1.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
2.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
3.
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
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The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Basin and Range Province. The vast majority of the lies in the state of California. The Sierra runs 400 miles north-to-south, and is approximately 70 miles across east-to-west, the Sierra is home to three national parks, twenty wilderness areas, and two national monuments. These areas include Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, the character of the range is shaped by its geology and ecology. More than one hundred years ago during the Nevadan orogeny. The range started to uplift four M. A. ago, the uplift caused a wide range of elevations and climates in the Sierra Nevada, which are reflected by the presence of five life zones. Uplift continues due to faulting caused by forces, creating spectacular fault block escarpments along the eastern edge of the southern Sierra. The Sierra Nevada has a significant history, the California Gold Rush occurred in the western foothills from 1848 through 1855. Due to inaccessibility, the range was not fully explored until 1912, the Sierra Nevada lies in Central and Eastern California, with a very small but historically important spur extending into Nevada. West-to-east, the Sierra Nevadas elevation increases gradually from 1,000 feet in the Central Valley to an height of about 10,500 feet at its crest only 50–75 miles to the east. The east slope forms the steep Sierra Escarpment, unlike its surroundings, the range receives a substantial amount of snowfall and precipitation due to orographic lift. The Sierra Nevada stretches from the Susan River and Fredonyer Pass in the north to Tehachapi Pass in the south and it is bounded on the west by Californias Central Valley and on the east by the Basin and Range Province. The geographical boundary between the Sierra and the Cascades is virtually indistinguishable, with the Fredonyer Pass designation being traditional, physiographically, the Sierra is a section of the Cascade-Sierra Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System physiographic division. The range is drained on its western slope by the Central Valley watershed, the northern third of the western Sierra is part of the Sacramento River watershed, and the middle third is drained by the San Joaquin River. The eastern slope watershed of the Sierra is much narrower, its rivers flow out into the endorheic Great Basin of eastern California and western Nevada. Although none of the eastern rivers reach the sea, many of the streams from Mono Lake southwards are diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct which provides water to Southern California, the height of the mountains in the Sierra Nevada increases gradually from north to south. Between Fredonyer Pass and Lake Tahoe, the range from 5,000 feet to more than 9,000 feet. The crest near Lake Tahoe is roughly 9,000 feet high, farther south, the highest peak in Yosemite National Park is Mount Lyell
4.
Central Valley (California)
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Californias Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the geographical center of the U. S. state of California. It is 40 to 60 miles wide and stretches approximately 450 miles from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and it covers approximately 18,000 square miles, about 11% of Californias total land area. More than 7 million acres of the valley are irrigated via a system of reservoirs. The valley also has many cities, including the state capital Sacramento, as well as Redding, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno. The Central Valley watershed comprises 60,000 square miles, or over a third of California, the delta empties into the San Francisco Bay, and then ultimately flows into the Pacific. The Central Valley is commonly known to simply as the Valley. Older names include the Great Valley, a name often seen in scientific references, and Golden Empire. The Central Valley is outlined by the Cascade, Sierra Nevada, and Tehachapi mountain ranges on the east, the broad valley floor is carpeted by vast agricultural regions, and dotted with numerous population centers. While there are many large and small between these cities, these four cities act as hubs for regional commerce and transportation. About 6.5 million people live in the Central Valley today, there are 12 Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 1 Micropolitan Statistical Area in the Central Valley. Below, they are listed by MSA and μSA population, the largest city is Fresno, followed by the state capital, Sacramento. The valley is thought to have originated below sea level as an offshore area depressed by subduction of the Farallon Plate into a trench further offshore, the San Joaquin Fault is a notable seismic feature of the Central Valley. The valley was later enclosed by the uplift of the Coast Ranges, faulting moved the Coast Ranges, and a new outlet developed near what is now San Francisco Bay. The one notable exception to the valley floor is Sutter Buttes. Another significant geologic feature of the Central Valley lies hidden beneath the delta, the Stockton Arch is an upwarping of the crust beneath the valley sediments which extends southwest to northeast across the valley. However, much of the Central Valley environment has been removed or altered by human activity including the introduction of exotic plants, the oak woodlands and chaparral that fringe the valley have been categorized as the California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. The wetlands have been the target of operations to restore areas nearly destroyed by agriculture. The dominant grass of the valley was Nassella pulchra mixed with other species, grassland flowers include California poppy, lupins, and purple owls clover which can still be seen, especially in Antelope Valley in the Tehachapi hills
5.
