Gowen Gulch

Dark red beds of volcanic basaltic conglomerate (and/or breccia) stand out in contrast to mustard-colored beds of the lower Furnace Creek Formation exposed in Gower Gulch. These conglomerates/breccia beds were probably formed when floods carried volcanic debris into the basin where the sediments of the Furnace Creek Formation accumulated. The red color reflects weathering of the original basaltic material. Veins of borate minerals are associated with these volcanic deposits, suggesting the source of the borate was the volcanic rocks or eroding volcanic source areas nearby. The borate is the target of borax mining in the region (Hunt and Mabey, 1966, Hunt, 1975; Wright and others, 1999).