Roadside Geology of Southern California

by Arthur Gibbs Sylvester, Elizabeth O'Black Gans

Overview

Since Mountain Press started the Roadside Geology series forty years ago, southern Californians have been waiting for an RG of their own. During those four decades which were punctuated by jarring earthquakes and landslides geologists continued to unravel the complexity of the Golden State, where some of the most dramatic and diverse geology in the world erupts, crashes, and collides. With dazzling color maps, diagrams, and photographs, Roadside Geology of Southern California takes advantage of this newfound knowledge, combining the latest science with accessible stories about the rocks and landscapes visible from winding two-lane byways as well as from the region s vast network of highways.
Join Arthur Sylvester, an award-winning UC Santa Barbara geologist, and Elizabeth O Black Gans, a geologist-illustrator, as they motor through mountains and deserts to explore the iconic features of the SoCal landscape, from boulder piles in Joshua Tree National Park and brilliant white dunes in the Channel Islands to tar seeps along the rugged coast and youthful cinder cones in the Mojave Desert. Whether you want to find precious gemstones, ponder the mysteries of the Salton Sea, or straddle the boundary between the North American and Pacific Plates, be sure to bring this book along as your tour guide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878426539
Publisher:	Mountain Press
Publication date:	02/01/2016
Series:	Roadside Geology
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	311,040
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Arthur Sylvester is a native southern Californian, whose eyes were opened to geology by high school biology class trips to the Colorado Plateau. With a focus on earth sciences, he earned a BA at Pomona College and an MA and PhD at UCLA. After graduate school, he joined a team of Shell Development Company research geologists to study the tectonic history of the Pacific margin of the United States. UC Santa Barbara lured him from Shell to teach courses in structural geology, field geology, and petrology. His academic research focused on various structural, seismic, and igneous rock problems in the Colorado and Mojave Deserts, the Transverse Ranges, and the Lake Tahoe region, as well as in Norway and southern Italy. He retired from active teaching in 2003.


Elizabeth O Black Gans, Libby to most, holds a BS in geology from UC Santa Barbara, where she was introduced to plenty of great southern California geology, as well as to the art of map making. Shortly after graduation, Libby started Gans Illustrations and began working on maps and scientific illustrations for publication, eventually becoming the first digital artist of the Dibblee Geological Foundation. While Libby s main vocation of the last fifteen years has been raising a family, she continues to work on geologic maps and scientific illustrations. Libby is currently employed at Santa Barbara City College in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Table of Contents

Preface viii

Introduction 1

Understanding the Earth 3

Rocks and Rock Formation 3

Plate Tectonics 4

Faults, Faulting, and Earthquakes 6

Geologic Processes in Desert Environments 8

Geologic Evolution of Southern California 12

Proterozoic Eon 12

Gneissic Basement Rock 12

Paleozoic Era 13

The Continental Shelf 13

Mesozoic Era 13

Subduction and Batholith Formation 13

Cenozoic Era 16

Crustal Breakup, Rift Vokanism, and Basin Sedimentation 16

Development of the San Andreas Fault 17

Rotation of the Western Transverse Ranges 20

The Present 21

Mojave Desert 25

Detachment Faults 28

Joshua Tree National Park 28

Road Guides fro the Mojave Desert 34

Interstate 10: Indio-Blythe 34

Interstate 15: Cajon Summit-Barstow 39

Interstate 15: Barstow-Baker 44

Interstate 15: Baker-Primm, Nevada 54

Interstate 40: Barstow-Needles 59

Us 66: Ludlow-Fenner 64

Us 95: Blythe-Needles 70

Ca 14: Palmdale-Mojave-Red Rock Canyon 77

Ca 58: Tehachapi-Barstow 83

Ca 62: North Palm Springs-Arizona Border 89

Kelbaker Road: Interstate 40-Baker 92

Ca 247: Yucca Valley-Barstow 99

Salton Trough 105

Salton Trough Earthquakes 108

Lake Cahuilla and the Salton Sea 109

Algodones Dunes 110

World Class Geologic Sites 111

Mecca Hills: Box Canyon and Painted Canyon 111

Split Mountain Gorge 123

Road Guides for the Salton Trough 128

Interstate 8 and CA 98: Ocotillo-Yuma, Arizona 128

Interstate 10: Beaumont-Indio 133

Ca 86: Coachella-Brawley 140

Ca 111: Calexico-Mecca 144

Peninsular Ranges 153

Peninsular Ranges Batholith 155

Elstnore, San Jacinto, and Rose Canyon Faults 157

The Old Erosion Surface, Pehrts Plain, and the Poway Conglomerate 158

Coastal Terraces 161

Road Guides for the Peninsular Ranges 162

Interstate 5: San Ysidro-San Clemente 162

Interstate 8: Ocean Beach-Ocotillo 171

Interstate 10: Los Angeles-Beaumont 180

Interstate 15: San Diego-Corona 183

Ca 78: Carlsbad-Ocotillo Wells 194

Los Angeles Basin 200

Formation of the Basin 200

Oil Fields and the Monterey Formation 204

Long Beach Oil Field and Signal Hill 205

Baldwin Hills and Inglewaod Oil Field 207

Huntington Beach Oil Field 208

Seal Beach Oil Field 209

Wilmington Oil Field 209

Los Angeles River 210

La Brea Tar Pits 212

San Juan Capistrano 213

Coastal Region of the Basin 214

Dana Point 214

Laguna Beach 218

Crystal Cove State Park 218

Newport Bay 220

Marshes and Lagoons 221

Polos Verdes Hills 222

Redondo Submarine Canyon and Sand Dunes 223

Marina del Rey Breakwater 223

Transverse Ranges 224

Western Transverse Ranges 225

Ventura Basin 225

Conejo and Santa Cruz Island Volcanics 227

Eastern Transverse Ranges 228

San Bernardino Mountains 228

San Gabriel Mountains 229

Road Guides for the Transverse Ranges 231

Interstate 5: Sylmar-Grapevine 231

Interstate 15 and Interstate 215: San Bernardino-Cajon Summit 242

Interstate 210: Sylmar-San Bernardino 249

Interstate 405: West Los Angeles-Sylmar 255

Us 101: Hollywood-Ventura 262

Us 101 and Ca 1: Ventura-Buellton and Lompoc 267

Ca 1: Santa Monica-Oxnard 287

Ca 2: Eagle Rock-Wrightwood 296

Ca 14: Sylmar-Palmdale 305

Ca 33: Ventura-Cuyama 311

Ca 38 and Ca 18: Redlands-Big Bear City-Lucerne Valley 320

Ca 126: Ventura-Santa Clarita 331

Channel Islands 337

San Miguel Island 338

Santa Rosa Island 339

Santa Cruz Island 340

Anacapa Island 341

Santa Barbara Island 342

Santa Catalina Island 343

San Clemente Island 344

San Nicolas Island 345

Natural History Museums and Exhibits in Southern California 346

Glossary 350

Further Reading and References 361

Index 371