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Vidal Valley
Vidal Valley is a 20-mile (32 km) long valley in the far eastern Colorado Desert bordering the Colorado River. Most of the valley is in eastern San Bernardino County, California, but the outfall on the Colorado River is in northeast Riverside County. Vidal Valley forms the large border of the south side of the east-west block of the Whipple Mountains massif, the landform that forces the Colorado to flow southeast, then back southwest. The southeast exit of the valley into Parker Valley on the Colorado River skirts the north end of the Riverside Mountains (see photo). The Colorado River Aqueduct crosses the midpoint of the valley at Vidal Junction, California. The Vidal Valley also lies due east of the Danby Dry Lake landform. Geography Vidal Valley is bordered by the Whipple Mountains on the northeast and the Riverside Mountains on the south. The valley drains mostly northwest-to-southeast, with its outfall into a southwest-flowing section of the Colorado River. The north of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riverside Mountains
The Riverside Mountains are a mountain range in Riverside County, California. The town of Vidal, California is located in the West Riverside Mountains. Geography The Riverside Mountains are in the Colorado Desert, in the Lower Colorado River Valley region. They are southeast of the Turtle Mountains and north of the Big Maria Mountains, and the Colorado River borders its eastern perimeter. The high point of the range is . Riverside Mountains Wilderness The Riverside Mountains Wilderness was established in 1994 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Colorado River parallels this 24,004 acre wilderness on its eastern edge. The landscape varies from gently sloping bajadas to steep, rugged interiors. Washes emerging from canyons divide the bajadas below. Numerous peaks in the Riverside Mountains give this small range a rough, craggy appearance. Two sensitive plant species, the foxtail cactus and California barrel cactus; and a small herd of Burro deer (''Odocoileus h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turtle Mountains (California)
The Turtle Mountains (Amat 'Achii'ar in the Mojave language), are located in northeastern San Bernardino County, in the southeastern part of California. The colorful Turtle Mountains vary from deep reds, browns, tans and grays, to black. The area has numerous springs and seeps. The Turtle Mountains are also a National Natural Landmark, with two mountain sections of entirely different composition. Geography The Turtle Mountains are southwest of Needles, California, west off of U.S. Highway 95; with Vidal Junction close on the southeast, Twentynine Palms to the west, and Blythe is south. The Turtle Mountains are considered part of the greater Lower Colorado River Valley region. The range is directly west of and connected with the Mopah Range. They lie in a north–south direction east of Ward Valley and the Old Woman Mountains. They are west of the Whipple Mountains and Colorado River. The Turtle Mountains reach an elevation of above sea level at Bolson Peak. They are a r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Colorado River Valley
The Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV) is the river region of the lower Colorado River of the southwestern United States in North America that rises in the Rocky Mountains and has its outlet at the Colorado River Delta in the northern Gulf of California in northwestern Mexico, between the states of Baja California and Sonora. This north–south stretch of the Colorado River forms the border between the U.S. states of California/Arizona and Nevada/Arizona, and between the Mexican states of Baja California/Sonora. It is commonly defined as the region from below Hoover Dam and Lake Mead to its outlet at the northern Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez); it includes the Colorado River proper, canyons, the valley, mountain ranges with wilderness areas, and the floodplain and associated riparian environments. It is home to recreation activities from the river, the lakes created by dams, agriculture, and the home of various cities, communities, and towns along the river, or associated wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemehuevi Wash
The Chemehuevi Wash is a large wash of northeast San Bernardino County in the southeast Mojave Desert. The wash enters the center-west bank of Lake Havasu on the California–Arizona border. Chemehuevi Wash drains the center of the Chemehuevi Valley and the regional landforms of washes, valleys and mountains is adjacent the northeast region of the Colorado Desert, the entire region south on the west side of the south-flowing Colorado River. Description The 35-mile (56 km) long Chemehuevi Wash drains the center of Chemehuevi Valley; it begins southwest of the center of the Sacramento Mountains, with the water divide separating the northwest draining Ward Valley, a southwest tributary to the Piute Wash region west and northwest of Needles. The Chemehuevi Wash and Valley drain southeasterly, then turn due east for about 12 miles. The Chemehuevi Wash and Valley are about wide and the change in direction of the drainage to due east to meet the west shore of Lake Havasu is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Divide
A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single range of hills or mountains, known as a dividing range. On flat terrain, especially where the ground is marshy, the divide may be difficult to discern. A triple divide is a point, often a summit, where three drainage basins meet. A ''valley floor divide'' is a low drainage divide that runs across a valley, sometimes created by deposition or stream capture. Major divides separating rivers that drain to different seas or oceans are continental divides. The term ''height of land'' is used in Canada and the United States to refer to a drainage divide. It is frequently used in border descriptions, which are set according to the "doctrine of natural boundaries". In glaciated areas it often refers to a low point on a divide where it is p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Reservoir
