See Titus Canyon Narrows Rocks, Death Valley, California

Add to My List Check Off

The final 1.5 miles of Titus Canyon is the most narrow. The walls squeeze down to less than 20 feet apart in some places. As the road enters the narrows it detours out of the wash and descends what is often the roughest part of the entire trip. It's a good idea to scout this section out before driving it. From there you enter an area of shadow and echoes that is best appreciated on foot. Hikers may walk up from the parking area at the canyon mouth, easily accessible via the final two-way stretch of the road. Titus Canyon Narrows has a nice carbonate megabreccia outcrop is along the walls. The mountain range is a horst - an uplifted block formed by extensional tectonics. To the west of here is Death Valley, which is a graben - a down-dropped block formed by the same process. In terrains with horsts and grabens, major normal faults define the boundaries between mountain ranges and valleys. Death Valley is an especially low graben. Its valley floor reaches well below sea level (about 280 feet). The rocks seen here consist of a carbonate megabreccia. Breccias are poorly sorted rocks with angular clasts - a mix of large and small pieces, with angular-shaped large pieces. Many specific varieties of breccia exist (e.g., volcanic breccia, sedimentary breccia, karst collapse breccia, impact breccia, fault breccia, etc.). This one is a fault breccia. The gray colored clasts are limestone fragments of the Cambrian-aged Bonanza King Formation. The light-colored material between the clasts is calcite cement.

Write a Review

No Ratings Yet

Flag as inappropriate ›