It is not only a place of natural splendor but a geologic treasure trove as well. Hidden in the sediments of the rocks in its walls is evidence of the coldest time on our planet--ironic in one of the hottest places on Earth. Death Valley is literally being pulled apart and the floor is collapsing and lower than sea level. Here and across much of Nevada is the Basin and Range province--a series of ridges of mountain ranges that are being pulled apart and the basins between them getting wider and flat as they fill with eroded sediment.