This doctoral dissertation will support a comprehensive field analysis that integrates data from the three component basins of the Manix Basin in the central Mojave Desert, thus making possible an accurate determination of late Quaternary lacustrine fluctuations. The purpose of the project is to contribute to our knowledge of changes in regional landscape. This project seeks to investigate and integrate various landform changes to produce the first comprehensive picture of landscape development for the basin. This new research at the time scale of the intermediate level of a glacial cycle has been made possible by the growth of absolute dating techniques and increased knowledge of geomorphic processes and process response systems. The study is expected to yield important new information regarding cyclic landscape evolution and the long-term stability of graded processes.