Mojave Desert
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The Mojave Desert is an arid rain-shadow desert and the driest desert in North America. It is located in the southwestern United States, primarily within southeastern California and southern Nevada, very small areas also extend into Utah and Arizona. The central part of the desert is sparsely populated, while its peripheries support large communities such as Las Vegas, Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville, the Mojave Desert is bordered by the Great Basin Desert to its north and the Sonoran Desert to its south and east. Topographical boundaries include the Tehachapi Mountains to the west, and the San Gabriel Mountains, the mountain boundaries are distinct because they are outlined by the two largest faults in California – the San Andreas and Garlock faults. The Mojave Desert displays typical basin and range topography and it occupies less than 50,000 sq mi, making it the smallest of the North American deserts. The Mojave Desert is often referred to as the desert, in contrast to the low desert. However, the Mojave Desert is generally lower than the Great Basin Desert to the north, the spelling Mojave originates from the Spanish language while the spelling Mohave comes from modern English. The Mojave Desert receives less than 13 in of rain a year and is generally between 2,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation, zion National Park in Utah lies at the junction of the Mojave, the Great Basin Desert, and the Colorado Plateau. Despite its aridity, the Mojave has long been a center of production, fed by irrigation coming from groundwater. The Mojave is a desert of temperature extremes and two distinct seasons, winter months bring comfortable daytime temperatures, which dip precipitously to around 20 °F on valley floors, and below 0 °F at higher elevations. Storms moving from the Pacific Northwest can bring rain and in places even snow. More often, the shadow created by the Sierra Nevada as well as mountain ranges within the desert such as the Spring Mountains, bring only clouds. By early June, it is rare for another Pacific storm to have a significant impact on the regions weather, summer weather is dominated by heat. Temperatures on valley floors can soar above 120 °F and above 130 °F at the lowest elevations, low humidity, high temperatures, and low pressure, draw in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico creating thunderstorms across the desert southwest known as the North American monsoon. Autumn is generally pleasant, with one to two Pacific storm systems creating regional rain events, october is one of the driest and sunniest months in the Mojave, and temperatures usually remain between 70 °F and 90 °F on the valley floors. After temperature, wind is the most significant weather phenomenon in the Mojave, during the June Gloom, cooler air can be pushed out into the desert from Southern California. In Santa Ana wind events, hot air from the desert blows out into the Los Angeles basin, wind farms in these areas generate power from these winds. The other major factor in the region is elevation
6.
Coast redwood
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Sequoia sempervirens /sᵻˈkɔɪ. ə sɛmpərˈvaɪrənz/ is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood and it is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1, 200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and these trees are also among the oldest living things on Earth. The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron, here, the term redwood on its own refers to the species covered in this article, and not to the other two species. Scottish botanist David Don described the redwood as the evergreen taxodium in his colleague Aylmer Bourke Lamberts 1824 work A description of the genus Pinus, austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher erected the genus Sequoia in his 1847 work Synopsis coniferarum, giving the redwood its current binomial name of Sequoia sempervirens. The redwood is one of three living species, each in its own genus, in the subfamily Sequoioideae, molecular studies have shown the three to be each others closest relatives, generally with the redwood and giant sequoia as each others closest relatives. However, Yang and colleagues in 2010 queried the polyploid state of the redwood, further analysis strongly supported the hypothesis that Sequoia was the result of a hybridization event involving Metasequoia and Sequoiadendron. Thus, Yang and colleagues hypothesize that the inconsistent relationships among Metasequoia, Sequoia, the coast redwood can reach 115 m tall with a trunk diameter of 9 m. It has a crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark can be thick, up to 1-foot, and quite soft and fibrous, with a bright red-brown color when freshly exposed. The root system is composed of shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots, the leaves are variable, being 15–25 mm long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees. On the other hand, they are scale-like, 5–10 mm long on shoots in full sun in the crown of older trees. They are dark green above and have two blue-white stomatal bands below, leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture. The species is monoecious, with pollen and seed cones on the same plant, the seed cones are ovoid, 15–32 millimetres long, with 15–25 spirally arranged scales, pollination is in late winter with maturation about 8–9 months after. Each cone scale bears three to seven seeds, each seed 3–4 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres broad, the seeds are released when the cone scales dry out and open at maturity. The pollen cones are ovular and 4–6 millimetres long and its genetic makeup is unusual among conifers, being a hexaploid and possibly allopolyploid. Both the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of the redwood are paternally inherited, the prevailing elevation range is 98–2,460 ft above sea level, occasionally down to 0 and up to 3,000 ft. They usually grow in the mountains where precipitation from the incoming moisture off the ocean is greater, the tallest and oldest trees are found in deep valleys and gullies, where year-round streams can flow, and fog drip is regular
7.
Giant Sequoia
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The common use of the name sequoia generally refers to Sequoiadendron giganteum, which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The etymology of the name has been presumed—initially in The Yosemite Book by Josiah Whitney in 1868—to be in honor of Sequoyah. Giant sequoias are the worlds largest single trees and largest living thing by volume, Giant sequoias grow to an average height of 50–85 m and 6–8 m in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 94.8 m in height, claims of 17 m diameter have been touted by taking an authors writing out of context, but the widest known at chest height is closer to 8.2 m. Between 2014 and 2016, specimens of coast redwood were found to have larger trunk diameters than all known giant sequoias, the oldest known giant sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old. Giant Sequoias are among the oldest living things on Earth, Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 90 cm thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees, the leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped, 3–6 millimetres long, and arranged spirally on the shoots. The seed is brown, 4–5 millimetres long and 1 millimetre broad, with a 1-millimetre wide. Some seeds are shed when the cone scales shrink during hot weather in late summer, the giant sequoia regenerates by seed. Young trees start to bear cones at the age of 12 years, Trees up to about 20 years old may produce stump sprouts subsequent to injury, but unlike coast redwoods, shoots do not form on the stumps of mature trees. Giant sequoias of all ages may sprout from their boles when branches are lost to fire or breakage, at any given time, a large tree may be expected to have about 11,000 cones. Cone production is greatest in the portion of the canopy. A mature giant sequoia has been estimated to disperse 300, 000–400,000 seeds per year, the winged seeds may be carried up to 180 metres from the parent tree. Lower branches die fairly readily from shading, but trees less than 100 years old retain most of their dead branches, trunks of mature trees in groves are generally free of branches to a height of 20–50 metres, but solitary trees will retain low branches. Because of its size, the tree has been studied for its water pull, Sequoias supplement water from the soil with fog, taken up through air roots, at heights to where the root water cannot be pulled. The natural distribution of giant sequoias is restricted to an area of the western Sierra Nevada. They occur in scattered groves, with a total of 68 groves, nowhere does it grow in pure stands, although in a few small areas, stands do approach a pure condition. The northern two-thirds of its range, from the American River in Placer County southward to the Kings River, has only eight disjunct groves, the remaining southern groves are concentrated between the Kings River and the Deer Creek Grove in southern Tulare County
8.
