Silver Lake (Mojave)

35,338 -116,1089Coordinates: 35 ° 20 ′ 16.8 ″ N , 116 ° 6 ′ 32 ″ W.

The Silver Lake is a dry lake bed fallen in the Mojave Desert . Today it is a playa . It's located in San Bernardino County off Interstate 15 . Silver Lake is located in the Mojave National Preserve .

geology

Silver Lake after rainwater collected in the very humid winter of 2004/2005.

Silver Lake belonged to Mojave Lake about 15,000 years ago during the last Ice Age and the then much more humid climate. This lake was part of the Mojave River system . Today the playa only fills intermittently with rainwater, about three meters (10 feet) have been observed. In contrast to other Playas, such as the nearby Soda Lake , no salt crusts have formed in Silver Lake.

Ghost town

From 1907 on, a small settlement around a railway station that was finally abandoned in 1940 was formed in the area of Silver Lake.

Mars rover

The Silver Lake site was successfully used as a test site for a Mars rover in 1999 .

Individual evidence

^ Changing Climates and Ancient Lakes (2009)
^ The Mojave River and Associated Lakes (2009).
↑ ^a ^b Playas on the Mojave National Preserve website
^ Alan Hensher / Larry M. Vredenburgh: GHOST TOWNS of the Upper Mojave Desert, Volume I: San Bernardino County (1986)
↑ Stoker, CR & Cabrol, N, The 1999 Silver Lake Marsokhod field test: simulation of a Mars Rover Sample Return mission , SAO / NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS).

[1] Changing Climates and Ancient Lakes (2009)

[2] The Mojave River and Associated Lakes (2009).

[Playas-3] Playas on the Mojave National Preserve website

[4] Alan Hensher / Larry M. Vredenburgh: GHOST TOWNS of the Upper Mojave Desert, Volume I: San Bernardino County (1986)

[5] Stoker, CR & Cabrol, N, The 1999 Silver Lake Marsokhod field test: simulation of a Mars Rover Sample Return mission , SAO / NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS).