12.3: Central Basin - the Owens Valley

The Owens Valley is a geologically young valley, having formed only about 10 million years ago. The valley was formed by a combination of faulting and erosion. Initially, the Sierra Nevada mountains were formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate. This subduction caused the Earth's crust to buckle, fold, and uplift, forming the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Owens Valley was formed as a down dropped graben in the basin, between the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Inyo-White Mountains. As for the uplift of the Inyo-White mountains, that was the direct result of the stretching of the Basin and Range.

Owens Valley, the largest except for the Imperial Valley of the Great Basin region, is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California. The valley occupies what is known as a fault block valley, which is between the rugged Sierra to the west, and the Inyo- White Mountain Range to the east. The highest peak of the White Mountains has an elevation of 14,252 feet, while on the opposite side of the trough rises the lofty escarpment of the Sierras, with peaks culminating in Mt. Whitney, 14,508 feet. The length of Owens Valley is about seventy miles and an average width of ten miles. It is due to the dropping of the earth between the two mountain ranges and is formed of two main blocks, the eastern one of which is occupied by the lowlands along Owens’s river, while the western one is higher, and is best exemplified in the Alabama Hills, near the town of Lone Pine. The great Owens Valley earthquake of 1872 was the result of movement between these two earth blocks.

Physical Geography

The Owens River is the main river in the valley and is a popular destination for outdoor recreation. The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations located near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains and are a popular destination for rock climbing, hiking, and filming.

In addition to these notable features, the Owens Valley is also adjacent to a variety of other unique physical geography features, such as the Saline Valley, Searles Borax Marsh, and the Trona Pinnacles. Saline Valley is a desert valley located east of the Inyo-White Mountains and is characterized by its steep mountain walls and dry lakebed. Searles Borax Marsh is a basin located at the southern end of the Owens Valley and is home to a variety of borate minerals, which are used to make a variety of products, including detergents, glass, and fertilizers. Lastly, the Trona Pinnacles are a series of tall, thin rock formations made of trona, a mineral used to make soap and other products.

Weather & Climate

Most of the Owens Valley have a high desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWk) characterized by hot summers and cold winters. January temperatures range from the middle fifties °F (+12 °C–+15 °C) to the upper twenties °F (-4 °C–-1 °C) and July temperatures range from the upper nineties °F (35 °C–37 °C) to the lower sixties °F (15 °C–18 °C). Low humidity is prevalent, with average annual precipitation averaging less than 6 inches (150 mm), due to being in the rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada. Snowfall varies greatly from year-to-year, averaging only 5 inches (130 mm) annually. The nearest official National Weather Service co-operative weather station is in Independence where records date back to 1893.

Figure 12.12: Climate Date for Mount Whitney, California (Data from NOAA). Image by Jeremy Patrich is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.

Owens Lake

Owens Lake, located in the Owens Valley of California, is a unique and important body of water with a rich history. The lake was originally named Patsiata by the Nüümü (Owens Valley Paiute), but was renamed Owens Lake by explorer John C. Frémont in honor of one of his guides, Richard Owens.

Before the diversion of the Owens River, Owens Lake was a large and thriving body of water, up to 12 miles long and 8 miles wide, covering an area of up to 108 square miles. The lake had an average depth of 23 to 50 feet and sometimes overflowed to the south, flowing into the Mojave Desert. Even earlier, in the late Pleistocene, about 11–12,000 years ago Owens Lake was even larger still, covering nearly 200 square miles (520 km2) and reaching a depth of 200 feet (61 m). The increased inflow from the Owens River, from melting glaciers of the post-Ice Age Sierra Nevada, caused Owens Lake to overflow south through Rose Valley into another now dry lakebed, China Lake.

In 2023, the lake flooded for the first time in over 100 years due to the numerous storms that struck California during the first three months of 2023. Further information on Owens Lake can be found in the, ‘Water as a Resource’ unit from the text.

Physical Geology

As previously discussed, in Unit 10, Around 200 million years ago, the ancient oceanic Farallon Plate began to subduct beneath the North American Plate. As the Farallon moved eastward, it was overridden by the North American, and the moisture within it was figuratively baked out of the rock before the crust melted into magma. As it began to cool, a large mass of igneous rock was created and is now visible as the granite domes of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. Batholiths are large masses of igneous rock that form deep below the surface, and they are thought to be the “roots” of subduction-zone volcanoes. After the below-surface formation of the granite, processes such as uplift and erosion eventually expose it to the surface.