Bristlecone pine
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A bristlecone pine is one of three species of pine trees. All three species are long-lived and highly resilient to harsh weather and bad soils, One of the three species, Pinus longaeva, is among the longest-lived life forms on Earth. The oldest Pinus longaeva is more than 5,000 years old, despite their potential age and low reproductive rate, bristlecone pines, particularly Pinus longaeva, are usually a first-succession species, tending to occupy new open ground. They generally compete poorly in less-than-harsh environments, making hard to cultivate. In gardens, they succumb quickly to root rot and they do very well, however, where most other plants cannot even grow, such as in rocky dolomitic soils in areas with virtually no rainfall. Bristlecone pines grow in scattered subalpine groves at high altitude in arid regions of the Western United States, the name comes from the prickles on the female cones. There are three related species of bristlecone pines, Great Basin bristlecone pine in Utah, Nevada. The famous longest-lived species, often the term Bristlecone pine refers to this tree in particular, Rocky Mountains bristlecone pine in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. The most populous species, capable of forming closed canopies and, foxtail pine with two disjunct populations found in the Klamath Mountains and the southern Sierra Nevada. A small outlying population was reported in southern Oregon, but was proven to have been misidentified, forms the thickest groves of the three. At least some of the three species can hybridize in cultivation, but the ranges of wild populations do not overlap, Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves just below the tree line, between 5,600 and 11,200 ft elevation on dolomitic soils. The trees grow in soils that are shallow lithosols, usually derived from dolomite and sometimes limestone, dolomite soils are alkaline, high in calcium and magnesium, and low in phosphorus. Those factors tend to other plant species, allowing bristlecones to thrive. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, even the trees needles, which grow in bunches of five, can remain on the tree for forty years, which gives the trees terminal branches the unique appearance of a long bottle brush. The bristlecone pines root system is composed of highly branched, shallow roots, while a few large. The bristlecone pine is extremely drought tolerant due to its branched shallow root system, its waxy needles, the wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. The trees longevity is due in part to the extreme durability. While other species of trees that grow nearby suffer rot, bare bristlecone pines can endure, even death, often still standing on their roots
9.
Mt. Whitney
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Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park, the east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County. The summit of Whitney is on the Sierra Crest and the Great Basin Divide and it lies near many of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley, sitting 10,778 feet or just over two miles above the town of Lone Pine 15 miles to the east, in the Owens Valley. It rises more gradually on the west side, lying only about 3,000 feet above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake, the mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides. Mount Whitney is above the line and has an alpine climate. Very few plants grow near the summit, one example is the Skypilot, the only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the gray-crowned rosy finch. The mountain is the highest point on the Great Basin Divide, waterways on the west side of the peak flow into Whitney Creek, which flows into the Kern River. The Kern River terminates in the Tulare Basin, during very wet years, water overflows from the Tulare Basin into the San Joaquin River which flows to the Pacific Ocean. From the east, water from Mount Whitney flows to Lone Pine Creek, which joins the Owens River, which in turn terminates at Owens Lake, the estimated elevation of the summit of Mount Whitney has changed over the years. The technology of elevation measurement has become refined and, more importantly. The peak was commonly said to be at 14,494 ft, an older plaque on the summit reads elevation 14,496.811 feet but this was estimated using the older vertical datum from 1929. Since then the shape of the Earth has been estimated more accurately, using a new vertical datum established in 1988 the benchmark is now estimated to be at 14,505 ft. The rise is caused by a fault system that runs along the eastern base of the Sierra. Thus, the granite that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the Alabama Hills, the raising of Whitney is due to the same geological forces that cause the Basin and Range Province, the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched. The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the Sierra Nevada batholith, in Cretaceous time, masses of molten rock that originated from subduction rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite. In July 1864, the members of the California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney, during the same expedition, geologist Clarence King attempted to climb Whitney from its west side, but stopped just short. In 1871, King returned to climb what he believed to be Whitney, upon learning of his mistake in 1873, King finally completed his own first ascent of Whitney, but did so a month too late to claim the first recorded ascent
10.
