For decades, geologists and engineers have been aware that the Portuguese Bend region of Palos Verdes is prone to landslides. […]
In Parkfield, every hillside and valley, grassy nook and riverbed is home to some kind of instrument that measures earthquakes. Over the years, these instruments have become more sophisticated and expensive, making it necessary in many cases to fence them off with the threat of arrest. These instruments monitor, hour by hour, or better, millisecond by millisecond, the stirrings of the earth. To geologists, it is ground zero for seismic measurement.
Pinnacles National Park’s wide landscape of dramatic rock formations and craggy spires looks otherworldly, especially in golden hour light. But few people who visit the park, located in Central California, southeast of the San Francisco Bay Area, are aware that the rock formations were once at the center of one of the most fierce debates in the history of California geology.
Roadcuts in California, those slices through hills and mountainsides made during the construction of roads, are like open books to geologists. They reveal the intricate and often dramatic geological history of the state.
Tejon Pass, located in the mountains of Southern California, is more than just a mountainous pathway connecting the San Joaquin
In the southwest corner of North America, surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean and the ethereal Sea of Cortez, lies the rugged and beautiful Baja California Peninsula. While well known for its captivating landscapes, what’s perhaps more fascinating is the story of its origin—a tale written in the language of tectonic plate movements, over tens of millions of years.
The Bekins building survived because it was made of a relatively new material that had largely been ignored (and vigorously opposed) in California. That material is reinforced concrete.
This is Vasquez Rocks, one of California’s most interesting and dramatic geologic formations.
