Diversion Furnace Creek, GEOL4717/5717 2017

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Hide... At left you can see Furnace Creek Wash; the pre-1941 level of the wash surface is roughly at the road level (bright line at far left). The diversion of the wash was accomplished by removing the low barrier to the upper end of Gower Gulch at center. This artificially advanced the eventual capture of Furnace Creek by Gower Gulch; the more direct path to sub-sea level Death Valley has driven incision of the gravels of Furnace Creek while flooding Gower Gulch with new debris. The diversion was created to protect facilities at Furnace Creek Lodge from flooding, but eventually groundwater travelling down in the wash gravels will also be diverted once downcutting has proceeded farther.

The cut is made through the steeply north dipping beds of the Furnace Creek Formation on the south side of the Texas Springs Syncline, a northwest-southeast trending fold apparently representing Recent NE-SW shortening. Flexural slip scarps have been inferred to the north closer to the core of the fold.