The western flank of much of the valley has large glacial moraines coming off the Sierra Nevada. These unsorted piles of rock, boulders, and dust were pushed to where they are by glaciers during the last ice age.

The 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 much larger than the depth of the valley suggests; gravity studies suggest that 10,000 feet (3,048 m) 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.

The Owens Valley has many mini volcanoes, such as Crater Mountain in the Big Pine volcanic field. Smaller versions of the columnar jointed basalts, similar to Devils Postpile, can be found by Little Lake and Fossil Falls.

On March 26, 1872, at 2:30 am, Lone Pine experienced a violent earthquake that destroyed most of the town. At the time, the town consisted of 80 buildings made of mud and adobe; only 20 structures were left standing. As a result of the quake, which formed a sag pond called Diaz Lake, a total of 26 people lost their lives. A mass grave located just north of town commemorates the site of the main fault. One of the few remaining structures pre-dating the earthquake is the 21-inch (53 cm)-thick "Old Adobe Wall" located in the alley behind the Lone Star Bistro, a coffee house.

Field Trip: 1872 Lone Pine Earthquake

Let’s head on a field trip to learn about one of California’s biggest earthquakes! Either scan the QR code or visit this link to join Professor Patrich for a lecture at the actual fault scarp. (Video length: 3min).

Case Study: Mount Whitney

In July 1864, the members of the California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney, the state geologist of California and benefactor of the survey. In 1881, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory founder Samuel Pierpont Langley remained on the summit for some time, making daily observations of the solar heat. Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party consisting of Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright, and Reverend Frederick Wales. In his memoirs, Wallace wrote, "The Pi Ute [Paiute] Indians called Mount Whitney Too-man-i-goo-yah, which means 'the very old man.' They believe that the Great Spirit who presides over the destiny of their people once had his home in that mountain."

Mount Whitney's summit is on the Sierra Crest and the Great Basin Divide. It lies near many of the Sierra Nevada's highest peaks. The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley, sitting 10,778 feet (3,285 m) or just over 2 mi (3.2 km) above the town of Lone Pine 15 mi (24 km) to the east, in the Owens Valley.

Figure 12.13: Sunset Behind the Sierra Nevada. Image by Jeremy Patrich is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.

The mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges, due to frost wedging, extending to the sides. Mount Whitney is above the tree line and has an alpine climate and ecology. Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the sky pilot, a cushion plant that grows low to the ground. The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the gray-crowned rosy finch.

Whitney's eastern slope is far steeper than its western slope because the Sierra Nevada is the result of a fault block that is analogous to a cellar door: the door is hinged on the west and is slowly rising on the east.

Figure 12.14: Schematic of the Sierra Nevada Fault Block. Image by Jeremy Patrich is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.

The rise is caused by a fault system that runs along the Sierra's eastern base, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the granite that forms Whitney is the same as that which forms the Alabama Hills, thousands of feet lower down. The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause the Basin and Range Province: the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched and extended.

The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. In Cretaceous time, masses of molten rock that originated from subduction rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite. In the last 2 to 10 million years, the Sierra was pushed up, enabling glacial and river erosion to strip the upper layers of rock to reveal the resistant granite that makes up Mount Whitney today.

Figure 12.15: Geologic Map for Mount Whitney, California (USGS). Image is in the public domain.

Case Study - The Alabama Hills

The Alabama Hills are a range of hills and rock formations located near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, California. They are geologically part of the Sierra Nevada, but they differ in appearance due to different patterns of erosion, (such as iron staining due to the warmer climate). The Alabama Hills are home to a variety of unique geological features, including dozens of natural arches, potato-shaped boulders, and a steep escarpment that may have been created by earthquakes.

One of the most striking features of the Alabama Hills is their rounded contours, which contrast with the sharp ridges of the Sierra Nevada to the west. This difference in appearance is since the Alabama Hills are made up of different types of rock. A common rock type is a weathered metamorphosed volcanic rock that is 150–200 million years old. This rock, found along the eastern edge, is relatively soft and easily eroded, which is why the Alabama Hills have such rounded contours.

