Michael A. Patten, Guy McCaskie, and Philip Unitt
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520235939
- eISBN:
- 9780520929449
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520235939.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
The Salton Sink has typically hot and dry weather. The capacious waters of the Salton Sea are home to only four species of fish. A hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis mossambica -O. urolepis) is the most ...
More
The Salton Sink has typically hot and dry weather. The capacious waters of the Salton Sea are home to only four species of fish. A hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis mossambica -O. urolepis) is the most common. Long before the Salton Sea was formed, lagoons, playas, and marches along the New and Alamo Rivers hosted numerous water birds, particularly herons, ducks, and shorebirds. The presence of the sea increased waterbird and seabird use of the area substantially, so much so that in 1930, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge at the south end. The Salton Sea is immensely different from all other inland bodies of water in North America. What makes it unique are its location and the geography.Less
The Salton Sink has typically hot and dry weather. The capacious waters of the Salton Sea are home to only four species of fish. A hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis mossambica -O. urolepis) is the most common. Long before the Salton Sea was formed, lagoons, playas, and marches along the New and Alamo Rivers hosted numerous water birds, particularly herons, ducks, and shorebirds. The presence of the sea increased waterbird and seabird use of the area substantially, so much so that in 1930, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge at the south end. The Salton Sea is immensely different from all other inland bodies of water in North America. What makes it unique are its location and the geography.
Michael A. Patten, Guy McCaskie, and Philip Unitt
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520235939
- eISBN:
- 9780520929449
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520235939.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
The Salton Sink lies between the southern Coachella Valley and the northern Mexicali Valley. The long history of the Salton Trough ranges from its connection with the Gulf of California during the ...
More
The Salton Sink lies between the southern Coachella Valley and the northern Mexicali Valley. The long history of the Salton Trough ranges from its connection with the Gulf of California during the Tertiary Period to the maximum spread of Lake Cahuilla beginning some 40,000 years ago. Heavy deposits of silt from the Colorado River eventually accumulated along the southern edge of Gravel Mesa to form a barrier between the former head of the gulf and the current one. The enclosed sea subsequently dried up, but reminders of the saline environment in the form of “oyster-shells and other forms of marine life” are strewn across the base of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains at an elevation of about 100m. The depression resulting from the desiccation of this “trapped” sea was further honed by the uplifting of the surrounding mountains and became a deep basin generally called the Salton Trough.Less
The Salton Sink lies between the southern Coachella Valley and the northern Mexicali Valley. The long history of the Salton Trough ranges from its connection with the Gulf of California during the Tertiary Period to the maximum spread of Lake Cahuilla beginning some 40,000 years ago. Heavy deposits of silt from the Colorado River eventually accumulated along the southern edge of Gravel Mesa to form a barrier between the former head of the gulf and the current one. The enclosed sea subsequently dried up, but reminders of the saline environment in the form of “oyster-shells and other forms of marine life” are strewn across the base of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains at an elevation of about 100m. The depression resulting from the desiccation of this “trapped” sea was further honed by the uplifting of the surrounding mountains and became a deep basin generally called the Salton Trough.
