Mojave Desert

Looking across from Emigrant Pass towards the Kingston Range in the eastern Mojave. The Old Spanish Trail passed through the valley in the foreground.

The stunniing Mojave Desert extends for over 22,000 square miles in the south western portion of the UNited States. Crossing into areas of Southern California, southwestern Utah, southern Nevadam and northwestern Arizona, the extensive desert plays a significant role in shaping the lives of those who call it home.

The term Mojave derives from Mohave tribe of Native Americans that originally inhabited the area. As a tribal name Mohave survives to this day, and still used to refer to native inhabitants of the region. However, the modern Mojave desert extends beyond the traditional tribal boundaries of the Mojave. In modern definitions of the Mojave desert, the desert reaches from the Great Basin Desert to the North to the Sonoran to the south. In terms of latitude, the desert reaches from approximately the 34° line to the 38° line. However, technical definitions of the desert that rely on strict latitude measurements are not considered practical by many people. A simpler, although less scientifically accurate, techinique for defining the borders of the desert is the presence of joshua trees. These unique tree, considered the symbol of the Mojave Desert, have great dificulty in growing outside its borders.

File:Usgs mojave desert.jpg

Extent of Mojave Desert. Green square is the area of a survey made by the USGS which covers 25,000 square miles.

Geography

Natural Features

The Mojave Desert, while bordered by mountain ranges, boasts a realtively small level of altitude change within the desert itself. Most of the area maintains an elevation between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, with notable exceptions at Telescope Peak and Badwater. Both Telescope Peak and Badwater are found within Death Valley National Park, and these geographic features deomstrate the extremes of desert altitude. Telescope Peak towers above its surroundings at a altitude of 11,049 feet, while Badwater dips to an elevation of 282 feet below sea level.

One of the most unique natural features that is found within the MOjave Desert is the Kelso Sand Dunes, famous both for their beauty and their mysterious formation. These sand dunes, formed primarily out of fine grain residual sand and rose quarts particles, exhibit a distint pink color. Most unusual, however, for a natural geographic feature is that these sand dunes actually create a booming noise. Described by some as a "barking" noise, most scientists feel that the sound is caused by the friction between quartz and feldspar grains of sand. While breathtaking in their modern form, the Kelso sand dunes pose a historical enigma. Research has shown that the sand levels are not being replenished through modern wind currents, posing a question about how the sand sunes came to be formed in teh first place. To this end, geologists have proven that the dunes were actually formed through a series of layers 25,000 years ago that built up as a result from climatic change.

Climate

The Mojave Desert is an area of extreme climactic changes, often reaching 120°F in the summer months and dipping to below freezing on winter nights. Unlike many other areas in the southwestern portion of the UNited States, the Mojave Desert exhibits four disctinct seasons that control and shape living conditions in teh desert.

Winter

Winters in the Mojave Desert are characterized by freezing nigh time tempatures and occasional rainfall. In the moutain peaks, tempatures during this time can reach 0°F at night. Other areas, including the far reaching valley floors, are more managable for wildlife, reaching only 20°F in the evening hours. Precipitation during this season is commonly the result of storms that move down into the area from the Pacific Northwest. These storm systems often bring rain, or even snow, to the desert. Despite the rain, however, tempatures during the day can reach 80°F in the time periods between storm systems.

Spring

Spring is time of rejuvenation fot the Mojave Desert, when many of the areas becoming blanketed by a rich field of wildflowers. Vegetation growth during spring is possible due to increased rainfall, and less extreme tempature variation than is found during the winter season. Rainfall levels slip into decline beginning in April, with rainfall becoming a rarity as the area enters the summer months.

Summer

The summer months of the Mojave Desert are characterized by a heavy and oppressive heat that settles on the region. The tempatures, sometimes reaching above 120° F are what is generally considered a "dry heat",a coupling of low humidity, low pressure, and high tempatures. This season is also poses the threat of monsoons in the area, which are drawn by the low pressure up from the Gulf of MExico. The movement of storm systems from the Gulf of MExico can result in thunderstorms or sporatic rainstorms.

Autumn

Autums are generally considered the most pleasurable time to visit the Mojave, an opinion which consequtially causes an increase in visitors during the seasons. After the occasional thunderstorms of the summer months, the Mojave settles in a steady weather pattern with less unpredictabel showers. Tempatures also experience a slight dip during this season, ranging between 70° F and 90° F on the valley floors.