Death Valley
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Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. It is one of the hottest places in the world at the height of summertime along with deserts in Africa, Death Valleys Badwater Basin is the point of the lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. This point is 84.6 miles east-southeast of Mount Whitney, Death Valleys Furnace Creek holds the record for the highest reliably recorded air temperature in the world,134 °F on July 10,1913. This has been contested by other weather experts and it is located mostly in Inyo County, California. It has an area of about 3,000 sq mi, the highest point in Death Valley itself is Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet. Death Valley is one of the best geological examples of a basin and it lies at the southern end of a geological trough known as Walker Lane, which runs north into Oregon. The valley is bisected by a right lateral slip fault system, represented by the Death Valley Fault. The eastern end of the left lateral Garlock Fault intersects the Death Valley Fault, Furnace Creek and the Amargosa River flow through the valley but eventually disappear into the sands of the valley floor. Death Valley also contains salt pans, according to current geological consensus, at various times during the middle of the Pleistocene era, inland lakes formed in Death Valley. Lake Manly received water overflowing from a chain of other Pleistocene lakes, Death Valley has a subtropical, hot desert climate, with long, extremely hot summers and short, warm or mild winters, as well as little rainfall. As a general rule, lower altitudes tend to have higher temperatures, when the sun heats the ground, that heat is then radiated upward, but the dense below-sea-level air absorbs some of this radiation and radiates some of it back towards the ground. In addition, the valley walls trap rising hot air and recycle it back down to the valley floor. This process is important in Death Valley, as it provides its specific climate. The valley is surrounded by mountains, while its surface is flat and devoid of plants, so much of the suns heat can reach the ground, absorbed by soil. When air at ground level is heated, it begins to rise, moving up past steep, high mountain ranges, which then cools slightly, sinking back down towards the valley more compressed. This air is reheated by the sun to a higher temperature, moving up the mountain again, whereby the air moves up and down in a circular motion in cycles. This heated air increases ground temperature markedly, forming the hot wind currents that are trapped by atmospheric pressure and mountains, Death Valley holds temperature records because it has an unusually high number of factors that lead to high atmospheric temperatures. The depth and shape of Death Valley influence its summer temperatures, the valley is a long, narrow basin 282 feet below sea level, yet is walled by high, steep mountain ranges
11.
Continental United States
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The contiguous United States consists of the 48 adjoining U. S. states plus Washington, D. C. on the continent of North America. S. The greatest distance entirely within the 48 contiguous states is 2,802 miles, the greatest north-south line is 1,650 miles. Together, the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D. C. occupy an area of 3,119,884.69 square miles. Of this area,2,959,064.44 square miles is land, composing 83. 65% of U. S. land area, officially,160,820.25 square miles is water area, composing 62. 66% of the nations total water area. The contiguous United States would be placed 5th in the list of states and dependencies by area. The 2010 census population of area was 306,675,006, comprising 99. 33% of the nations population. While conterminous U. S. has the meaning of contiguous U. S. other terms commonly used to describe the 48 contiguous states have a greater degree of ambiguity. The term was in use prior to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states of the United States, the District of Columbia is not always specifically mentioned as being part of CONUS. OCONUS is derived from CONUS with O for outside added, thus referring to Outside of Continental United States, the term Lower 48 is also used to refer to the conterminous United States. The National Geographic style guide recommends the use of contiguous or conterminous United States instead of lower 48 when the 48 states are meant, both Alaskans and Hawaiians have unique labels for the contiguous United States because of their own locations relative to them. Alaska became the 49th state of the United States on January 3,1959, Alaska is on the northwest end of the North American continent, but separated from the rest of the United States Pacific coast by the Canadian province of British Columbia. In Alaska, given the ambiguity surrounding the usage of continental, several other terms have been used over the years. Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States on August 21,1959 and it is the southernmost and so far, the latest state to join the Union. Not part of any continent, Hawaii is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,200 miles from North America, in Hawaii and overseas American territories, for instance, the terms the Mainland or U. S. Mainland are often used to refer to the continental United States, apart from off-shore US islands, a few continental portions of the contiguous US are accessible by road only by traveling through Canada. Point Roberts, Washington, Elm Point, Minnesota, and the Northwest Angle in Minnesota are three such places, alburgh, Vermont, is not directly connected by land, but is accessible by road via bridges from within Vermont and from from New York. The 48 contiguous United States are, Washington, D. C. is distinct from the state of Washington, extreme points of the United States Mainland Definition of continental Definition of contiguous Definition of coterminous and conterminous
12.
Northern California
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Northern California, often abbreviated NorCal, is the northern portion of the U. S. state of California. The 48-county definition is not used for the Northern California Megaregion, the megaregions area is instead defined from Metropolitan Fresno north to Greater Sacramento, and from the Bay Area east across Nevada state line to encompass the entire Lake Tahoe-Reno area. The arrival of European explorers from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries, in 1770, the Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coast—eventually extending as far north as Sonoma County. Northern California is not a geographic designation. Californias north-south midway division is around 37° latitude, near the level of San Francisco, popularly, though, Northern California usually refers to the states northernmost 48 counties. This definition coincides with the county lines at 35° 47′ 28″ north latitude, the term is also applied to the area north of Point Conception and the Tehachapi Mountains. Because of Californias large size and diverse geography, the state can be subdivided in other ways as well, the state is often considered as having an additional division north of the urban areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. The coastal area north of the Bay Area is referred to as the North Coast while the region north of Sacramento is referred by locals as the Northstate. Since the events of the California Gold Rush, Northern California has been a leader on the economic, scientific. In science, advances range from being the first to isolate and name fourteen transuranic chemical elements, other examples of innovation across diverse fields range from Genentech to CrossFit as a pioneer in extreme human fitness and training. It is also Home to one of the largest Air Force Bases on the West Coast, Northern Californias largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which includes the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and their many suburbs. In recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as Central Valley cities such as Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Turlock and Modesto. The 2010 U. S. Census showed that the Bay Area grew at a faster rate than the Greater Los Angeles Area while Greater Sacramento had the largest growth rate of any area in California. The states larger cities are considered part of Northern California in cases when the state is divided into two parts. The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for the Spanish Crown, in 1542, beginning in 1565, the Spanish Manila galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines, with silver and gemstones from Mexico. The Manila galleons returned across the northern Pacific, and reached North America usually off the coast of northern California, in 1579, northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of todays San Francisco and claimed the area for England. In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored Californias coast as far north as Monterey Bay, other Spanish explorers sailed along the coast of northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established. The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast, the mission at Monterey was first established in 1770, and at San Francisco in 1776
13.
