SOSC 302 - Chapter 2

How much of the "virgin redwood groves" have been cut down since the Spaniards first came to California?

+90%

What is the lowest precipitation amount, in inches, for California?

0-5

How long is California at its most distant points?

1,040 miles North to South

How many gallons of agricultural water are required to produce a hamburger patty?

1,300 gallons

How many grizzly bears roamed California before Spanish occupation?

10,000

How high is Mt. Shasta in feet?

14,162 above see level

How high is Mt. Whitney in feet?

14,494

In what year did the Spaniards first record an earthquake in California?

1769

In what year did a flood in the Central Valley "destroy about half the property value in the state, and touch off lethal epidemics?"

1862

Heavy rains during what four years of the twentieth century "unleashed huge earthslides, isolated towns, wiped out entire neighborhoods, and killed scores of people?

1982, 1983, 1986, 1995

How many species of plants and animals are endemic to California?

2,214

What is the mean elevation of California in feet above sea level?

2,900

How many species of plants and animals are found in California?

5,879

How wide is California at its most distant east-west points?

560 miles

How much more water can California groundwater aquifers hold compared to surface reservoirs?

6-10 times more

How much is California's water from precipitation is "lost through evaporation and transpiration?

65%

How many of the ten bioregions are adversely impacts by water management issues?

8

During the last one hundred years, how much of California's managed water supplies were consumed by farmers?

90%

What percentage of California's rain falls in "roughly the northern half of the state?"

90%

Bioregion

An ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone.

Where is California is the "largest expanse of flat land west of the Rocky Mountains?"

Central Valley

What California tree is the "world's tallest species?"

Coast Redwood

What trees in California are some of the "world's oldest organisms?"

Coast Redwood and the Gnarled Bristlecone Pine

What key topographic region of California "has been central to California's development, serving as a natural reservoir, collecting, filtering, and dispersing about one-half of the state's water?"

Delta

Where have the lowest temperatures in California been recorded?

Donner Pass

Geologic History

Earth follows the major events in Earth's past based on the geologic time scale.

What type of wetlands occur in the Bay Area-Delta Bioregion?

Freshwater marshes and salt marshes

What California tree is the "world's bulkiest species?"

Giant Sequoia

What agricultural valley in California is "one of the hottest and driest places in the western hemisphere?"

Imperial Valley

What two valleys of California are the only "below-sea-level agricultural areas" in North America?

Imperial Valley and Coachella Valley

What mountains are found in northwestern California?

Klamath

Which bioregion receives the most annual precipitation?

Klamath OR North coast bioregion

"Most of the densely populated, low-lying areas along the coast and in interior valleys" have what climate type?

Meditarranean

In what part of California is the precipitation highest?

Northwest

Where in California is the "only navigable sea-level route through the Coast Range into the interior between Mexico and the Columbia River?"

San Francisco Bay, Carquinez Strait, Sacramento River, San Joaquin River system

The water supply of California comes mainly from the runoff from what mountain range?

Sierra Nevada

What California mountains extend east to west?

Sierra Nevadas

What bioregion has the largest human population?

South coast bioregion

Which mountains make up the Transverse Ranges?

Tehachapis, San Gabriels, and San Bernardinos

Topography

The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area.

Climate

The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time.

Prior to Spanish occupation in 1769, what lake in the San Joaquin Valley was the second largest in California, after Lake Tahoe?

Tulare Lake

What has the South Coast bioregion been affected by?

Urbanization

How was Yosemite Valley "sculptured?"

ancient glaciers

Proportionally California receives __________________ the "average annual rainfall of the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast States."

less than half

What is the highest precipitation amount, in inches, for California?

over 100