California Geology! “Rocks are records of events that took place at the time they formed. They are books. They have a different vocabulary, a different alphabet, but you learn how to read them.” -John McPhee The Coast Range Coast Range Summary: • Mostly marine sedimentary, some granitic and volcanic • Series of individual Mnt Rnges 2,000 – 4,000 ft • Major structural feature is San Andreas Fault, San Francisco Bay The Sierra Nevada The mountains are typically higher in the south and lower in the north Highest point- Mt. Whitney (14,495 ft) Uplift along the Eastern Sierra Fault System has been accompanied by westward tilting producing a gradual western slope. Drainage Patterns • West of crest into Pacific Ocean • East of Crest into the Basin & Range Glaciated Landscape Cirques Hanging valleys U-shaped valleys Pyramidal peaks and horns ~11,000 yrs BP Exfoliation or Sheeting, a type of weathering Big Rocks! Happy Isles Rockfall This is the shoulder of Glacier Point before July 10, 1996. And then, at 6:52 pm…. 31,500 Tons of rock fell, causing a 20 sec earthquake; resulting air blast snapped or toppled >1,000 trees some >0.5km away. Caused many injuries and 1 fatality. Air velocities exceeded 110 m/s or 396 Km/hr. Hi 7 Table Mountain, an inverted stream Sierra Nevada Summary: • Mostly granitic, volcanic and marine sedimentary • Tilted to west along fault system on east • Glaciated in last 1.6 my • Creates major orographic effect, resulting with a rain shadow to the east • “old rocks, young landform”……… The Great Valley Fill Diagram Sutter Buttes Great Valley Summary: • Marine sedimentary below, non marine sedimentary on the surface • Sediments are extremely thick, up to 30,000 feet • Sediments are thicker to the west, thinner to the east • Agriculture is the major industry, along with fossil fuels • Extremely flat with few outcrops, except Sutter Buttes which are volcanic Cascade Range / Modoc Plateau Mt. Shasta Shasta ValleyValley Debris Flow Shasta ~675Km2 ~50m thick, ~45Km3 Travelled ~49 Km Black Butte The Modoc Plateau is a southern extension of the Columbia Plateau flood basalts Modoc Plateau Modoc Plateau Topography The Warner Range Warner Range The Warner Mountains are an 85-mile-long mountain range running north-south from the Basin & Range, through the Modoc plateau, into Oregon. Cascade Range / Modoc Plateau Summary: • Mostly volcanic rock • A very young province • Warner Range is in the eastern portion of Modoc Plateau (the Surprise Valley Fault) • Mnt Shasta and Mnt Lassen are part of the Cascade Range and the Modoc Plateau is part of the Columbia River Plateau Klamath Mountains • Ranges in the California portion of the province from South to North are: • • • • • • • • South Fork Mountains Trinity Mountains Trintiy Alps Salmon Mountains Scott Mountains Scott Bar Mountains Marble Mountains Siskiyou Mountains Exposed Josephine Ophiolite at Smith River Trinity Ophiolite Castle Crags Klamath Mountain Summary: • Granitic, marine sedimentary and metamorphic • Comprised of many different micro plates or accreted oceanic tectonostratigraphic terranes. • Siskyou, Salmon, Trinity and Marble Mnts • Coast Range is north west border, South Fork Mountain Thrust Fault