfuge, with purchases splitting water cooperatives and pitting neighbors against each other. The purchases led to anger among local farmers, which erupted in violence in 1924, when parts of the water system were sabotaged by local farmers.

Eventually Los Angeles acquired a large fraction of the water rights to over 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) of land in the valley such that inflows to Owens Lake were almost completely diverted. The lake subsequently dried up competely, leaving the present alkali flat which plagues the southern valley with alkali dust storms.

The history of these actions is covered in greater depth in California Water Wars.

During World War II a Japanese American Internment camp operated in the valley at Manzanar near Independence, California.

As of December 17, 2003, LADWP settled a lawsuit brought by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer , the Owens Valley Committee , and the Sierra Club. Under the terms of the settlement, LADWP will return water to the lower Owens River by 2005, which should mitigate the alkali dust storms.

In July 2004, Los Angeles mayor James Hahn proposed barring all future development on its Owens Valley holdings, by proposing a conservation easement for all LADWP land. As of October, 2004, Inyo County officials seem to be resisting the offer of the easement [1], perhaps due to the prior history of mistrust over LADWP actions.

3 References

Deepest Valley: a Guide to Owens Valley, its roadsides and mountain trails, Jeff Putnam, Genny Smith, eds., 2nd edition, Genny Smith books, (1978), BooksEnthsiast.com
Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner, revised edition, Penguin USA, (1993), BooksEnthsiast.com
Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California, Alt, Hyndman (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula; 2000) BooksEnthsiast.com
Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley, Sharp, Glazner (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula; 1997) BooksEnthsiast.com
The Land of Little Rain, Mary Austin, University of New Mexico Press, (1974), contains the complete text of the first edition of 1903, BooksEnthsiast.com

4 External links

Geography of California
Antelope Valley \| Central Valley \| Central Coast \| Channel Islands \| Coast Ranges \| Death Valley \| Gold Country \| Greater Los Angeles \| Imperial Valley \| Inland Empire \| Mojave \| Napa Valley \| Northern California \| Owens Valley \| Pomona Valley \| Redwood Empire \| San Fernando Valley \| San Francisco Bay Area \| The Peninsula \| San Gabriel Valley \| Santa Clara Valley \| Santa Clarita Valley \| Shasta Cascade \| Sierra Nevada \| Silicon Valley \| Southern California \| Wine Country

Geography of California

Sierra Nevada Great Basin California valleys

<Hide>