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Show William J. Helmer National Park Service, Great Basin National Park # 21 Great Basin National Park Baker, NV 89311 WHAT IS THE GREATBASIN1: A HISTORY OF GREAT BASIN MAPS AND BOUNDARIES The history of the term " Great Basin" can be traced to John C. Fremont's 1844 description of that area of the Intermountain West consisting of internal drainage. Fremont's misnomer described the hydrographic Great Basin, and since his time, a number of different maps have been drawn to delineate this area. Although the western and eastern boundaries of the hydrographic Great Basin are fairly straightforward, the southern and northwestern peripheries are problematic. Areas such as Goose Lake, the upper White River drainage, and the Salton Trough have been included as well as excluded as part of the hydrographic Great Basin. A map of the hydrographic Great Basin will be presented, including explanations for the exclusions/ inclusions of the above regions. The Great Basin region has also been defined in terms of landforms. A large portion of the hydrographic Great Basin lies within the Great Basin section of the Basin and Range Physiographic Region. However, some depictions of the hydrographic Great Basin have incorporated the physiographic Great Basin section as a hydrographic boundary. In these instances, the internal drainages of the Mojave Desert are inexplicably excluded from the hydrographic Great Basin. A map of the Basin and Range Province as well as the curious combinations of physiographic and hydrographic Great Basin maps will be presented. The term " Great Basin" has also been used to define the northernmost North American desert, the Great Basin Desert. A sample of definitions and maps of the Great Basin Desert will be depicted. The biogeographical definition of the Great Basin ( and accompanying map) of MacMahon and Wagner will also be presented. |
