Surrounded by mountain ranges in Nevada, 100 miles north of a small town called Gerlach, sits a desert landscape that is not for the faint of heart. Extreme conditions exist here, from the high temperatures on a summer day, to the freezing temperatures at night in the winter. There are dust storms and highly acidic soil that can wreak havoc on the finest pedicure. I didn't see one single insect once I set foot on the playa, it is almost unbearable to exist there. But it is a beautiful place to see.
Located on what is the remains of an ancient lake bed known as Lake Lahontan, the playa is an area of extremes. It is composed of an order of soil called aridisols, meaning dry soil, that is rich in alkali, which gives it a highly acidic property. This lack of moisture and acidity is associated with the scarcity of organic matter growing or living on its surface. Mostly silt and clay sized particles covering the playa make the phenomenon of dust storms a regular occurrence. Throughout the year, slight precipitation can cause a crust to form over the soil, which undisturbed is seen as this:
Dust storms are cause by gusts of air that are traveling at high speeds over dry areas of land. Once there are enough loose particles combined with high temperatures and winds, there is a dust storm. This one is seen at the end of summer, at the Burning Man festival. It is a possibility that the increased traffic to the playa and disturbance to the soil of the Black Rock Desert during August is correlated with the increased number of dust storms seen on the Monday and Tuesday at the beginning of the festival.
Another formation of the landscape of the Black Rock Desert is the black rocks for which it is named. These are created from permian volcanic rocks, which are in the form of dikes, made from magma forced in between cracks in the earth's surface, then over time have been exposed by erosion. Precipitation in the area is minimal, but flooding of the ancient lake bed has occurred, which has caused the erosion of the soil and exposed the black rock formations.
