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Subsection 341Fc
Saline Valley - Cottonwood Mountains
South Pass
Saline Valley - Cottonwood Mountains
This ecological subsection lies between the Inyo Mountains and Death Valley. It includes the Last Chance Range, Saline Range, Cottonwood Mountains, Nelson Range, Saline Valley, Eureka Valley, and several smaller valleys. It is part of the Southern Great Basin and is generally hot to cool and arid.Geology
Ancient Mesozoic granitic rocks, Paleozoic marine sedimentary rocks, and younger Tertiary volcanic rocks form much of the bedrock. Sedimentary formations range from Cambrian through Carboniferous age. Pliocene basalt is common in places, along with silica-rich volcanic rocks of Tertiary age.Alluvial deposits fill many valleys and spread outward from the mountains as broad fans. Fine lakebed deposits remain in closed basins, while wind-blown sand is widespread in Saline and Eureka Valleys.
Landforms
The landscape is a classic Basin and Range country of steep mountains, rocky hills, broad alluvial fans, and level valley floors. Most of the ranges trend north and south; the Nelson Range trends more northwestward. Hunter Mountain and parts of the Nelson Range include broad, high surfaces that may be remnants of old erosion plains.Elevation ranges from about 1,100 feet on the valley floors to nearly 9,000 feet at Tin Mountain in the Cottonwood Mountains. Running water, flash floods, wind, landslides, weathering, and freeze-thaw action continue to shape the land.
Soils
Thin, rocky soils cover much of the mountains and hills. Deeper and more developed soils occur on older fans and valley floors. Salty soils are common around playas and former lakebeds, especially where drainage ends in enclosed basins.Most soils are well drained, but lakebed soils may remain wet or salty for long periods after storms. Soil conditions range from warm and very dry on low desert floors to cooler conditions at higher elevations.
Vegetation
Plant communities change sharply with elevation and soil conditions. Low, dry ground supports desert scrub, creosote bush, shadscale, and other saltbushes. Higher slopes support blackbrush, big sagebrush, pinyon pine, Utah juniper, and curlleaf mountain mahogany.Saline flats and low basin margins support plants adapted to alkaline soils, including pickleweed, saltgrass, greasewood, iodine bush, and alkali sacaton.
Typical plant communities include:
Grasslands: alkali sacaton, Indian ricegrass, pickleweed, and saltgrass.Shrublands: blackbrush, catclaw acacia, creosote bush, fourwing saltbush, greasewood, hopsage, iodine bush, mulefat, and shadscale.
Woodlands: curlleaf mountain mahogany, singleleaf pinyon pine, pinyon-juniper, and Utah juniper.
Climate and Water
Annual precipitation is generally about 5 to 12 inches, with snowfall common at the higher elevations. Average annual temperatures range from about 40 to 70 degrees F. Frost-free periods range from roughly 125 days in the coldest high country to 275 days on the warmer valley floors.Most streams are intermittent. Water moves quickly from mountain slopes across alluvial fans, then slows or disappears into gravel, playa sediments, and closed basins. Some drainage ultimately reaches Death Valley, but much of the water remains within Saline Valley, Eureka Valley, and other enclosed desert basins.
The official ecological-unit classification identifies this as Subsection 341Fc, Saline Valley-Cottonwood Mountains. US Forest Service classification The contrasting low basins, high pinyon country, Last Chance Range, and Cottonwood Mountains are also described in the Death Valley National Park fire management plan.
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Eureka Dunes
Hunter Cabin
Tin Mountain Limestone