The most common rock type in the Alabama Hills is biotite monzogranite, which is 82–85 million years old. This rock is much harder and more resistant to erosion than the metamorphosed volcanic rock. As a result, the biotite monzogranite in the Alabama Hills often weathers into potato-shaped boulders. Many of these boulders stand on end due to spheroidal weathering, a process that creates concentric shells of rock that eventually peel away, leaving behind a rounded core.

Figure 12.16: Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills, California. Image by Jeremy Patrich is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.

The Alabama Hills are also home to a variety of natural arches. These arches are formed when erosion weakens the rock at their base, causing them to collapse. The most famous natural arch in the Alabama Hills is Mobius Arch, which is a complete loop. Other notable arches include Lathe Arch, the Eye of Alabama, and Whitney Portal Arch.

In addition to their geological significance, the Alabama Hills are also culturally important. The hills have been used as a filming location for hundreds of movies and television shows, including many Westerns. The Alabama Hills are also a sacred place for the Paiute people, who have lived in the Owens Valley for centuries.

Field Trip: Mobius Arch - Alabama Hills

Let’s head on a field trip to learn about the geology and formation of the Mobius Arch in the Alabama Hills. Either scan the QR code or visit this link to join Professor Patrich for a lecture at the arch. (Video length: 5min).

Cultural Geography

The Paiute Indians inhabited the Owens Valley area from prehistoric times. These early inhabitants are known to have established trading routes which extended to the Pacific Central Coast, delivering materials originating in the Owens Valley to such tribes as the Chumash.

During the 1870s, Lone Pine was an important supply town for several nearby mining communities, including Kearsarge, Cerro Gordo, Keeler, Swansea, and Darwin. The Cerro Gordo mine high in the Inyo Mountains was one of the most productive silver mines in California. The silver was carried in ore buckets on a strong cable to Keeler, and then transported 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest to smelter ovens at Swansea. To supply the necessary building materials and fuel for these operations, a sawmill was constructed near Horseshoe Meadows by Colonel Sherman Stevens that produced wood for the smelters and the mines. The wood was moved by flume to the valley, where it was burned in adobe kilns to make charcoal, which was then transported by steamships across Owens Lake to the smelters at Swansea, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Lone Pine.

Railroads played a major role in the development of Lone Pine and the Owens Valley. In 1883, the Carson and Colorado Railway line was constructed from Belleville, Nevada, across the White Mountains to Benton, and then down into the Owens Valley where it ended in Keeler. The arrival of the C&C rail line, with its engine "The Slim Princess", and the stagecoach in Keeler were a major economic boost for the area. Twice a week, passengers arrived on the evening train, spent the night at the Lake View Hotel (later renamed the Hotel Keeler), and then took the stage the following morning to Mojave. A short line to the north connected with the Virginia and Truckee Railroad line at Mound House, Nevada.

Case Study: Lone Pines Cinematic History

Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills quickly became one of the most popular filming locations for Western films because of several factors, including its diverse landscape, its proximity to Los Angeles. The scenic location quickly caught the attention of other filmmakers, and in the coming decades, over 400 films, 100 television episodes, and countless commercials have been shot in Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills.

In 1920, the town's history was forever altered when a movie production company came to film the silent film The Round-Up. The film's success quickly caught the attention of other filmmakers, and Lone Pine and the Alabama Hills quickly became one of the most popular filming locations in the world.

In the early days, Lone Pine was primarily used as a backdrop for Western films. Notable Westerns filmed in Lone Pine during the 1920s and 1930s include Riders of the Purple Sage (1925), The Enchanted Hill (1926), Somewhere in Sonora (1927), Blue Steel (1934), Hop-Along Cassidy (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Oh, Susanna! (1936), Rhythm on the Range (1936), The Cowboy and the Lady (1938), Under Western Stars (1938), and Gunga Din (1939).

Figure 12.17: Movie Set of Gunga Din, Alabama Hills, California- Circa 1937. Image by Wikimedia is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the coming decades, Lone Pine continued to be used as a setting for Western films, but it also became a popular location for a variety of other genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and action films. Some notable examples include Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942), Samson and Delilah (1949), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Tremors (1990), The Postman (1997), Gladiator (2000), Iron Man (2008), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), Django Unchained (2012), The Lone Ranger (2013), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Want to learn more? Be sure to check out the Museum of Western Film, located in Lone Pine.