Nevada

I

Introduction

Nevada, one of the Rocky Mountain states of the United States. A stark and arid land, Nevada is a region of rugged, snow-capped peaks, desert valleys green with sage, and sparsely populated expanses that still retain the vestiges of the Old West. But the state is also known for its glittering cities, where luxurious casinos draw visitors from around the world. Carson City is Nevada’s capital. Las Vegas is the largest city.

Nevada entered the Union on October 31, 1864, as the 36th state. The first European settlers of the state came for its mineral wealth, and the gold and silver labored out of Nevada’s famous mines created the state’s first boom period. Vast ranches were developed in the north, where rainfall was sufficient to provide grazing for cattle and sheep. Later the state’s gambling casinos and scenic landscapes would attract millions of tourists. Today, however, Nevada has a relatively diversified economy. Tourism, mining, and ranching remain important, but construction, financial services, and trade have grown rapidly.

The state’s name is taken from the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range shared by Nevada and California; nevada is Spanish for “snow covered.” Nevada is called the Silver State for its many silver mines, the Sagebrush State for its abundant sagebrush, and the Battle Born State because it was admitted to the Union during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

II

Physical Geography

Nevada’s area is 286,352 sq km (110,561 sq mi), of which inland waters make up 1,904 sq km (735 sq mi). It ranks seventh in size among the states. From north to south, at its maximum, the state measures 777 km (483 mi) and from east to west, 517 km (321 mi). The mean elevation is about 1,700 m (5,500 ft).

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Near the Nevada-California boundary in the White Mountains is the state’s highest summit, Boundary Peak, at 4,005 m (13,140 ft). Wheeler Peak (3,982 m/13,063 ft), the next highest, is at the eastern edge of Nevada. The state’s lowest elevation, 146 m (479 ft), is found at its southern tip, where the Colorado River leaves Nevada.

A

Natural Regions

Nevada lies on a plateau between the Wasatch and associated ranges of the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range to the west. Almost all of the state lies within a region known as the Great Basin. Actually, it is not a single basin, but rather a vast desert without drainage to the sea. In the Great Basin hundreds of parallel valleys, mostly running in a north-south direction, are separated by mountain ranges.

A small part of Nevada lies within another physiographic region, the Sierra-Cascade province. Here a section of the Sierra Nevada extends across the state’s western edge. The mountain slopes reach down from Lake Tahoe toward Reno and Carson City.

In the northeast, Nevada shares two sections of the Columbia Plateau with Oregon and Idaho. These sections contain a number of rivers that drain north and belong to the Columbia River watershed.

The mountain ranges of Nevada are long rugged ridges. There are about 100 such ranges, most of them from 80 to 120 km (50 to 75 mi) long and from 10 to 24 km (6 to 15 mi) wide. They rise 900 to 1,500 m (3,000 to 5,000 ft) above the surrounding basin surface and reach elevations of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level.

Some of these ranges were created when huge sections of the earth’s crust were thrown up on their edges above the surrounding land. These mountains are called fault-block ranges. In western Nevada, particularly, the fault scarps, or zones along the faces of the mountains where uplift took place, are clearly visible. In other parts of the state, clear evidence of mountain-building processes has been obscured by erosion. Small earthquakes are common in western Nevada, indicating that the mountains are still being uplifted gradually. Earth’s crust below the Great Basin is believed to be thinner than at any other place in North America. At the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada there have been eruptions of volcanic rock, and hot springs occur at the bases of many other Nevada mountain ranges. Mineral deposits, including gold and silver, are widespread in Nevada’s mountains. The larger and higher ranges are the Shoshone Mountains, Toiyabe Range, Toquema Range, Monitor Range, Ruby Mountains, Quinn Canyon Mountains, Shell Creek Range, Snake Range, and the Spring Mountains.

B

Sinks and Deserts

The valleys between Nevada’s mountain ranges are not drained to the sea by streams, but are instead so-called closed basins. These basins are slowly filling up with the sand, gravel, and soil washed down from the mountains, most often by rain. The mountain canyons are seasonally dry, although a few have permanent streams and others have flows when the snow melts in the spring.

The more permanent streams flow into lakes in the closed basins. These lakes are often shallow and salty, and in dry years become completely waterless. The low parts of the basins, where the lakes collect, are known as playas, and the lakes themselves are called playa lakes. In Nevada the playas are often called sinks, or dry lakes. At those times when the sinks have water in them they are known as salt lakes. Their water evaporates to leave barren, level expanses of baked mud and salts.

The largest sinks, found in the northwestern part of the state, are the Black Rock Desert and Smoke Creek Desert. Black Rock Desert, between the Black Rock Range and the Jackson Mountains, is about 110 km (70 mi) long and about 8 to 30 km (5 to 20 mi) wide. Smoke Creek Desert is somewhat smaller. Other playas and playa lakes include Humboldt Sink and Carson Sink. Yucca Flat and Frenchman Flat, with playa lakes of the same names, are well known as the locations of nuclear weapons tests.

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