MOJAVE DESERT

arid region of southeastern California and portions of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, U.S. Occupying more than 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km), it joins the Sonoran, Great Basin, and Chihuahuan deserts in forming the North American Desert. The Mojave extends from the Sierra Nevada range to the Colorado Plateau and merges with the Great Basin Desert to the north and the Sonoran Desert to the south and southeast. It abuts the San GabrielSan Bernardino mountains in the southwest. Its desert climate is characterized by extreme variation in daily temperature, with frequent winter frosts and an average annual precipitation of 2 to 6 inches (50 to 150 mm). Near the undefined Great BasinMojave border lies Death Valley, the lowest point in North America (now a national park). The Mojave has a typical mountain-and-basin topography with sparse vegetation (creosote bush, Joshua trees, burroweed, and occasional cacti). Sand and gravel basins drain to central salt flats from which borax, potash, and salt are extracted. Silver, tungsten, gold, and iron deposits are worked. The intermittent Mojave River (named for the Mojave Indians) flows predominately underground to Soda Lake. The Colorado River and Lake Mead is situated close to the eastern edge of the desert. Cattle grazing is common in the northern portion of the Mojave, while the southwestern part, adjacent to Los Angeles, is undergoing urban and recreational development. Several U.S. military installations and Joshua Tree National Park are located there. Las Vegas, Nev., and Lancaster, Victorville, Mojave, and Barstow, Calif., are the chief towns.