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The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation

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The Periscope - Salton Sea California's Overlooked Treasure

( Coachella Valley Historical Society )

Price: $12.00

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The story of the Salton Sea begins with the formation of a great shallow depression, or basin which modern explorers have called the Salton Sink. Several million years ago a long arm of the Pacific Ocean extended from the Gulf of California through the present Imperial and Coachella valleys, then northwesterly through the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. Mountain ranges rose on either side of this great inland sea, and the whole area came up out of the water. Oyster beds in the San Felipe Mountains, on the west side of Imperial Valley are located many hundreds of feet above present sea level. Slowly the land in the central portion settled, and the area south of San Gorgonio Pass sloped gradually down to the Gulf.

If it had not been affected by external forces, it would probably have kept its original contours, but it just so happened that on its eastern side there emptied one of the mightiest rivers of the North American continent - the Colorado. The river built a delta across the upper part of the Gulf, turning that area into a great salt water lake. It covered almost 2100 square miles.

How could a river cut a gulf in two? The watershed of the Colorado river covers 260,000 square miles, from the southern edge of Yellowstone Park to the Gulf of California. It held in suspension and carried down to the sea millions of tons of solid matter as it scoured out such natural wonders as the Grand Canyon. It deposited this vast quantity of silt into the Gulf opposite its mouth and the deposits eventually reached clear to the opposite side, from Yuma to the rampart of the Cocopah Mountains. The delta was ten miles wide by thirty in length. The river then chose for itself a route on the southeastern side of the delta plain, discharging its waters into the Gulf of California. Under the blazing sun, water in the upper Gulf evaporated, leaving an arid basin incrusted with salt in its deeper parts. The depression was about one hundred miles in length by thirty-five in width. It had a maximum depth of 1,000 feet.

Since 1905 the Salton Sea has been a special place for the citizens of both the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. However, prior to the arrival of the Colorado River, a very interesting history does exist. It is the purpose of this Periscope to tell the whole story of the Sea. Whether it is called Ancient Lake Cahuilla, Blake's Lake, The Salton Sink or the Salton Sea, there has been uncovered many interesting facets of its development.

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