Southern California
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Southern California, often abbreviated as SoCal, is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises Californias 10 southernmost counties. The region is described as eight counties, based on demographics and economic ties, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara. The more extensive 10-county definition, which includes Kern and San Luis Obispo counties, is used and is based on historical political divisions. Southern California is an economic center for the state of California. The 8-county and 10-county definitions are not used for the greater Southern California Megaregion, the megaregions area is more expansive, extending east into Las Vegas, Nevada and south across the Mexican border into Tijuana.5 million people. With over 22 million people, Southern California contains roughly 60 percent of Californias population, located east of Southern California is the Colorado Desert and the Colorado River at the border with Arizona. The Mojave Desert is located at the border with the state of Nevada while towards the south is the Mexico–United States border, within Southern California are two major cities, Los Angeles and San Diego, as well as three of the countrys largest metropolitan areas. With a population of 3,792,621, Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and the second most populous in the United States. South of Los Angeles and with a population of 1,307,402 is San Diego, the second most populous city in the state and the eighth most populous in the nation. The counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside are the five most populous in the state, the motion picture, television, and music industry are centered in the Los Angeles area in Southern California. Hollywood, a district within Los Angeles, gives its name to the American motion picture industry, headquartered in Southern California are The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Universal, MGM, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Brothers. Universal, Warner Brothers, and Sony also run major record companies, Southern California is also home to a large homegrown surf and skateboard culture. Companies such as Vans, Volcom, Quiksilver, No Fear, RVCA, some of the worlds biggest action sports events, including the X Games, Boost Mobile Pro, and the U. S. Open of Surfing, are all held in Southern California. Southern California is also important to the world of yachting, the annual Transpacific Yacht Race, or Transpac, from Los Angeles to Hawaii, is one of yachtings premier events. The San Diego Yacht Club held the Americas Cup, the most prestigious prize in yachting, from 1988 to 1995, Southern California is home to many sports franchises and sports networks such as Fox Sports Net. Many locals and tourists frequent the Southern California coast for its popular beaches, the desert city of Palm Springs is popular for its resort feel and nearby open spaces. Southern California is not a geographic designation and definitions of what constitutes Southern California vary. Geographically, Californias North-South midway point lies at exactly 37°958.23 latitude, around 11 miles south of San Jose, however, when the state is divided into two areas, the term Southern California usually refers to the 10 southernmost counties of the state
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United States Geological Survey
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The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its resources. The organization has four science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology. The USGS is a research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, the USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, the current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is science for a changing world. The agencys previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its anniversary, was Earth Science in the Public Service. Prompted by a report from the National Academy of Sciences, the USGS was created, by a last-minute amendment and it was charged with the classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30,1879. Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies, after a short tenure, King was succeeded in the directors chair by John Wesley Powell. Administratively, it is divided into a Headquarters unit and six Regional Units, Other specific programs include, Earthquake Hazards Program monitors earthquake activity worldwide. The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines detects the location, the USGS also runs or supports several regional monitoring networks in the United States under the umbrella of the Advanced National Seismic System. The USGS informs authorities, emergency responders, the media, and it also maintains long-term archives of earthquake data for scientific and engineering research. It also conducts and supports research on long-term seismic hazards, USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast. The USGS National Geomagnetism Program monitors the magnetic field at magnetic observatories and distributes magnetometer data in real time, the USGS operates the streamgaging network for the United States, with over 7400 streamgages. Real-time streamflow data are available online, since 1962, the Astrogeology Research Program has been involved in global, lunar, and planetary exploration and mapping. USGS operates a number of related programs, notably the National Streamflow Information Program. USGS Water data is available from their National Water Information System database
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North Fork, California
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North Fork is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located 22 miles east of Raymond,9.89 miles south east of Bass Lake and 14 miles from Oakhurst, North Fork is also home of the Sierra Mono Museum and the starting point of the Sierra Scenic Byway. The town boasts one grocery store, three restaurants and two gas stations, North Fork is the birthplace of Jeff King, four-time champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California maintains their headquarters in North Fork. The Sierra Mono Museum is also located here, North Fork is also the home of the US Forest Service Crane Valley Hotshots, an elite crew of wildland firefighters. North Fork is located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 2638 feet, according to the 2000 U. S. Census the population of the 93643 zip code area was 3,360 with a median age of 44.8 years. The community is inside area code 559 and it is part of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area. The geographic center of the state of California is located between North Fork and Italian Bar, the point is about 7.1 miles driving distance from the United States Forest Service office in North Fork. The location is marked by a sign and a survey marker, nAD83 coordinates for the exact center of California are 37°09′58″N 119°26′58″W The Fresno County line is less than one mile, from the sites survey marker. The site is marked on the United States Forest Service road map of Sierra National Forest. The actual site has wooden stairs leading up the hillside about 50 feet from the road, the marker is not wheelchair accessible. North Fork has a Mediterranean climate with cool, rainy winters and hot and its average annual precipitation is 33.43 in. The towns original inhabitants were members of the Mono tribe, who comprise a significant portion of the population. The town was originally named Browns after its first white settler, the name North Fork came from the North Fork Lumber Company. The North Fork post office opened in 1888, North Forks economy was based in the timber industry until the local lumber mill closed in 1996. Center Of California #608, Californias Gold, Huell Howser Productions,1995, North Fork Chamber of Commerce Mono Indian museum in North Fork North Fork Community Development Council
16.
