The width of the desert is 100 kilometers. It is a gradually rising plain on the Pacific coast with an elevation of 4,900 meters above sea level (the average elevation is 2,240 meters above sea level). It is compared to a giant raised terrace.
The central part of the desert (the Central Valley or Intermediate Depression) forms a series of endorheic basins (an outflowless lake where water inflow is balanced by evaporation).
