Earthview Home Page Brief explanation of the geology of Death Valley, California General Physiography Death Valley is located just east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. It is part of the Basin and Range physiographic province of the western United States, just one of the desert basins that lie enclosed between mountain ranges in the southwest. The Basin and Range province includes much of Nevada, western Utah, southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and southeastern California.
Death Valley is probably most known for being the lowest land elevation in North and South America.
It receives an average annual precipitation of 1.5 inches per year as it is situated in the rainshadow of the mountains to its west. In the winter, average temperatures are about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures commonly exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit during many days of the summer. Death Valley also contains one of the world's largest salt pans, consisting of various salts including the most common table salt variety, sodium chloride. Groundwater in the valley is close to the surface but too salty for drinking.