Klamath Mountains
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The Klamath Mountains are a rugged and lightly populated series of mountain ranges in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the western United States. As a consequence of the geology and soil types, the harbor several endemic or near-endemic trees. The mountains are home to a diverse array of fish and animal species, including black bears, large cats, owls, eagles. Millions of acres in the mountains are managed by the United States Forest Service and they are a section of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the Pacific Mountain System physiographic division. The northernmost and largest sub-range of the Klamath Mountains are the Siskiyou Mountains, a large portion of the Klamath Mountains is managed by the United States Forest Service. A 211-mile stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail passes through these mountains as well and this section of the PCT is known locally as The Big Bend and is the transition from the California Floristic Province to the Cascades. The Bigfoot Trail is a 400-mile trail through the Klamath Mountains from the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness to Crescent City, the rocks of the Klamath Mountains originated as island arcs and continental fragments in the Pacific Ocean. The island masses consisted of rifted fragments of pre-existing continents and volcanic island masses created over subduction zones and these island masses contain rocks as old as 500 million years, dating to the early Paleozoic Era. A succession of eight island terranes moved eastward on the ancient Farallon plate, each accretion left a terrane of rock of a single age. During the accretion, subduction of the plate metamorphosed the overlying rock, serpentinite, produced by the metamorphism of basaltic oceanic rocks, and intrusive rocks of gabbroic to granodiorite composition are common rocks within the Klamath terranes. Subsequent lava flows from volcanoes in the Cascade Range and the erosion of the Oregon Coast Range to the north partially covered these rocks with basalt. These communities form the Klamath Mountains ecoregion, one of the principal plant communities in the Klamath Mountains is Mediterranean California Lower Montane Black Oak-Conifer Forest. The flowering plant Kalmiopsis leachiana, also endemic to the Klamaths, is limited to the Siskiyou sub-range in Oregon, conifers A large concentration of diverse coniferous species of trees exists in these mountains. The region also has several plant communities, adapted to specific soil types. In 1969, Drs. John O. Sawyer and Dale Thornburgh discovered 17 species of conifers in 1 square mile around Little Duck Lake and they called this diverse area the Miracle Mile. In 2013 Richard Moore identified an 18th species, western juniper and this is now considered the richest assemblage of conifers per unit area in any temperate region on Earth. Californias northernmost stand of pine is found here along the South Fork of the Salmon River. The vast forested wildlands, coupled with a low rate of settlement in the rugged remote terrain
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Cascade Range
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The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades, the small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet, the Cascades are part of the Pacific Oceans Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the eruptions in the contiguous United States over the last 200 years have been from Cascade volcanoes, the two most recent were Lassen Peak from 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Minor eruptions of Mount St. Helens have also occurred since, the Cascade Range is a part of the American Cordillera, a nearly continuous chain of mountain ranges that form the western backbone of North America, Central America, and South America. The Cascades extend northward from Lassen Peak in northern California to the confluence of the Nicola, the Fraser River separates the Cascades from the Coast Mountains. The highest volcanoes of the Cascades, known as the High Cascades, dominate their surroundings and they often have a visual height of one mile or more. The highest peaks, such as the 14, 411-foot Mount Rainier, Mount Baker in Washington recorded a world-record single-season snowfall in the winter of 1998–99 with 1,140 inches. Prior to that year, Mount Rainier held the record for snow accumulation at Paradise in 1978. It is not uncommon for some places in the Cascades to have over 500 inches of snow accumulation, such as at Lake Helen. Most of the High Cascades are therefore white with snow and ice year-round, annual rainfall is as low as 9 inches on the eastern foothills due to a rain shadow effect. Beyond the eastern foothills is a plateau that was largely created 17 to 14 million years ago by the many flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group. Together, these sequences of fluid volcanic rock form the 200, 000-square-mile Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington, Oregon, the Columbia River Gorge is the only major break of the range in the United States. When the Cascades began to rise 7 million years ago in the Pliocene, as the range grew, erosion from the Columbia River was able to keep pace, creating the gorge and major pass seen today. The gorge also exposes uplifted and warped layers of basalt from the plateau, in early 1792, British navigator George Vancouver explored Puget Sound and gave English names to the high mountains he saw. Mount Baker was named for Vancouvers third lieutenant, Joseph Baker, although the first European to see it was Manuel Quimper, Mount Rainier was named after Admiral Peter Rainier. Later in 1792, Vancouver had his lieutenant William Robert Broughton explore the lower Columbia River and he named Mount Hood after Lord Samuel Hood, an admiral of the Royal Navy. Mount St. Helens was sighted by Vancouver in May 1792 and it was named for Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens, a British diplomat
18.
