
Boulders litter the narrow mouth of Golden Canyon after a flash flood. Photo by Gerry Wolfe, NPS.
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An Abrasive Situation
Not long ago, a paved road wound through Golden Canyon. What happened
to the pavement here? In February 1976, a four-day storm dropped 2.3
inches (5.7cm) of rain at Furnace Creek. On the morning of the fourth
day, a violent downpour sent a tremendous surge of water, rock, and mud
to flow through these narrows. Such sediment-laden floods work like sandpaper,
cutting away and undermining the rocky canyon walls as they speed through
the canyon. Pitted against the force of Death Valley's flash floods,
Golden Canyon's paved road didn't stand a chance.
At this spot, the canyon
is especially narrow, so
flood waters are constricted and the speed increases.
This increase in force is similar to the effect of
placing your thumb over the
mouth of a garden hose to constrict the flow
of water. If you look closely at the walls of the canyon,
you will see a
coating of mud
that indicates the depth of the water that once
moved through these narrows. Nearly all of the rock
debris that you observed near the
mouth of the canyon has been transported by flash
floods.
The narrow, deep shape of the side canyons of Death
Valley indicate that the uplift of the mountains
is relatively recent, consistent with other evidence
that the landscape of Death Valley is
quite young. These relatively rare flood events
are so dramatic that their effects can even be
noticed within the brief span of a human
lifetime. Such geologic forces have been carving
the canyons of Death Valley for millions of years,
constantly sculpting and changing this
desert landscape.
Continue hiking up Golden Canyon
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