Fault Scarp
The valleys and mountain ridges here are caused by rotational block faulting. Huge blocks of the Earth's crust tip like seesaws; the east side going down to form the valley while the west side goes up forming a mountain range. Where two of these tipping blocks meet side by side, a fault is formed between them with the rising side of one shearing past the descending side of the other. Erosion wears down the mountain and deposits sediments in the valley, yet the faulting drops the valley faster than the sediments can fill it, thus creating this basin below sea level. Over millions of years, more than 9,000 feet of sand, silt, gravel and salt filled the valley, yet geologic forces are still at work. The fault scarp visible in this photo was created by a massive earthquake about 2,000 years ago that dropped Death Valley several feet. Another such event will lower the valley even farther below sea level.
Fault Scarp
The valleys and mountain ridges here are caused by rotational block faulting. Huge blocks of the Earth's crust tip like seesaws; the east side going down to form the valley while the west side goes up forming a mountain range. Where two of these tipping blocks meet side by side, a fault is formed between them with the rising side of one shearing past the descending side of the other. Erosion wears down the mountain and deposits sediments in the valley, yet the faulting drops the valley faster than the sediments can fill it, thus creating this basin below sea level. Over millions of years, more than 9,000 feet of sand, silt, gravel and salt filled the valley, yet geologic forces are still at work. The fault scarp visible in this photo was created by a massive earthquake about 2,000 years ago that dropped Death Valley several feet. Another such event will lower the valley even farther below sea level.