The Imperial Reservoir is an artificial lake formed by the construction of the Imperial Diversion Dam across the Colorado River in the Lower Colorado River Valley of Imperial County, California, and Yuma County, Arizona. Partially included in the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, the reservoir is northeast of Yuma, Arizona. Dry wash watersheds Dry washes are the major watershed feed systems to Imperial Reservoir. The next upstream major watershed feeder is the Bill Williams River from western Arizona. Upstream on the Colorado River, the basic feeder watershed to Imperial Reservoir is the Havasu-Mojave Lakes Watershed of Lake Havasu. Two dry wash watershed attempt to enter the Imperial Reservoir from western Arizona, south of the Bill Williams River: the Bouse and Tyson Washes. Both washes end on the eastern perimeter of the Colorado River Indian Reservation along the Colorado River. Neither enters the river properly, except in the extreme flood stage. No "lengthy" watershed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainstorm
Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides suitable conditions for many types of ecosystems, as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation. The major cause of rain production is moisture moving along three-dimensional zones of temperature and moisture contrasts known as weather fronts. If enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation falls from convective clouds (those with strong upward vertical motion) such as cumulonimbus (thunder clouds) which can organize into narrow rainbands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation which forces moist air to condense and fall out as rainfall along the sides of mountains. On the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo (; from Spanish arroyo , "brook"), also called a wash, is a dry stream, creek, stream bed or gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Flash floods are common in arroyos following thunderstorms. ''Wadi'' (Arabic) is used in North Africa and Western Asia for similar landforms. The desert dry wash biome is restricted to the arroyos of the southwestern United States. Arroyos provide a water source to desert animals. Types and processes Arroyos can be natural fluvial landforms or constructed flood control channels. The term usually applies to a Grade (slope), sloped or mountainous terrain in xeric and desert climates. In addition: in many rural communities arroyos are also the principal transportation routes; and in many urban communities arroyos are also parks and recreational locations, often with linear multi-use bicycle, pedestrian, and equestrian trails. Flash flooding can cause the deep arroyos or deposition of sediment on flo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colorado River Indian Reservation
The Colorado River Indian Tribes (Mojave language 'Aha Havasuu, Navajo language: Tó Ntsʼósíkooh Bibąąhgi Bitsįʼ Yishtłizhii Bináhásdzo) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the Colorado River Indian Reservation: the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo. The tribe has about 4,277 enrolled members. A total population of 9,485 currently resides within the tribal reservation according to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey data. History The reservation was established on March 3, 1865, for "Indians of said river and its tributaries." Initially, these were the Mojave and Chemehuevi, but Hopi and Navajo people were relocated to the reservation in 1945. John Scott designed the tribal seal in 1966, with four feathers to represent the four CRIT tribes. Margie McCabe designed the tribal flag, which the tribe formally adopted in 1979. Reservation The Colorado River Indian Reservation is a Native American reservation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada, with small portions extending into Arizona and Utah. The Mojave Desert, together with the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin deserts, forms a larger North American Desert. Of these, the Mojave is the smallest and driest. The Mojave Desert displays typical basin and range topography, generally having a pattern of a series of parallel mountain ranges and valleys. It is also the site of Death Valley, which is the lowest elevation in North America. The Mojave Desert is often colloquially called the "high desert", as most of it lies between . It supports a diversity of flora and fauna. The desert supports a number of human activities, including recreation, ranching, and military training. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Community
A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant community are influenced by soil type, topography, climate and human disturbance. In many cases there are several soil types present within a given plant community. This is because the soil type within an area is influenced by two factors, the rate at which water infiltrates or exits (via evapotranspiration) the soil, as well as the rate at which organic matter (any carbon-based compound within the environment, such as decaying plant matter) enters or decays from the soil. Plant communities are studied substantially by ecologists, due to providing information on the effects of dispersal, tolerance to environmental conditions, and response to disturbance of a variety of plant species, information valuable to the comprehension of various plant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where the probability of encountering different species and communities at any given point remains relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point). Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
