Pilot Valley Playa (Nevada and Utah)
{{Short description|Geologic feature in Nevada and Utah}}
{{Infobox valley
| name = Pilot Valley Playa
| location = Utah and Nevada, United States
| boundaries = west: Pilot Range
southeast: Silver Island Range
| length = {{convert|30|mi|km|-1|abbr=on}}, north to south
| width = {{convert|5|-|10|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}
| elevation_ft = 4200
| coordinates = {{coord|41|N|113.9|W|region:US-UT_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| map = Utah
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| footnote =
}}
The Pilot Valley Playa is a playa and salt pan in Box Elder County, Utah and Elko County, Nevada that is a remnant of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. Located in northwestern Utah and northeastern Nevada, the Pilot Valley Playa varies from five to ten miles wide, and is thirty miles long, with an elevation just above 4200 feet. It is bordered by the Pilot Mountains to the west, and the Silver Island Mountains to the southeast.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ibaDYgOY-iAC&dq=pilot+valley+playa&pg=PA40 Field Guide to Geologic Excursions in Utah and Adjacent Areas of Nevada]
Springs are located in the alluvial fans at the base of the Pilot Range, and no water flows from the Silver Island Mountains.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} Shallow groundwater (e.g., Bettridge Creek, with threatened Lahotan cutthroat trout) along the western edge of the playa varies from fresh water to brine over a distance of about 2,000 feet.[http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002RM/finalprogram/abstract_34380.htm RECHARGE OF A FRESH WATER-BRINE GROUNDWATER SYSTEM, PILOT VALLEY Playa]
Pilot-Thousand Springs Watershed
The Pilot Valley Playa gets very little precipitation, experiences extreme temperatures and high wind speeds.[http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004AM/finalprogram/abstract_79569.htm RHIZOLITH STABLE ISOTOPE PATTERNS FROM PILOT VALLEY PLAYA, UTAH]
The playa is within the Pilot-Thousand Springs Watershed (USGS Huc 16020307), a {{convert|1780|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} endorheic area.
{{wide image|Panorama of the Great Salt Lake Desert.jpg|1024px|View ESE of the Great Salt Lake Desert and northwest flank of Silver Island Mountains as seen from Pilot Peak, 15 mi NW.|dir=rtl}}
{{clear left}}
References
{{reflist}}
- Lines, Gregory C. (1979). Hydrology and Surface Morphology of the Bonneville Salt Flats and Pilot Valley Playa, Utah [Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2057]. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office.
Category:Great Salt Lake Desert
Category:Salt flats of the United States