The second pair of plots shows a transect from the alluvial valley floor in northern Death Valley eastward across the Grapevine Mountains to Sarcobatus Flat. The mountain ranges stop some of the dust from upwind sources, but the dust is replenished over every valley. Data from dust traps, 1984-1989 . Lake produces more dust than any other single source in North America.
Winds blow south across the dry lake, carrying dust south down Owens Valley.
This dust is unusually fine-grained compared to other areas and thus is likely to travel much greater distances. Dust plumes frequently reach the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Fores t in the White Mountains, as reported by researchers from the University of California at Davis and the White Mountain Research Station .