Amargosa Desert
Encyclopedia
The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County
in western Nevada
, United States
, along the California
–Nevada
border. It is largely coincident with the geographic Amargosa Valley
.
The desert is named after the Amargosa River
, so-named for the Spanish
word for bitter because of the bitter taste of the water.
, (formerly Lathrop Wells), which lies at the southern end of the desert.
The desert lies between the Funeral Mountains
and Death Valley
to the west, and Yucca Mountain
and the Nellis Air Force Range to the east.
habitat
and an ecotone
between the northern Great Basin
and southern Mojave Desert
ecosystem
s and biogeography
regions. The seasonal Amargosa River
course runs through the desert, with the rare Shoshone pupfish
in nearby Amargosa Pupfish Station
of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
.
Nye County, Nevada
-National protected areas:* Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Death Valley National Park * Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest * Spring Mountains National Recreation Area -Demographics:...
in western Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, along the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
–Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
border. It is largely coincident with the geographic Amargosa Valley
Amargosa Valley
The Amargosa Valley is a Nevada landform east of the Amargosa Range that is the eponym for the town of Amargosa Valley, Nevada. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad ran through the valley from 1906 to 1940.-Solar thermal plant:...
.
The desert is named after the Amargosa River
Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into...
, so-named for the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word for bitter because of the bitter taste of the water.
Geography
The Amargosa Desert lies at an elevation of about 2600 to 2750 ft (792.5 to 838.2 m), and includes the community of Amargosa Valley, NevadaAmargosa Valley, Nevada
Amargosa Valley is an unincorporated community in Nye County, in the U.S. state of Nevada.-Description:The community is named for the Amargosa River which flows through the valley from its origination in Nevada to its terminus in Death Valley, California...
, (formerly Lathrop Wells), which lies at the southern end of the desert.
The desert lies between the Funeral Mountains
Funeral Mountains
The Funeral Mountains are a short, arid mountain range in the United States along the California-Nevada border approximately 100 mi west of Las Vegas. The mountains are considered a subrange of the Amargosa Range that form the eastern wall of Death Valley.The Amargosa Desert lies along the...
and Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
to the west, and Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain
The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was to be a deep geological repository storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel and other high level radioactive waste, until the project was canceled in 2009. It was to be located on federal land adjacent to the Nevada Test Site in Nye County,...
and the Nellis Air Force Range to the east.
Natural history
The Amargosa Desert is an arid desertDesert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
and an ecotone
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...
between the northern Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
and southern Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s and biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
regions. The seasonal Amargosa River
Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into...
course runs through the desert, with the rare Shoshone pupfish
Shoshone pupfish
The Shoshone pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis shoshone, is characterized by large scales and a "slab-sided," narrow, slender body, with the arch of the ventral contour much less pronounced than the dorsal...
in nearby Amargosa Pupfish Station
Amargosa Pupfish Station
The Amargosa Pupfish Station is a protected Pupfish wildlife refuge, part of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex, is administered by the U.S...
of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex
The Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located north and west of Las Vegas, Nevada in northwestern Clark, southwestern Lincoln, and southern Nye counties in southern Nevada...
.