Dr. Lauren A. Wright and Bennie W. Troxel are internationally recognized experts on the geology of Death Valley, California. In November 2002, they celebrated 50 years of cooperative research together. This special issue of Earth-Science Reviews commemorates that special occasion. Wright and Troxel's research in Death Valley covers a wide variety of subjects including stratigraphy, structure, regional tectonics, Quaternary geology, and mineral resources. Their diversity in research is reflected in this volume. The first two chapters add stratigraphic and 13C data to the constantly growing volume of literature on Neoproterozoic global glaciation and the Snowball Earth theory. The next seven chapters are nearly equally divided between late Paleozoic thrust faulting, middle Cenozoic extensional tectonics, and magmatism. The next four chapters describe the late Neogene to Holocene geology and geomorphology of Death Valley, research topics very dear to Wright and Troxel in the last 10 years. The last chapter describes the lead-zinc deposits of the southern basin and ranges. * Written by internationally recognized experts on the geology of Death Valley research * Covers a wide range of geological subjects, including stratigraphy, tectonics, mineral resources, glaciations, and the Snowball Earth theory * Documents Wright and Troxel's dedication, keen observational skills and ability to merge observations with theory

Originally published in 1995, soon after Death Valley National Park became the fifty-third park in the US park system, The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park was the first complete guidebook available for this spectacular area. Now in its third edition, this is still the only book that includes all aspects of the park. Much more than just a guidebook, it covers the park's cultural history, botany and zoology, hiking and biking opportunities, and more. Information is provided for all of Death Valley's visitors, from first-time travelers just learning about the area to those who are returning for in-depth explorations. The book includes updated point-to-point logs for every road within and around the park, as well as more accurate maps than those in any other publication. With extensive input from National Park Service resource management, law enforcement, and interpretive personnel, as well as a thorough bibliography for suggested reading, The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park, Third Edition is the most up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive guide available for this national treasure.

Fifty years ago, Tuzo Wilson published his paper asking `Did the Atlantic close and then re-open?’. This led to the `Wilson Cycle’ concept in which the repeated opening and closing of ocean basins along old orogenic belts is a key process in the assembly and breakup of supercontinents. The Wilson Cycle underlies much of what we know about the geological evolution of the Earth and its lithosphere, and will no doubt continue to be developed as we gain more understanding of the physical processes that control mantle convection, plate tectonics, and as more data become available from currently less accessible regions. This volume includes both thematic and review papers covering various aspects of the Wilson Cycle concept. Thematic sections include: (1) the Classic Wilson v. Supercontinent Cycles, (2) Mantle Dynamics in the Wilson Cycle, (3) Tectonic Inheritance in the Lithosphere, (4) Revisiting Tuzo’s question on the Atlantic, (5) Opening and Closing of Oceans, and (6) Cratonic Basins and their place in the Wilson Cycle.

An annotated bibliography of over 2,050 references associated with borate minerals from Death Valley, Mojave Desert, and Nevada. Sources include journal articles, papers, conference proceedings, books, book chapters, and other literature published from the 1860s into 2024. The bibliography is divided into 16 chapters: History, Boron and Borates, Chemistry and Crystal Structure, Mineralogy, Geology, California, Death Valley, Searles Lake, Mojave Desert, Kramer, Calico, Fort Cady, Tick Canyon, Ventura, Nevada, and Annual Reviews. Contains appendices of supplemental information on borate minerals, color photographs, and an alphabetical index of authors. 638 pages. Key words: borax, colemanite, kernite, probertite, and ulexite.

Harry Rosenberg grew up near the hottest place on EarthDeath Valleyin a very unusual dwelling: a red caboose. His father repaired bridges for the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad, which hauled ore from remote mines. During the Depression, the Rosenbergs traveled from washout to washout across a fiery land prone, paradoxically, to devastating floods of the Amargosa and Mojave Rivers. No other place on Earth was better suited to forge a curious boy into a metallurgist who would spend his life unlocking the vast potential of a difficult, new metaltitanium. In Fire and Forge, author Kathleen L. Housley tells Rosenbergs life storyworking as a miner, having a chance meeting with a geologist studying Death Valley, earning a PhD from Stanford, gaining patents for aerospace alloys, and founding a company that manufactures the purest titanium in the world. This biography captures the essence of a man whose work as a metallurgist left an impact on the world, but it also communicates Rosenbergs love for his roots. No matter how far he traveled, no matter the number of his successes, he never really left the Mojave Desert and the Amargosa Riverit still flows through his veins.

Papers in this title were selected from presentations from an April 2005 workshop sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Surface Dynamics Program, the U.S. Geological Survey National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, and the Smithsonian Institution. Papers are divided into two broad topics of the configuration, areal extent, and temporal development of the chain of interconnected lakes that emptied into Death Valley during periods of the Pleistocene, and the late Cenozoic history of drainage integration in the lower Colorado River region. Papers are occasionally illustrated in both color and black-and-white; the publication contains no index.

This is the history of Death Valley, where that bitter stream the Amargosa dies. It embraces the whole basin of the Amargosa from the Panamints to the Spring Mountains, from the Palmettos to the Avawatz. And it spans a century from the earliest recollections and the oldest records to that day in 1933 when much of the valley was finally set aside as a National Monument. This is the story of an illusory land, of the people it attracted and of the dreams and delusions they pursued-the story of the metals in its mountains and the salts in its sinks, of its desiccating heat and its revitalizing springs, and of all the riches of its scenery and lore-the story of Indians and horse thieves, lost argonauts and lost mine hunters, prospectors and promoters, miners and millionaires, stockholders and stock sharps, homesteaders and hermits, writers and tourists. But mostly this is the story of the illusions-the illusions of a shortcut to the gold diggings that lured the forty-niners, of inescapable deadliness that hung in the name they left behind, of lost bonanzas that grew out of the few nuggets they found, of immeasurable riches spread by hopeful prospectors and calculating con men, and of impenetrable mysteries concocted by the likes of Scotty. These and many lesser illusions are the heart of its history.

“Betsy Watry tells the tales of a dozen women, some of whom had short-lived adventures in Yellowstone National Park, but most of whom spent decades as rangers, scientists, interpreters, and entrepreneurs, shaping the Park’s physical and cultural landscape. This is a wonderful ‘hidden’ history, full of surprising stories, grounded in intensive research and written with charm.” —Dr. Mary Murphy, historian and author of Hope in Hard Times “For so long, Yellowstone National Park has needed a book about the women who stood and today stand tall in its history. At long last, Elizabeth Watry has produced it. Women across the nation should celebrate this book for its noteworthy contribution to women’s history, as we professional historians do.” Lee Whittlesey, Park Historian, National Park Service, —Yellowstone National Park “To read about Yellowstone National Park too often means viewing it through the eyes and exploits of men. By sharing the experiences and contributions of women who visited, lived, and worked in Yellowstone, Elizabeth Watry places women front and center in the Park’s wondrous history. Women in Wonderland is sure to become a treasured resource.” —Diane Smith, author of Letters from Yellowstone