[1] The Salton Trough is a result of crustal stretching and sinking by the combined actions of the San Andreas Fault and the East Pacific Rise.

[3] A beach mark outlines the shoreline of ancient Lake Cahuilla where archeologists found rock fish traps and charred remains of razorback sucker and bonytail bones.

High water lines suggest the basin has filled many times, creating a lake some 105 mi (169 km) in length and nearly 300 ft (91 m) deep.

Its most recent incarnation is evidenced by fish traps found some 30 ft (9.1 m) below the high-water mark that were estimated to be between 300 and 1,000 years old.

[7] A larger 1905 Colorado flood escaped into a diversion canal, forming the Alamo and New Rivers and creating the current Salton Sea in the sink's Coachella Valley.