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GREAT BASIN

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 398 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GREAT

GREAT See also:
BASIN, or BASON (the older form bacin is found in many of the Romanic languages, from the Late Lat. baccinus or bacchinus, probably derived from bacca, a bowl)
BASIN, THOMAS (1412—1491)
BASIN , an See also:

AREA

area in the western Cordilleran region of the See also:

UNITED

United States of See also:

AMERICA

America, about 200,000 sq. m. in extent, characterized by wholly interior drainage, a See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar See also:

mountain See also:

SYSTEM

system and extreme aridity. Its See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form is approximately that of an isosceles triangle, with the See also:

sharp See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle extending into See also:

LOWER

Lower See also:

California, W. of the See also:

COLORADO

Colorado See also:

RIVER

river; the See also:

NORTHERN

northern edge being formed by the See also:

DIVIDE

divide of the drainage basin of the See also:

COLUMBIA

Columbia river, the eastern by that of the Colorado, the western by the central See also:

PART

part of the Sierra See also:

Nevada See also:

crest, and by other high mountains. The N. boundary and much of the E. is not conspicuously uplifted, being See also:

plateau, rather than mountain. The W. See also:

HALF

half of See also:

UTAH

Utah, the S.W. corner of See also:

WYOMING

Wyoming, the S.E. corner of See also:

IDAHO

Idaho, a large area in S.E. See also:

OREGON

Oregon, much of S. California, a See also:

STRIP

strip along the E. border of the last-named See also:

state, and almost the whole of Nevada are embraced within the limits of the Great Basin. The Great Basin is not, as its name implies, a topographic See also:

CUP (in O.E. cuppe; generally taken to be from Late Lat. cuppa, a variant of Lat. cupa, a cask, cf. Gr. KuaeXXov)

cup. Its See also:

SURFACE

surface is of varied See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, with many See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent closed basins draining into lakes or " playas," none of which, however, has outlet to the See also:

sea. The mountain chains, which from their peculiar geologic character are known as of the " Basin Range type " (not exactly conterminous in See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution with the Basin), are echeloned in See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short ranges See also:

RUNNING

running from N. to S. Many of them are See also:

FAULT (Mid. Eng. faute, through the French, from the popular Latin use of fallere, to fail; the originallof the Latin being replaced in English in the 15th century)

fault See also:

block mountains, the crust having been broken and the blocks tilted so that there is a steep See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face on one See also:

side and a See also:

GENTLE (through the Fr. gentil, from Lat. gentilis, belonging to the same gens, or family)

gentle slope on the other. This is the Basin Range type of mountain. These mountains are among the most See also:

RECENT

recent in the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent, and some of them, at least, are still growing.

In numerous instances clear See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of recent movements along the fault planes has been discovered; and frequent earthquakes testify with equal force to the See also:

PRESENT

present uplift of the mountain blocks. The valleys between the tilted mountain blocks are smooth and often trough-like, and are often the sites of shallow See also:

salt lakes or playas. By the See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain See also:

WASH, THE

wash and See also:

wind See also:

ACTION

action detritus from the mountains is carried to these valley floors, raising their level, and often burying See also:

low mountain spurs, so as to cause neighbouring valleys to coalesce. The plateau " lowlands " in the centre of the Basin are approximately 5000 ft. in See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude. Southward the altitude falls, See also:

DEATH

Death valley and See also:

COAHUILA

Coahuila valley being in part below the level of the sea. The whole Basin is marked by three features of See also:

ELEVATION

elevation—the Utah basin, the Nevada basin and, between them, the Nevada plateau. Over the lowlands of the Basin, taken generally, there is an See also:

AVERAGE

average precipitation of perhaps 6-7 in., while in the Oregon region it is twice as great, and in the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern parts even less. The mountains receive somewhat more. The See also:

ANNUAL

annual evaporation from See also:

WATER

water surfaces is from 6o to 150 in. (6o to 8o on the Great Salt See also:

Lake). The See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason for the arid See also:

CLIMATE

climate differs in different sections. In the See also:

north it is due to the fact that the winds from the Pacific lose most of their moisture, especially in See also:

winter, on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada; in the See also:

south it is due to the fact that the region lies in a See also:

ZONE (Gr. 'WV77, a girdle, from 'wvvLvay to gird)

zone of calms, and See also:

LIGHT

light, variable winds.