Human Occupation

While the Mojave Desert itself is sparsely populated, it has increasingly become urbanized in recent years. Las Vegas, Nevada is the largest city in the Mojave, with a metropolitan population of around 1.9 million in 2006. Palmdale is the largest city in California in the desert, and over 850,000 people live in areas of the Mojave attached to the Greater Los Angeles metroplex, including Palmdale, Lancaster, Victorville and Hesperia – these areas are referred to as the "High Desert." Smaller cities in the Mojave include St. George, Lake Havasu City, Kingman, Laughlin and Bullhead City, and Pahrump. All have experienced rapid population growth since 1990.

Towns with fewer than 30,000 people in the Mojave include Barstow, California, Needles, California, Ridgecrest, California, Mesquite, Nevada, Hurricane, Utah, Moapa Valley, Nevada, California City, California, Twentynine Palms, California and Mojave, California.

The Mojave Desert contains a number of ghost towns, the most significant of these being the silver-mining town of Calico, California and the old railroad depot of Kelso. Some of the other ghost towns are of the more modern variety, created when Route 66 (and the lesser-known US Highway 91) were abandoned in favor of the Interstates. The Mojave Desert is crossed by major highways Interstate 15, Interstate 40, US Highway 395 and US Highway 95.

As much of the Mojave is in the Basin and Range Region, few long streams cross the desert. The Mojave River is an important source of water for the southern parts of the desert. The Amargosa River flows from the Great Basin Desert south to near Beatty, Nevada, then underground through Ash Meadows before returning to the surface near Shoshone, California and ending in Death Valley. A part of the Colorado River traverses the far eastern portion of the Mojave.

Tourism

The Mojave Desert is one of the most popular tourism spots in North America, primarily because of gambling mecca Las Vegas. The desert is also known for its scenic beauty, with four national parks – Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Zion and Grand Canyon all within the desert or adjoining it. Lakes Mead, Mohave and Havasu provide watersport recreation, and sand dunes in the region entice off-road enthusiasts.

Among the more popular and unique tourist attractions in the Mojave is the self described world's tallest thermometer at 134 feet high, which is located along Interstate 15 in Baker, California. Kelso Dunes is also a popular recreation spot.

Lake Mead provides much needed water for cities in Arizona, California, and Nevada

.

Mojave Desert in fiction

• The Newcomer ship in Alien Nation hovered over the Mojave Desert at its fictional 1988 arrival.

• In Steven King short story The Langoliers a time rip is situated over the Mojave Desert.

• Fictional character Captain Christopher Pike of the Star Trek universe called the Mojave his home, having grown up in the town of Mojave, built in what was once desert "wasteland".

• The play Fool For Love, written and directed by Sam Shepard in 1983, takes place on the edge of the Mojave Desert.

• The Mojave Desert has been featured four times throughout the series of the FOX hit drama television show, 24:
  • In the first season of 24, terrorist, Mandy, blew up a 747 airplane and then parachuted into the Mojave Desert.
  • In the second season of 24, George Mason sacrifices his life to dispose of a nuclear bomb safely in the Mojave Desert.
  • In the fourth season of 24, Air Force One was shot down by a stealth fighter over the Mojave Desert and Jack Bauer had to go in and find the Nuclear Football briefcase, which was among the wreckage of the aircraft, before the terrorists could get it.
  • In the first episode of the fifth season of 24, Jack Bauer is living and working (under an assumed name in order to avoid detection by American or Chinese authorities) in the city of Mojave, CA.

• In Hunter S. Thompson's book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and its film adaptation, when Raoul Duke, Dr. Gonzo and the hitchhiker are on their way to Las Vegas, they are driving through the Mojave Desert. Duke is contemplating what to do with the hitchhiker: "How long could we maintain, I wondered. How long before one of us starts raving and jabbering at this boy? What will he think then? This same lonely desert was the last known home of the Manson family, will he make this grim connection when my attorney starts screaming about bats and huge manta rays coming down on the car?"

• The stark back-drop for Madonna's 1997 comeback "Frozen" video is the desert shot through a cold filter.

• In the PlayStation video game Parasite Eve 2, the majority of the storyline unfolds in a small town called Dryfield (said in game to be located in the Mojave desert).

• The music video for the Spice Girls' second single, Say You'll Be There, was shot in this desert in September 1996.

