View source for Carson Sink

{{Short description|Dry lake in Churchill County, Nevada, USA}}
{{Infobox landform
| water             = 
| name              = Carson Sink
| other_name        = 
| type              = [[Sink (geography)|Playa]]
| photo             = 2012-05-28 View southeast across the Carson Sink from Topog Peak in Nevada.jpg
| photo_width       = 
| photo_alt         = 
| photo_caption     = View southeast across the Carson Sink from [[Topog Peak]] in the [[West Humboldt Range]]
<!-- map -->
| map               = 
| relief            = 
| map_image         = Wpdms shdrlfi020l lake lahontan b.jpg
| map_caption       = The Carson Sink and the [[Lahontan Valley]] form the central portion of the lake bed of the prehistoric [[Lake Lahontan]]. 
<!-- location -->
| location          = [[Lahontan Basin]], [[Nevada]]
| coordinates       = {{coord|39|52|40|N|118|20|50|W|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref   = 
| range             = 
| part_of           = 
| water_bodies      = 
| elevation_ft      = <!-- or |elevation_m = -->
| elevation_ref     = 
| surface_elevation_ft = <!-- or |surface_elevation_m = -->
| surface_elevation_ref =
| highest_point     = 
| highest_elevation = 
| highest_coords    = 
| length            = 
| width             = 
| area              = {{convert|300|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| depth             = 
| drop              = 
| formed_by         = 
| geology           = <!-- or |type = -->
| age               = 
| orogeny           = 
| volcanic_arc/belt = 
| volcanic_arc      = 
| volcanic_belt     = 
| volcanic_field    = 
| eruption          = 
| last_eruption     = 
| topo              = 
| operator          = 
| designation       = 
| free_label_1      = 
| free_data_1       = 
| free_label_2      = 
| free_data_2       = 
| website           = 
| embed             = 
}}

'''Carson Sink''' is a [[Sink (geography)|playa]] in the northeastern portion of the [[Carson Desert]] in present-day [[Nevada]], United States of America, that was formerly the terminus of the [[Carson River]]. Today the sink is fed by drainage [[canal]]s of the [[Truckee-Carson Irrigation District]]. The southeastern fringe of the sink, where the canals enter, is a wetland of the [[Central Basin and Range ecoregion]].<ref name=Bryce>{{citation |last1=Bryce |first1=S.A |title=Ecoregions of Nevada |type=poster |location=[[Reston, Virginia]] |publisher=USGS|display-authors=etal | url=https://www.fws.gov/nevada/habitats/documents/na_eco.pdf | access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref> 

This is mostly included within the [[Fallon National Wildlife Refuge]] and the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area.  This area serves as an important stopover for migrating waterfowl.  The Sehoo Formation is south of the Carson Sink.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Morrison |first1=R. B |last2=Fry |first2=John C |year=1965 |title=Correlation of the Middle and Late Quaternary Successions of the Lake Lahontan, Lake Bonneville, Rocky Mountain (Wasatch Range), Southern Great Plains, and Eastern Midwest Areas |url=http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/r9.pdf |publisher=Nevada Bureau of Mines |access-date=2010-11-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100606171101/http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/r9.pdf |archivedate=2010-06-06 }}</ref>

==Carson Sink and Lone Rock working areas==
{{For|the [[post-war]] military range near this location|Lovelock Aerial Gunnery Range}}
The Carson Sink and Lone Rock working areas are the northwest portion of both the Carson Sink and the US Naval [[Naval Air Station Fallon|Fallon Range Training Complex]].<ref name=FRTC/>  The Lone Rock working area includes the Bravo-20 range, which has numerous targets for combat aircraft training.<ref name=FRTC>{{Citation |title=Fallon Range Training Complex |publisher=[[Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center]] (NSAWC) |number=NAVSTKAIRWARCENINST 3752.1F}}</ref>  

Lone Rock is in the middle of a Bravo-20 live bombing area.<ref name=FRTC/> It is a solitary pinnacle of rock through the playa and it is held sacred by the [[Northern Paiute]].<ref>{{cite report
| url = http://web.archive.org/web/20220323080249/https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/documents/files/Library_Nevada_CulturalResourceSeries12.pdf
| title = Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone Land Use in Northern Nevada: A Class I Ethnographic/Ethnohistoric overview
| first = Ginny
| last = Bengston
| publisher = BLM
| number = 12
| year = 2003
| series = Cultural Resource Series
| access-date = 2024-11-01}}</ref>

==History==
The Carson Sink was a deep portion of the [[Pleistocene]] water body [[Lake Lahontan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rangerovers.net/expeditions/lahontan.html |title=Lake Lahontan Expedition |work=RangeRovers.net |access-date=2013-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712031911/http://www.rangerovers.net/expeditions/lahontan.html |archive-date=2013-07-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the lakebed of which is now the [[Lahontan Basin]].  

The [[California Trail#Carson Trail|Carson Trail]], used during the [[California Gold Rush]] across the Lahontan Basin, included a section through the [[Forty Mile Desert]] to the first drinkable water on the [[Carson River]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://emigranttrailswest.org/virtual-tour/carson-trail/ |title=Carson Trail |work=Trails West.org |access-date=2013-07-12}}</ref> The Carson Sink station of the [[Pony Express]] was built in March 1860.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carson Sink |url=http://www.xphomestation.com/nvsta-carsonsink.html |access-date=2013-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130804074102/http://www.xphomestation.com/nvsta-carsonsink.html# |archive-date=2013-08-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In June 1952 two [[U.S. Air Force]] colonels flew a [[B-25]] bomber from [[Hamilton Army Airfield|Hamilton Field]] near [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] to [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]], [[Colorado]]. While passing over Carson Sink, the two reportedly saw three [[UFO|unknown aircraft]] fly within 800 yards of their aircraft before speeding out of sight seconds later. Upon landing, the two colonels reported the incident to the [[Air Defence Command]] headquarters, who informed them that there were no military or civilian aircraft in the area at the time. The incident was never resolved and is known today as the Carson Sink UFO incident.<ref name="Ruppelt2007">{{cite book|author=Edward Ruppelt|title=The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hDtd6CLa1aEC&pg=PA15|accessdate=25 October 2011|date=1 March 2007|publisher=Echo Library|isbn=978-1-4068-4084-1|pages=15–}}</ref>

In 1984, the natural dike between the Carson Sink and the [[Humboldt Sink]] was breached by the [[Nevada Department of Transportation]] to prevent [[Interstate 80 in Nevada|Interstate 80]] and the town of [[Lovelock, Nevada|Lovelock]] from flooding due to unusually heavy snowfall in the preceding three years.  The sinks remained connected by water for three years, until 1987.

==Panorama==
{{wide image|2015-04-18 14 52 02 Panorama east and south from Topog Peak, Nevada.jpg|600px|align-cap=center|Panorama of the Carson Sink|alt=Carson Sink view}}

==See also==
*[[West Humboldt Range]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}
{{commons cat|Carson Sink}}
[[Category:Lahontan Basin]]
[[Category:Endorheic basins of the United States]]
[[Category:Landforms of Churchill County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Valleys of Nevada]]
[[Category:Wetlands of Nevada]]