Wineglass Canyons and fault-controlled mountain front, Death Valley, California.

Wineglass canyons, named for their steep, narrow mouths and broader, gentler upper reaches, (they look a little like wineglasses) indicate recent uplift activity on the bounding fault zone. Faulting continually uplifts the front of the canyon, so that erosion does not have time to widen it. Consequently, the canyon mouth retains a steep and narrow shape.


On to View straight down on a wineglass canyon, Death Valley National Park, California .
Back to View westward from Eureka Valley to Sierra Nevada.

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