West Overview

Abstract

The lakes of the western United States (Figure 1) are mostly glacial origin and contain the most dilute waters in the country. The lowest median are mostly of glacial origin and contain the most ANC values occur in the Pacific mountain ranges, and the ANC values are only slightly higher and more variable in the Rocky Mountains (Figure 2). Turk and Spahr (Chapter 14, this volume) examine three ranges within the Rocky Mountains: the Front Range (Colorado), the Wind River Range (Wyoming), and the Bitterroot Range (Idaho and Montana). Melack and Stoddard (Chapter 15, this volume) treat the Sierra Nevada (California), and Nelson (Chapter 16, this volume) presents the Cascades from northern California through Oregon to northern Washington as six subunits (Figure 1).