Playa Lakes are wide flat featureless plains in desert basins that have to outlet to the ocean. They are typically filled with thousands of feet of sediment that is washed in from the surrounding desert. In wet years shallow lakes form that quickly evaporate. Even in dry years, groundwater can sometimes be found close to the surface. Water is pulled up through the soil and evaporates, leaving white evaporate crystals on the surface of the playa.
In the driest times of the year, the playa surface dries completely and distinctive polygonal mud cracks form across the surface. The dry dust and sand is then easily picked up by the strong regional winds forming dust storms.
This playa is located at the end of the Mojave River on the edge of Basin-and Range Province. This province covers parts of California, Nevada, and Utah, has a series of roughly parallel mountain ranges separated by deep basins. None of these basins drain to the ocean. Other notable basins in this province are Death Valley and the Great Salt Lake.
Soda Lake was not always a dry playa. In the past, the climate in the area has been wetter forming long-lived lakes here and in other basins throughout the Basin-and-Range Province. Evidence shows that a perennial lakes formed here from 18,000 to 16,000 and from 13,700 and 11,400 years ago. However, by 8,700 years ago, the perennial lakes dried out. The evidence comes from studying the many layers of sediment that fill the basin.
Each time these lakes dried out, a large source of sand was exposed to the wind. The regional wind patterns from the northwest blew the sand to the southwest eventually forming large parts of the sand dunes of the Devil’s Playground and Kelso Dunes.
Logging requirements:
Send me a note with :
- The text "GC13MAP Soda Lake" on the first line
- The number of people in your group.
- Your expectations of the relative depth of the ground water beneath the playa near the coordinates and further to the north. Include at least 2 reasons for your conclusion.
- From the display panel at the coordinates, find out what environment was like during the last ice age and at what animals were present.
The above information was compiled from the following sources:
- Playas, USGS, http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1007/playas.html
- Mojave National Preserve: Soda Lake, USGS, http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/docs/parks/mojave/sodalake1.html
Placement approved by the
Mojave National Preserve