slgwv's photos with the keyword: Dixie Valley

Waterfall, Big Box Canyon, east side of the Stillwater Range above Dixie Valley, central Nevada. It's a good water year to be flowing like this! Check the still photos in the album for more about Big Box Canyon and its geologic significance. I tried to embed this video as a PiP in one of the stills, but that evidently doesn't work. I made an attempt at some real-time narration while taking the video--I figured no one will have a problem following an American accent! ;)

Looking southwesterly from Nevada SR 121 in Dixie Valley toward the Stillwater Range. The range front is defined by an active high-angle fault, with the range being uplifted with respect to Dixie Valley. Big and Little Box Canyons (highlighted) are the most spectacular of several slot canyons that were eroded as the land rose around them. The slope into which they're cut is pretty much the fault plane, little modified by erosion. The fault scarp from the 1954 earthquake is visible here and there along the break in slope defining the range front. See adjacent photos for more information. The snowcapped peak on the skyline left of center is Job Peak (8785 ft/2678 m). The ragged snowclad multiple summit on the skyline directly above the road is unnamed, according to the 1972 USGS Job Peak 7.5' quadrangle. It's at the north end of a high section of the main ridge crest, and its high point is 8085 ft/2464 m.

Looking west from Nevada State Route 121 in Dixie Valley, central Nevada. The prominent break in slope running roughly horizontally across the middle of the picture marks the trace of the range-front boundary fault, where the Stillwater Range is being uplifted with respect to Dixie Valley. The slope above that break is the fault-plane surface, little modified by erosion. Big Box Canyon (outlined) is a slot canyon that's incised into the range front. The downcutting by the stream is more or less keeping pace with the uplift, but the canyon remains narrow because the erosion is (geologically!) happening so quickly. The tapering downward canyon cross-section ("wineglass") is characteristic of streams cutting across active high-angle faults. Faulting here is ongoing: a huge earthquake in December 1954 (~Richter 7.4) left a ~15 ft (~ 4 m) scarp along much of the range front. It's barely visible here, but is much more prominent elsewhere. This area lies in the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, a north-south trending zone that's been the site of other large historical earthquakes.

East side of the Stillwater Range draining into Dixie Valley, central Nevada. This is one of several spectacular slot canyons along the range front here. The range is being uplifted so quickly (geologically speaking) that erosion hasn't had time to broaden the canyons. The canyons have a rough "wineglass" cross section, with a somewhat wider upper part tapering downward. This is one of the geomorphologic indicators of active faulting! A "box" canyon traditionally, of course, was one that ended at an unclimbable bluff, and this canyon qualifies there, too. When I was last here in fall 2000, there'd been an aluminum ladder up where that waterfall is, so that (in theory, anyway) you could bypass the cliff, but evidently it washed away in one or another flood over the years. The creek is _not_ generally running like this; it's a result of spring snowmelt in a good year! When I was here before there was no waterfall, just damp rock. The left inset shows a view of the range front, with this canyon highlighted. The right inset shows a more oblique view, looking back southwesterly, with Little Box Canyon (yes, there is one!) also highlighted. I also tried to embed a video of the flowing waterfall as a PiP, but evidently that doesn't work, so I've posted it separately.

Out the east side of Dixie Valley, Nevada, crossing the Clan Alpine Range. The pass is at the obvious low point to the center-right. The road was in good shape thru here, but had some serious washouts higher up--the high clearance and 4wd was useful! I also saw no other vehicles--my kinda road! It ultimately joins US 50 in the next valley.

In central Nevada, looking east across to the Clan Alpine Range. Mt. Augusta (9966 ft/3038 m) is the high snowcapped peak at the left. The Clan Alpines are not usually this snow-covered; it's been a wet year! Dixie Valley is an asymmetric graben, a fault-bounded trough where the faulting on the west side (i.e., here) is more active. The Stillwater Range, which defines the west side of the valley, is being uplifted with respect to the valley floor. The fault movement is ongoing to this day; in December 1954, a rupture along the range front here caused an enormous earthquake (Richter magnitude ~ 7.4) and left a fault scarp 10-15 ft high (~3-5 m). The quake would have caused tremendous damage in a populated area; as it was, no one was injured and the only damage was a toppled outhouse! This area is part of what's called the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, a north-south trending zone where other large earthquakes have occurred historically. I'll post pix of some of the fault scarps at some point. And no, I haven't ID'd the bird on the snag!