I've never been there but it was the project location for my remote sensing class. There are some massive alluvial fans, I think it is the area for a lot of seminal papers on alluvial fan behavior and morphology. In our class we used satellite multi spectral images to map based on element composition, like how they do on other planets which was cool.

In both undergrad and grad school there were courses other people took that had field trips across the country to visit there. IIRC one was Neotectonics and the other was I think some Structure-based elective? Meaning it has faults and maybe folds (dunno, never been) that make it a seismically interesting area.

There are a number of geological anomalies in and around the area. I went there for a class on extremeophiles studying the organisms living in some of the more extreme environments.

Yes. Take notes, your whole grade depends on a report of this trip.

Still way better than the valley of the shadow of death.

Look it up on Google Maps satellite view. It’s a very hilly area!

There are craters from volcanic activity in the northern part of the valley. There are dunes. It’s the hottest driest place in the US because of the Sierra Nevada rain shadow. The effect of rain in the valley is dramatic when it does rain.