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Al (Alfred) Toth | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Joshua Tree tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Joshua Tree

Today this desert landscape looks as though it hasn’t changed in eons. But the story of
Joshua Tree is actually one of constant change, dating back not thousands or millions of years, but almost two billion years.
The present climate of the western deserts is relatively new. From approximately 25 million to 10,000 years ago, the Joshua Tree region received much greater precipitation than at present, with less evaporation and an average temperature that was several degrees cooler. The landscape, with scattered trees and shrubs and laced with streams, resembled an African grassland savanna, with large browsing mammals such as ancestral camels, horses, lions, and antelopes.
This former climate was critical in the development of today’s desert landscape. It’s hard to believe that it was water that shaped and sculpted these rocks but in fact, even today, water remains the primary agent eroding the landscape.
Rock formation
Rock formation
Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia
Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia
desert tortise
desert tortise
29 Palms Oasis
29 Palms Oasis
Larry
Larry
Crypto-Biotic Soil
Crypto-Biotic Soil
Lichen
Lichen
sunset
sunset
Yucca brevifolia
Yucca brevifolia
Mojave Desert Wildflower 1
Mojave Desert Wildflower 1
Mojave Desert Wildflower 2
Mojave Desert Wildflower 2
Mojave Desert Wildflower 3
Mojave Desert Wildflower 3
Opuntia basilaris
Opuntia basilaris
Linanthus maculates
Linanthus maculates
Eriophyllum wallacei
Eriophyllum wallacei
Sphaeralcea ambigua
Sphaeralcea ambigua
Eriophyllum wallacei
Eriophyllum wallacei
Arctostaphylos
Arctostaphylos
Sarcostemma cyanchoides
Sarcostemma cyanchoides
Epipactus gigantea
Epipactus gigantea
Fouquieria splendens
Fouquieria splendens
Krameria
Krameria
Mimulus bigelovii
Mimulus bigelovii
Phacelia campanularia
Phacelia campanularia
Larrea tridentata
Larrea tridentata
Penstemon
Penstemon
Ant on the Paper Bag Plant
Ant on the Paper Bag Plant
insect
insect
J-Tree 2010, a
J-Tree 2010, a
J-Tree 2010 b
J-Tree 2010 b
J-Tree 2010 c
J-Tree 2010 c
J-Tree 2010 d
J-Tree 2010 d
J-Tree 2010 e
J-Tree 2010 e
J-Tree 2010 f
J-Tree 2010 f
J-Tree 2010 g
J-Tree 2010 g
J-Tree 2010 h
J-Tree 2010 h
J-Tree 2010 i
J-Tree 2010 i
J-Tree 2010 j
J-Tree 2010 j