• The post-apocalyptic computer game Wasteland is set in the area.

• Paulo Coelho's book, The Valkyries, is set in the Mojave Desert.

Photos from the Mojave Desert

• 

  Pinnacles National Natural Landmark

• 

  Kelso Sand Dunes

• 

  Slot Canyon in Afton Canyon

• 

  Dust Devil, El Mirage Dry Lake

• 

  Water hole, Coyote Dry Lake

• 

  Rainbow Canyon, near the city of Barstow

• 

  Amboy Crater

• 

  Summer Storm

• 

  Pioneer cabin remains near St. George, Utah.

See also

• Amboy Crater
• Black Rock Road
• Colorado Desert
• Death Valley and Death Valley National Park
• List of deserts by area
• List of North American deserts
• List of California regions
• Low Desert
• Mojave phone booth
• Mojave Road
• Solar One
• Sonora Desert
• Zzyzx Road An actual road that runs through the Mojave Desert.
• Palen Mountains
• Lake Delores

External links

• Mojave Desert images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version)
• Off-Road Trails in the Mojave Desert

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Jon Mark Stewart, 1998, pg. iv
• Costantino, Maria. The Illustrated Flag Handbook. Gramercy Books: New York, 2001. ISBN 0517218100
• Lewis, Brenda Ralph. Great Civilizations. Parragon Publishing: Bath, 1999. ISBN 0752561413
• Houk, Rose. Mojave Desert. Palace Press International: China, 2001. ISBN 1583690085

Template:California Template:Nevada Template:Arizona

	State of Utah Salt Lake City (capital)
Topics	Cities | Counties | Flag | Flower | Governors | Portal | Song
Regions	Cache Valley | Colorado Plateau | Dixie | Great Basin | Great Salt Lake | Great Salt Lake Desert | Mojave Desert | Monument Valley | San Rafael Swell | Uinta Mountains | Wasatch Back | Wasatch Front | Wasatch Range
Largest Cities	American Fork | Bountiful | Cedar City | Clearfield | Cottonwood Heights | Draper | Holladay | Kaysville | Layton | Lehi | Logan | Midvale | Murray | Ogden | Orem | Pleasant Grove | Provo | Riverton | Roy | St. George | Salt Lake City | Sandy | South Jordan | South Salt Lake | Spanish Fork | Springville | Taylorsville | Tooele | West Jordan | West Valley City
Counties	Beaver | Box Elder | Cache | Carbon | Daggett | Davis | Duchesne | Emery | Garfield | Grand | Iron | Juab | Kane | Millard | Morgan | Piute | Rich | Salt Lake | San Juan | Sanpete | Sevier | Summit | Tooele | Uintah | Utah | Wasatch | Washington | Wayne | Weber
Attractions	Arches National Park | Bonneville Salt Flats | Bryce Canyon National Park | Canyonlands National Park | Capitol Reef National Park | Great Salt Lake | Ski Areas | Sundance Film Festival | Temple Square | Utah Shakespearean Festival | Zion National Park

Colorado River system
Dams and aqueducts (see US Bureau of Reclamation)
Shadow Mountain Dam | Granby Dam | Glen Canyon Dam | Hoover Dam | Davis Dam | Parker Dam | Palo Verde Diversion Dam | Imperial Dam | Laguna Dam | Morelos Dam | Colorado River Aqueduct | San Diego Aqueduct | Central Arizona Project Aqueduct | All-American Canal | Coachella Canal | Redwall Dam
Natural features
Colorado River | Rocky Mountains | Colorado River Basin | Grand Lake | Sonoran desert | Mojave desert | Imperial Valley | Colorado Plateau | Grand Canyon | Glen Canyon | Marble Canyon | Paria Canyon | Gulf of California/Sea of Cortez | Salton Sea
Tributaries
Dirty Devil River | Dolores River | Escalante River | Gila River | Green River | Gunnison River | Kanab River | Little Colorado River | Paria River | San Juan River | Virgin River
Major reservoirs
Fontenelle Reservoir | Flaming Gorge Reservoir | Taylor Park Reservoir | Navajo Reservoir | Lake Powell | Lake Mead | Lake Havasu
Dependent states
Arizona | California | Colorado | Nevada | New Mexico | Utah (See: Colorado River Compact)
Designated areas
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area | Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Mojave Desert  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Mojave Desert"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.