Barely 100 kilometers (62 mi.) from the highest peak in the contiguous
United States, Mount Whttney in the Sierra Nevada, lies the lowest point in
the western hemisphere in Death Valley, in this northern arm of the Mojave
Desert, the valley floor descends to 86 meters (282 ft.) below sea level. The
valley may not look large on a map—it is about 220 kilometers (136 mi.) long
and between 8 and 25 kilometers (5 and 17 mi.) wide—but its searing
daytime temperatures, regularly exceeding 50°C (122°F), can make it a
dangerous place. Its dry, harsh climate results partly from a local rain-shadow
effect of the Panamint Mountains to the west, accentuating the major rainshadow
from the Sierra Nevada. The valley was named from its effect on
gold-seekers and settlers, many of whom died as they attempted to cross it to
reach California in the mid-19th century. Even today, tourists and trekkers
regularly become stranded in the valley, and fatalities still occur. several images
from the Landsat-4 satellite shows the valley as a largely white area—the
color is created by mineral salts—among barren highlands, colored brown