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Joshua Tree National Park

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Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park
By
Luz N Silva

My essay is on the Joshua Tree National Park. I chose to write about this particular park because it is special to my husband. He visited there several times while stationed in Arizona back in the late 90’s. I physically have never been there but feel as if I have, due to his descriptive love and appreciation for nature. We both love the outdoors and are always curious to learn and explore things we don’t get to see and enjoy on an everyday basis. Joshua National Park is located in southern California. It’s nearly 800,000 acres spans over two of North America’s great deserts, the Mojave and the Colorado. What I found really interesting while reading about this park is that it has two totally opposite ecosystems determined by the several mountain ranges and their elevation. While the Colorado desert is below 3,000 feet, it is very dry and is host to the most drought tolerant perennial in North America, the creosote bush. The Mojave desert however, located at a higher elevation, is cooler and wetter and is the only home to the Joshua tree, hence the parks given name. It’s pretty amazing how these two deserts can appear to look so dry and lifeless until you get up close and can see all the wildflowers and vegetation that patiently waited on rain to grow. With temperature’s so hot in the daytime, the animal life hide in whatever shade they can and scurry around at night when it’s cooler. A sense of peace and tranquility, as well as beauty, is what my husband described. Another wonderful geological phenomenon is the park’s variety of mountains and their ranges. From the Pinto mountains to the Hexie mountains, their rocks are a sight to see. You can tell by these exposed granite monoliths that immense earth forces were the cause for their shape and formation. Hills formed by rock piles made of pinkish monzogranite, also share a story of formation and geological history. These rocks are formed


Bibliography: 1. http://www.joshua.tree.national-park.comis 2. http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/JoshuaTree/JoshuaTree5.html#mountains 3. http://www.scec.org/education/college/internships/2000/ammerman/ammermanreport.pdf
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