Great Basin Desert: Difference between revisions

{{Geobox|Desert

| parent = [[North American Desert]] ecoregion<ref>{{cite web |last=tbd |title=Ecoregions of North America |url=http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/na_eco.htm#Level%20I |publisher=USGS Western Ecology Division |accessdate=2010-04-27}}</ref>

| border = [[Escalante Desert]] (east)<br>[[Mojave Desert]] (south)

| image = GB-Definition-Map.jpg |image_caption= The Great Basin Desert is generally within the Great Basin, except for a few areas outside of the Great Basin in south central [[Utah]] and east central Nevada.

| country = United States

| country_flag = 1<!--

| state = Nevada

| state1 = Utah-->

| region_type = Counties

| region = Nevada ([[Precipitation (meteorology)#Measurement|rain + snow]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Best Places to Live...Nevada |url=http://www.google.com/#q=%22County,+NV,+gets%22+%22inches+of+rain+per+year%22&hl=en&filter=0 |publisher=BestPlaces.net |quote=''County, NV, gets...inches of rain per year''}} [http://www.google.com/#q=%22County,+UT,+gets%22+%22inches+of+rain+per+year%22&hl=en&filter=0&fp=653606b971e45d88 Utah]</ref>

*[[Churchill County, Nevada|Churchill]] (5+6 in/yr)

*[[Clark County, Nevada|Clark]]* (5+2)

*[[Esmeralda County, Nevada|Esmeralda]] (3+tbd)<ref>{{cite web |title=Esmeralda: Description of the County |url=http://www.rci-nv.com/reports/esmeralda/section03.html |publisher=Resource Concepts, Inc. |accessdate=2010-04-26}}</ref>

*[[Lincoln County, Nevada|Lincoln]]* (3+tbd)

*[[Mineral County, Nevada|Mineral]] (5+7)

*[[Nye County, Nevada|Nye]]* (5+3)

*[[Pershing County, Nevada|Pershing]] (7+8)

California:

*[[Inyo County, California|Inyo]]*{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

Utah:

*[[Millard County, Utah|Millard]] (7+24 in/yr)

'''*'''[[:File:Mojave-sonoran deserts.png|partly in the Mojave Desert]]

| district2 =

| district3 =

| municipality =

| area_imperial = 39505

| area_note = (county areas, but only 5/6 of Nye, 1/10 of Clark, & 1/34 of Lincoln<small> -- the remainders are in the Mojave)</small><ref>{{cite web |title=Sum of County Areas of the Great Basin Desert: Churchill, Clark, Esmeralda, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing, Millard (UT), and Lincoln |url=http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=4929%2B4929%2B791%2B3589%2F2%2B1994%2B1994%2B15123%2B6009%2B6590%2B313 |format=[[Google Calculator]] |accessdate=2010-04-25}}</ref>

}}

The '''Great Basin Desert''' is an area of [[nearctic]] [[high desert]]s<!--SOURCES: [[Mojave Desert]] wikiarticles--> across parts of [[Nevada]], [[California]], and [[Utah]] that extends into the [[Colorado River]] watershed (Clark & Lincoln counties on the southeast), but which is mostly a portion of the central Nevada desert basins of the much larger [[Great Basin]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} The predominant flora are mostly of the [[Atriplex]] genus (lowest elevations) and [[sagebrush]] (higher) ([[shadscale]] is also common).<ref>{{cite book |last=Trimble |first=Stephen |year=1999 |title=The Sagebrush Ocean: A Natural History of the Great Basin |url=http://www.stephentrimble.net/books/Preface%20without%20notes.ASP |isbn=0874173434 |accessdate=2010-01-13}}</ref> Parts of the area have a [[desert climate#Cold desert climates|cold desert climate]], particularly where the ranges provide [[rain shadow]] for the northern basins/valleys.<!--SOURCE: [[desert climate]] wikiarticle-->{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

==Great Basin Province==

{{Distinguish|Great Basin shrub steppe}}

The '''Great Basin Province'''<ref name=Lentz/> is a region of the [[Boreal Kingdom#Boreal Subkingdom|Boreal Subkingdom]]<ref name=Lentz>{{Cite book |last=Lentz |first=David L. (editor) |year= |title=Imperfect Balance: Landscape Transformations in the Precolumbian Americas |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JsuiJEwOIJUC&pg=PA50 |publisher= |isbn=0-231-11156x-x |accessdate=2010-09-06 |quote=''The southern border of the [[Great Basin Province]] is marked by the replacement of [[sagebrush]] by [[Larrea]] and [[Ambrosia]] ([[creosote bush]] and [[ragweed]]) … floras of arid regions ''[within the [[Madrean Region|Madrean Subkingdom]]]'' are excluded and treated with either the [[Boreal Kingdom#Boreal Subkingdom|Boreal Subkingdom]] ('''Great Basin Province''') or with the [[Neotropical Kingdom]] (Mexican Xerophylic [[Madrean Region#Sonoran Province|[Sonoran] Region]]).''}}</ref> that generally corresponds to the [[Central Basin and Range ecoregion]] and the [[Great Basin section|Great Basin physiographic section]]. The province includes deserts with <{{convert|10|in|mm|abbr=on}} annual precipitation and non-desert areas, and the former include numerous small, unnamed [[Central Basin and Range ecoregion|salt deserts]] of the Central [[Basin and Range]].<ref name=Bryce/> The largest deserts of the Great Basin Province are [[Utah]]'s [[Great Salt Lake Desert]] (4,000 sq mi) and [[Escalante Desert]] (3,270 sq mi).

===Nevada salt deserts===

The '''Nevada salt deserts''' are 19 [[Central Basin and Range ecoregion]]s in [[Nevada]]'s portion of the [[Great Basin Province]]. The salt deserts are within an area from 41°N to 37.5°N and are generally surrounded by [[Great Basin shrub steppe|Shadscale-Dominated Saline Basins]]. Found typically in low valleys, the largest occupies most of the [[Goshute Valley]] which is ~{{Convert|700|sqmi|abbr=on}}, and the smallest is south of the [[Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge]] and is approximately 1/20th the size of the largest.<ref name=Bryce>{{citation |last1=Bryce |first1=S.A |last2=et. al |title=Ecoregions of Nevada |location=[[Reston, Virginia]] |publisher=USGS}} '''NOTE''': The poster depicts the CA northern point of the Mojave Basin & Range ecoregion at pixels 453 horizontal & 1151 vertical (interpolates to 37.28N,117.71W in the [[Last Chance Range]], N of Sulfur Rd).</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

{{coord missing|Nevada}}

[[Category:Deserts of Nevada| ]]

[[Category:Deserts of California]]<!--Inyo & Mono County, Calif--->

[[Category:Deserts of Utah]]

[[Category:Geography of Millard County, Utah]]