West
Valley College R.
Lopez
Natural Provinces of
California
The
first step in learning about the geology of California is learning its
geography.
1)
On
a sketch a map of California, be able to outline the natural provinces, and
name them.
2)
Name
at least two famous valleys in the Basin and Range province of California.
3)
Why
is the Basin and Range so arid?
4)
What
is the general geologic structure of the Sierra Nevada?
5)
What
was the tectonic setting of Mesozoic California and the Sierra Nevada
Batholith?
6)
What
is the approximate thickness of sedimentary rocks beneath the central Great
Valley, and what was the source of the sediments.
7)
When
was the largest historical earthquake in California, where did it occur, and
what was its geological significance?
8)
What
two major factors may have played a role in the 1980 Mammoth Lakes earthquake
swarm?
9)
What
are horst and grabens? What are normal
faults? What type of stress is associated with normal faults?
10)
What
are range front faults? What is the significance of the Owens Valley Quake of
1872?
11)
What
are Pleistocene lakes? What two lines
of evidence support high water stands in the basins of the Basin and Range?
12)
The
rocks of the Klamath province are most like those of what other province?
13)
What
age and type of rocks occur in the Klamath province? What are accreted
terranes? What is an ophiolite?
14)
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?
15)
What
is the plate tectonic setting of the Cascade Range?
16)
What
tectonic plate is subducting off of northern California to form the California
Cascades?
17)
Why
is the Modoc Plateau a plateau? What are fissure eruptions?
18)
What
major geologic structures define the NW and SW boundaries of the Mojave Desert?
19)
The
Colorado Desert province is the on-land extension of what major geologic
structure (see p. 392)?
20)
Is
the Salton Trough below sea level? What
is the geologic structure of the Salton Trough?
21)
What
evidence do the Salton Buttes have that supports the structure implied for the
question above?
22)
How
did the Salton Sea form? (see page 243)
23)
What
faults border the NE and SW boundaries of the Salton Trough?
24)
Rocks
of the Peninsular Range are most like what other province? This implies that the Peninsular Ranges also
had a _______ tectonic setting.
25)
What
is the obvious, most unusual feature of the Transverse Ranges province?
26)
What
is a restraining bend. Is the Big Bend
a restraining or releasing bend? Be
able to name some of the ranges in the Transverse Ranges.
27)
What
major geologic structure dominates the Coast Ranges?
28)
Be
able to trace the general trace of the San Andreas Fault through California.
29)
Where
is the Carrizo Plain, and what geologic feature is it famous for (p.317)?
30)
Where
does the San Andreas Fault cross Highway 17?