Copper Canyon alluvial fan, Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California

Copper Canyon Fan in Death Valley National Park (Inyo County) is often illustrated as a "classic alluvial fan" in textbooks. Note the radial pattern of stream channels starting at the mouth of the Copper Canyon. Darker areas on the fan are areas where desert plants (mostly Creosote Bush) are established on the fan whereas the lighter colored areas are active stream channel (void of vegetation and filled mostly with gravel). The base of the fan merges with the dry lake bed (mud flats and salt flats) in southern Death Valley. The lake bed and flats are occasionally flooded with a thin veneer of water during infrequent wet periods, usually during or following abnormally wet winter seasons.

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