Precipitation is largely confined to See also:

LOCAL

local showers, often of such violence as to See also:

WARRANT (Med. Lat. warantum; O. Fr. garant, warant, derived from O.H.G. root represented in modern German bygewdhren)

warrant the name " See also:

CLOUD (from the same root, if not the same word, as " clod," a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages for a mass or lump; it is first applied in the usual sense in the late 13th century; the Anglo-Saxon chid is only used in the sense of " a ma

cloud bursts," commonly applied to the heavy down-pours of this See also:

DESERT

desert region. It is these heavy rains, of brief duration, when great volumes of water rapidly run off from the barren slopes, that cause the deep channels, or arroyas, which cros's the desert. Permanent streams are rare. Many mountains are quite without perennial streams, and some lack even springs. Few of the mountain creeks succeed in reaching the arid plains, and those that do quickly disappear by evaporation or by seepage into the gravels. In the N.W. there are many permanent lakes without outlet fed by the mountain streams; others, See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow fed, occur among the Sierra Nevada; and some in the larger mountain masses of the See also:

MIDDLE

middle region. Almost all are saline. The largest of all, Great Salt Lake, is maintained by the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Wasatch and associated plateaus. No lakes occur south of See also:

OWENS, JOHN (1790-1846)

Owens in the W. and See also:

SEVIER, JOHN (1745-1815)

Sevier in the E. (390); evaporation below these limits is supreme. Most of the small closed basins, how-ever, contain " playas," or See also:

ALKALI

alkali mud flats, that are overflowed when the tributary streams are supplied with. See also:

storm water. See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

Save where See also:

IRRIGATION (Lat. in, and rigare, to water or wet)

irrigation has reclaimed small areas, the whole region is a vast desert, though locally only some of the interior plains are known as " deserts." Such are the Great Salt Lake and See also:

CARSON, CHRISTOPHER [" KIT "] (1809-1868)

Carson deserts in the north, the See also:

MOHAVE (corrupted from hamok-habi; " three mountains," their native name, with reference to three peaks, which form a prominent feature of their country)

Mohave and Colorado and Amargosa (Death Valley) deserts of the south-See also:

west.

Straggling forests, mainly of conifers, characterize the high plateaus of central Utah. The lowlands and the lower mountains, especially southward, are generally treeless. Cottonwoods See also:

LINE

line the streams, salt-loving vegetation margins the See also:

BARE

bare playas, low bushes and scattered bunch-grass grow over the lowlands, especially in the north. See also:

Gray desert See also:

PLANTS

plants, notably cactuses and other thorny plants, partly replace in the south the bushes of the north. Except on the scattered oases, where irrigation from springs and mountain streams has reclaimed small patches, the desert is barren and forbidding in the extreme. There are broad plains covered with salt and alkali, and others supporting only scattered bunch grass, See also:

SAGE, RUSSELL (1816-1906)

sage See also:

BUSH

bush, See also:

CACTUS

cactus and other arid See also:

LAND

land plants. There are stony wastes, or alluvial fans, where mountain streams emerge upon the plains, in See also:

time of See also:

flood, bringing detritus in their torrential courses from the mountain canyons and depositing it along the mountain See also:

BASE

base. The barrenness extends into the mountains themselves, where there are bare See also:

rock cliffs, stony slopes and a See also:

general See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of vegetation. With increasing altitude vegetation becomes more varied and abundant, until the See also:

tree limit is reached; then follows a See also:

FOREST

forest See also:

belt, which in the highest mountains is limited above by See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold as it is below by aridity. The successive explorations of B. L. E.

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