Death Valley Sunset is a photograph by Heidi Smith which was uploaded on April 8th, 2013.
Death Valley Sunset
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada, occupying an interface... more
by Heidi Smith
Title
Death Valley Sunset
Artist
Heidi Smith
Medium
Photograph
Description
Death Valley National Park is a national park in the U.S. states of California and Nevada located east of the Sierra Nevada, occupying an interface zone between the arid Great Basin and Mojave deserts in the United States. The park protects the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and contains a diverse desert environment of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons, and mountains. It is the largest national park in the lower 48 states and has been declared an International Biosphere Reserve. Approximately 95% of the park is a designated wilderness area. It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in Badwater Basin, which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. The park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include creosote bush, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, and the Death Valley Pupfish, a survivor of much wetter times. A series of Native American groups inhabited the area from as early as 7000 BC, most recently the Timbisha around 1000 AD who migrated between winter camps in the valleys and summer grounds in the mountains. A group of European-Americans that became stuck in the valley in 1849 while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California gave the valley its name, even though only one of their group died there. Several short-lived boom towns sprang up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to mine gold and silver. The only long-term profitable ore to be mined was borax, which was transported out of the valley with twenty-mule teams. The valley later became the subject of books, radio programs, television series, and movies. Tourism blossomed in the 1920s, when resorts were built around Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek. Death Valley National Monument was declared in 1933 and the park was substantially expanded and became a national park in 1994. The natural environment of the area has been shaped largely by its geology. The valley itself is actually a graben. The oldest rocks are extensively metamorphosed and at least 1.7 billion years old. Ancient, warm, shallow seas deposited marine sediments until rifting opened the Pacific Ocean. Additional sedimentation occurred until a subduction zone formed off the coast. This uplifted the region out of the sea and created a line of volcanoes. Later the crust started to pull apart, creating the current Basin and Range landform. Valleys filled with sediment and, during the wet times of glacial periods, with lakes, such as Lake Manly.
Source - Wikipedia
Uploaded
April 8th, 2013
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Comments (32)
Glenn McCarthy Art and Photography
Beautiful sunset scene Heidi. This is one of the next places on my list to spend some time in!
Hanne Lore Koehler
Fantastic capture, Heidi!!! The spectacular sunset full of life and movement in stark contrast to the bare earth makes this such a dramatic vista! V30/F/T/SU/G+
Jane Small
It feels so "different",like another planet almost ! The dry purple- grey barren landscape against the hot sunset colours is so dramatically beautiful.Love those contrasting streaks of blue in the sky too.And it makes me feel so tiny! Phenomenal! v/f
Heidi Smith replied:
Thank you, Jane! It seemed like another planet to me as well. It really is a fantastic place to visit during the cooler months....don't go in summer though.
ANA MARIA EDULESCU
Breathtaking sunset and such fabulous colors on the sky. Magnificent capture, Heidi !!!!!!! f,v