Modoc Plateau
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The Modoc Plateau lies in the northeast corner of California as well as parts of Oregon and Nevada. It is an expanse of lava flows with cinder cones, juniper flats, pine forests. The plateau is thought to have formed approximately 25 million years ago. Nearly 1,000,000 acres of the Modoc National Forest lie on the plateau between the Medicine Lake Highlands in the west and the Warner Mountains in the east. Forested areas of the plateau include Ponderosa Pine, as well as other species such as California Buckeye. The plateau supports large herds of Mule Deer, Rocky Mountain Elk, there are also several herds of wild horses on the plateau. The Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Long Bell State Game Refuge are located on the plateau as well, list of plants on the Modoc National Forest CERES - Overview of the Modoc Bioregion
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Basin and Range Province
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The Basin and Range Province is a vast physiographic region that covers much of the inland Western United States and northwestern Mexico. It is defined by unique basin and range topography, characterized by changes in elevation. The physiography of the province is the result of tectonic extension that began around 17 Mya in Early Miocene time, the numerous ranges within the Province in the United States are collectively referred to as the Great Basin Ranges, although many are not actually in the Great Basin. Major ranges include the Snake Range, the Panamint Range, the White Mountains, the Sandia Mountains, pico de Orizaba is unambiguously part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt which has little in common with the Basin and Range Province. The highest point fully within the Province is White Mountain Peak in California, the Provinces climate is arid, with numerous ecoregions. Most North American deserts are located in the Province, the Basin and Range Province includes much of western North America. The Basin and Range Province extends north to the Columbia Plateau and south as far as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in Mexico, though the boundaries of the Basin. In Mexico, the Basin and Range Province is dominated by, common geographic features include numerous endorheic basins, ephemeral lakes, plateaus, and valleys alternating with mountains. The area is arid and sparsely populated, although there are several major metropolitan areas, including Mexico City. It is generally accepted that basin and range topography is the result of extension and thinning of the lithosphere, extensional environments like the Basin and Range are characterized by listric normal faulting, or faults that level out with depth. Opposing normal faults link at depth producing a horst and graben geometry, the average crustal thickness of the Basin and Range Province is approximately 30 –35 km and is comparable to extended continental crust around the world. The crust in conjunction with the mantle comprises the lithosphere. The base of the lithosphere beneath the Basin and Range is estimated to be about 60 –70 km, opinions vary regarding the total extension of the region, however, the median estimate is about 100% total lateral extension. Evidence exists to suggest that extension began in the southern Basin and Range. The tectonic mechanisms responsible for extension in the Basin and Range province are controversial. Most of the pertinent tectonic plate movement associated with the Basin and Range Province occurred in Neogene time, by Early Miocene time, much of the Farallon Plate had been consumed, and the seafloor spreading ridge that separated the Farallon Plate from the Pacific Plate approached North America. The movement at this boundary divided the East Pacific Rise and spawned the San Andreas transform fault, today, the Pacific Plate moves north-westward relative to North America, a configuration which has given rise to increased shearing along the continental margin. The tectonic activity responsible for the extension in the Basin and Range is a complex, the most accepted hypothesis suggests that crustal shearing associated with the San Andreas Fault caused spontaneous extensional faulting similar to that seen in the Great Basin
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Coast Ranges
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The Pacific Coast Ranges, are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. The same term is used informally in Canada to refer to the Coast Mountains and adjoining inland ranges such as the Hazelton Mountains, the coastline is often dropping steeply into the sea with photogenic views. Along the British Columbia and Alaska coast, the mountains intermix with the sea in a maze of fjords. Off the Southern California coast the Channel Islands archipelago of the Santa Monica Mountains extends for 160 miles, on the West coast of North America, the coast ranges and the coastal plain form the margin. Most of the land is made of terranes that have accreted onto the margin. In the north, the belt is an accreted terrane. This belt extends from the Wrangellia Terrane in Alaska to the Chilliwack group of Canada, a rupture in Rodinia 750 million years ago formed a passive margin in the eastern Pacific Northwest. The breakup of Pangea 200 million years ago began the movement of the North American plate. As the continent drifted West, terranes were accreted onto the west coast, the timing of the accretion of the insular belt is uncertain, although the closure did not occur until at least 115 million years ago. Other Mesozoic terranes that accreted onto the continent include the Klamath Mountains, the Sierra Nevada,80 to 90 million years ago the subducting Farallon plate split and formed the Kula Plate to the North. This formed an area in what is now Northern California, where the plates converged forming a Mélange, North of this was the Columbia Embayment, where the continental margin was east of the surrounding areas. Many of the major batholiths date from the late Cretaceous, as the Laramide Orogeny ended around 48 million years ago, the accretion of the Siletzia terrane began in the Pacific Northwest. This began the activity in the Cascadia subduction zone, forming the modern Cascade Range. Events here may relate to the ignimbrite flare-up of the southern Basin, as extension in the Basin and Range Province slowed by a change in North American Plate movement circa 7 to 8 Million years ago, rifting began on the Gulf of California. Although many of the ranges do share a common history, the Pacific Coast Ranges province is not defined by geology. However, both are considered part of the Pacific Coast Ranges due to their proximity and similar economic, the Pacific Coast Ranges are home to the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world. Formally unnamed icefields are not listed List of Pacific Coast Ranges topics Coast Range California Coast Ranges Coast Ranges United States physiographic regions
