Resource: You Can Die Here
Media Type:
QuickTime Video
Length: 1m 18s
Size: 3.6 MB
Set in the largely barren and unpopulated country east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is Death Valley. Its landscape features streaming sand dunes, snow-capped mountains, multicolored rock layers, water-fluted canyons, and three million acres of stone wilderness. Experience the surreal and haunting landscape of Death Valley in this video segment from Nature.
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Transcript (Rich Text Format Document)
Loading reviews...Teachers' Domain, You Can Die Here, published November 18, 2008, retrieved on ,
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/nat08.earth.clim.geog.diehere/
- Background Essay
- Questions for Discussion
- Standards
Print Background EssayThe extreme climate of Death Valley is attributable to its location on the leeward (downwind) side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in central California. Air that has been warmed and moistened by its passage over the Pacific Ocean is driven up over the Sierras as it is carried eastward by the prevailing southwesterly winds of the northern mid-latitudes.
As the air rises up over the mountains, it expands and cools, triggering condensation that forms clouds and causes precipitation on the windward (west facing) slopes. At the same time, the latent heat stored in the water vapor in the air is released by the condensation process, adding measurable heat to the air As the now warmer and drier air continues its eastward journey over the peaks and begins its descent into the valleys on the leeward side of the range, its temperature rises as it is compressed under the higher atmospheric pressure of the lower elevations. The fact that Death Valley lies below sea level causes even more compression of the descending air, creating a very hot and dry “rain shadow desert” in Death Valley.
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Source: Nature: "Life in Death Valley"
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Major corporate support for the Nature collection was provided by Canon U.S.A. and SC Johnson. Additional support was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the nation’s public television stations.