California Geology (Chapter 1)
What mountain is the tallest active volcano currently? What was the one before it?
1. Mt Rainer 2. Mt Shasta
How far do Bristle Cone Pines date back to?
10,000 years
How many techtonic plates is California on?
2
What is the approximate thickness of sedimentary rocks beneath the central Great Valley?
30,000 Feet
Out of all 50 states, how many states does California have beat for the highest and lowest points? A. 30 B. 27 C.48 D. 50
48
How strong was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?
8.2 M
What is a restraining bend. Is the Big Bend a restraining or releasing bend?
A restraining bend is when two plates collide and causes compression on the side. This gives rise to mountains. The big bend us a restraining bend
What's the lowest point in California?
BadWater Death Valley
What is the general geologic structure of the Sierra Nevada (due to the many intrusive plutonic bodies)?
Batholith
What are some of the oldest trees in the world?
Bristle Cone Pines
What are the tallest trees in the world?
Coastal Redwoods
Name two famous valleys in the Basin and Range province of Cali
Death Valley Owen's Valley Kahneman Valley
Define the term Geomorphic
Geo = earth Morphic = shape Geomorphic means the the different types of rock due to the geology of the area
Why is the Basin and Range so dry?
It is due to the rain-shadow effect
n the southern Coast Ranges Province, the Temblor Range borders the east side of the San Andreas Fault. What does the Spanish word temblor mean?
It means earthquake
What are Pleistocene Lakes?
Lakes that existed in the pleistocene era (about 2,580,000 years ago)
What volcano was most active in California before 1980?
Mt Lassen (1914 - 1921)
What's the highest mountain in California?
Mt Whitney
Where is the Transverse fault located in Cali?
San Andreas Fault line
Be able to name some of the ranges in the Transverse Ranges.
Santa Ynez, Santa Monica, San Gabriel, Santa Suzanna, San Bernardino and the Channel Islands
What two major factors may have played a role in the 1980 Mammoth Lakes earthquake swarm?
Seismic activity from the sierra Nevada fault and active volcanoes
What three tectonic boundaries were covered in this chapter that are related to California?
Subduction Zone in the north Transverse boundary along San Adreas Fault line Spreading ridge in Salton Though
Where is the Carrizo Plain, and what famous geologic feature is represented by Wallace Creek?
The Carrizo plain is 40 miles East of San Luis Obispo. The famous geological feature represented by wallace creek is the san andreas fault. The river should run straight forward through the land but comes to a sharp right turn so it can continue forward.
What faults border the NE and SW boundaries of the Salton Trough?
The NE boundary is the San Adreas Fault and the SW boundary is the San Jacinto Fault
What major geologic structures define the NW and SW boundaries of the Mojave Desert?
The NW structure is called the Garlock Fault The SW structure is called the San Adreas Fault
What major geologic structure dominates the Coast Ranges?
The San Andreas Transform System
What famous geologic feature is represented by Wallace Creek?
The famous geological feature represented by wallace creek is the san andreas fault
What is the general age and rock type found in the Cascade Range and the Modoc Plateau, and why are the landforms in these provinces so different?
The general age of the rocks in these locations is that they are young due to active volcanoes. The landforms in these provinces are different because of the type of magma solution. Cascade Range contains Andesite Modco Plateau contains basalts Both of these will harden and create different landforms when they harden
What are the largest trees in the world?
The giant sequoias
The Colorado Desert province is the on-land extension of what major geologic structure found in the Pacific Ocean?
The mid ocean ridge
What is the obvious, most unusual feature of the Transverse Ranges province?
The most obvious/unusal feature is that this province is going west - east (so it's stretching horizontally)
What does subduction mean?
The older rock plunged back into the earth in trenches.
What tectonic plate is subducting off of northern California to form the California Cascades?
The subducting plate is the Gorda plate
Where are Tufa towers created?
They are created underwater
Rocks of the Peninsular Range are most like what other province?
They are from the Sierra Nevada Province
What two lines of evidence support high water stands in the basins of the Basin and Range during the Pleistocene Epoch (Great Ice Ages)?
Tufa towers and shore lines
What is a batholith?
a very large igneous intrusion extending deep in the earth's crust.
