12/06/2023
Death Valley 2023
When the driest place in North America and one of the hottest places on Earth becomes a desert oasis complete with a lake, it's impossible not to take note.
What is it? A huge, salty lake is currently sitting in Badwater Basin in the middle of California's Death Valley National Park.
The lake is currently two miles wide and four miles long, though it's only a few inches deep, according to park officials.
It formed after the remnants of Hurricane Hilary dumped more than two inches of rain on Death Valley in just 24 hours.
Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America (282 ft below sea level) and home to vast salt flats left behind from an ancient lake.
Where there's water, there's usually vegetation: scattered blooms of orange and yellow wildflowers have popped up, and the landscape looks a little more green than normal
The salt flats in Badwater Basin cover nearly 200 square miles, among the largest protected salt flats in the world.
Salt flats are too harsh for most plants and animals to survive, yet are quite fragile. Delicate crystals are easily crushed and the relatively thin upper crust of salt can be broken through to the mud layer below, leaving tire tracks and even footprints. For this reason, vehicles are prohibited off established roads in Death Valley.
What causes salt flats?
Three basic things are needed for salt flats to form:
Source of salts, usually from a large drainage system
Enclosed basin that doesn't drain to the sea and wash away the salts
Arid climate where evaporation exceeds precipitation, leaving behind just the salts and fine silt
Salt of the Earth
Sodium Chloride—better known as table salt—makes up the majority of salts on Badwater Basin. Other evaporative minerals found here include calcite, gypsum, and borax.
Intense Concentration
The source of Badwater’s salts is Death Valley’s drainage system of 9,000 square miles—an area larger than New Hampshire. Rain falling on distant peaks creates floods that rush ever lower. Along the way, minerals dissolve from rocks and join the flood. Here, at the lowest elevation, floods come to rest, forming temporary lakes.