Owens Valley, California
| Owens Valley | |
|---|---|
Owens River from Bishop Tuff tableland.
|
|
| Floor elevation | 4,000 feet (1,200 m) |
| Long-axis direction | North to South |
| Long-axis length | 75 miles (121 km) |
| Geography | |
| Bounded by |
Inyo Mountains (E) Coso Range (SE) Rose Valley (S) Sierra Nevada (W) Chalfant Valley (N) |
| Coordinates | 36°48′09″N 118°11′59″W / 36.80250°N 118.19972°WCoordinates: 36°48′09″N 118°11′59″W / 36.80250°N 118.19972°W |
| Population centers | Bishop, Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine |
| Traversed by | U.S. Route 395 |
| Watercourses | Owens River |
Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section. The mountain peaks on either side (including Mount Whitney) reach above 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley is at 4,000 feet (1,200 m), making the valley one of the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the Land of Little Rain." The bed of Owens Lake, now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat, sits on the southern end of the valley.
The valley provides water to the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the source of half of the water for Los Angeles, and is infamous as the scene of one of the fiercest and longest running episodes of the California Water Wars. These episodes inspired aspects of the film Chinatown.
Towns in the Owens Valley include Bishop, Lone Pine, Independence and Big Pine. The major road in the valley is U.S. Route 395.
About three million years ago, the Sierra Nevada Fault and the White Mountains Fault systems became active with repeated episodes of slip earthquakes gradually producing the impressive relief of the eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountain escarpments that bound the northern Owens Valley-Mono Basin region.
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Wikipedia