After crossing the Panamint Range, our first stop in Death Valley was in Mosaic Canyon, where the alluvial fan is composed of angular blocks of Precambrian Noonday Dolomite. Rapid uplift of the mountain range since deposition of much of the fan material has caused the stream in Mosaic Canyon to cut clear through the well cemented fan deposit to its base, exposing the unconformity between the fan and the Noonday Dolomite. The picturesque mosaic of cemented, angular blocks of orange dolomite in the basal fan deposits give the canyon its name. In this picture, the group is returning to the cars from our walk up the canyon. Death Valley and the Amargosa Range are in the background.
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