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The Comstock Lode lies within the Great Basin geographical province. The
Great Basin is a large region that takes in portions of six states and is
centered on Nevada. In this part of the world, no rivers exit to the ocean. They end within the boundaries of the Great Basin itself. In the west the
Truckee River starts at Lake Tahoe and makes its way downward and eastward
to Pyramid Lake, its final stop.
The Carson River, which drains the Comstock,
is located a few tens of miles to the south of the Truckee, has a similar
fate, and goes no further than the Carson Sink. On the other side of the Great
Basin is the Great Salt Lake. Here many different streams flow from the high
mountains that form the eastern boundary of the basin, the Wasatch Mountains,
and feed the Great Salt Lake with fresh water. The pattern throughout the
Great Basin is the same; all streams and rivers either sink into the ground
or evaporate back into the sky. The young boater shown on Lahontan
Reservoir of the Carson River in adjacent image is on water that will not
reach the ocean.
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