<P> Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California . It is one of the hottest places in the world at the height of summertime along with deserts in Africa and in the Middle East . </P> <P> Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of the lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level . This point is 84.6 miles (136.2 km) east - southeast of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). Death Valley's Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest reliably recorded air temperature in the world, 134 ° F (56.7 ° C) on July 10, 1913 . This has been contested by other weather experts . </P> <P> Located near the border of California and Nevada, in the Great Basin, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Death Valley constitutes much of Death Valley National Park and is the principal feature of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve . It is located mostly in Inyo County, California . It runs from north to south between the Amargosa Range on the east and the Panamint Range on the west; the Sylvania Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively . It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km). The highest point in Death Valley itself is Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet (3,366 m). </P> <P> Death Valley is one of the best geological examples of a basin and range configuration . It lies at the southern end of a geological trough known as Walker Lane, which runs north into Oregon . The valley is bisected by a right lateral strike slip fault system, represented by the Death Valley Fault and the Furnace Creek Fault . The eastern end of the left lateral Garlock Fault intersects the Death Valley Fault . Furnace Creek and the Amargosa River flow through the valley but eventually disappear into the sands of the valley floor . </P>

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