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Transverse Ranges
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The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the end of the California Coast Ranges. They derive the name Transverse Ranges due to their east–west orientation, most of the system lies in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. Lower elevations are dominated by chaparral and scrubland, while higher elevations support large conifer forests, most of the ranges in the system are fault blocks, and were uplifted by tectonic movements during the Cenozoic Era. Most of the Transverse Ranges are bounded to the north and east by the San Andreas Fault, which separates the ranges from the California Coast Ranges, notable passes along the fault include Tejon Pass, Cajon Pass, and San Gorgonio Pass. Components of Transverse Ranges to the north of the include the Tehachapi Mountains. The western and southern boundaries are generally acknowledged to be the Pacific Ocean and various alluvial valleys, major passes not along the San Andreas Fault include Gaviota Pass, San Marcos Pass, the Conejo Grade, Newhall Pass, and Cahuenga Pass. The mountains are notable for being steep and difficult to traverse across, on its northern end, there are few passes that are sufficiently low or wide enough to accommodate significant volumes of traffic. This results in significant traffic issues throughout Southern California when a pass has to be shut due to heavy snow or construction. Occasionally, such as Santa Barbara during the 2005 La Conchita landslide, the Transverse Ranges manifest themselves as a series of roughly parallel ridges with an average height of 3, 000–8,000 feet. They begin at Point Conception in Santa Barbara County, and include the Santa Ynez Mountains that run parallel to the coast behind Santa Barbara. Also in Santa Barbara County, they include the San Rafael Mountains, the Ranges include the steep San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, the San Rafael Hills, Puente Hills, San Jose Hills, and Chino Hills, and the San Bernardino Mountains. The Mojave Desert and Californias low desert, including the Coachella Valley, are at the end of the ranges. The northern Channel Islands of California are also part of the Transverse Ranges, San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, snow falls above 6,000 feet most winters, and above 3,000 feet every few years. It is rare for elevations above 8,000 feet to go multiple winters without snow, the tree line lies at about 11,000 feet, San Gorgonio Mountain is the only peak with an alpine environment. The Transverse Ranges have a geological history, and the rock composition of the ranges are varied. The Transverse Ranges represent a complex of tectonic forces and faulting stemming from the interaction of the Pacific Plate, the San Andreas Fault is a dextral strike-slip fault with a right step, causing the mountains. Their elevation is somewhat better understood as a consequence of this step, the crust atop the Pacific Plate south of the ranges does not easily make the turn westward as the entire plate moves northwestward, forcing pieces of the crust to compress and lift
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Peninsular Ranges
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Elevations range from 500 to 10,834 feet. Sierra San Francisco, Sierra de la Giganta, and Sierra de la Laguna in Baja California, Palomar Mountain, home to Palomar Observatory, is in the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County, as is Viejas Mountain. The Peninsular ranges run predominantly north-south, unlike the Transverse Ranges to their north, rocks in the ranges are dominated by Mesozoic granitic rocks, derived from the same massive batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. They are part of a province known as the Salinian Block which broke off the North American Plate as the San Andreas Fault. Between this set of ranges and the Transverse Ranges is the complex Malibu Coast—Santa Monica—Hollywood fault, most of the Peninsular Ranges are in the Nearctic ecozone. Several terrestrial ecoregions cover portions of the Peninsular Ranges, on western-coast side of the southern portion of the ranges the Baja California desert ecoregion covers in the southern portion of the Peninsular Ranges in Baja California and Baja California Sur. On eastern side of northern ranges, the Sonoran Desert ecoregion covers southeastern California and northeastern Baja California as far south as the town of Loreto, Baja California Sur. On the eastern side of the Laguna Mountains in San Diego County the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is known for its profusion of Colorado Desert wildflowers. On eastern-Gulf of California side of the portion of the ranges the Gulf of California xeric scrub ecoregion covers the range in Baja California Sur. The higher portions of the Peninsular Ranges, especially the slopes, are home to coniferous. Cleveland National Forest covers much of the higher Southern California Peninsular Ranges, the vegetation includes oak woodlands and forests of Jeffrey Pine and Coulter Pine. The Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests cover upper slopes of Sierra Juarez and these isolated forests, predominantly Tamarack Pine, Sugar Pine, Parry Pinyon, White Fir, California Incense Cedar, and junipers. Oak species include Coast Live Oak, Engelmann Oak, Canyon Live Oak and these higher portions of the Peninsular Ranges harbor many rare and endemic species. Southern Baja California Sur is part of the Neotropic ecozone and its flora and fauna share many affinities with southern Mexico and Central America. It includes three distinct ecoregions, the Sierra de la Laguna dry forests, Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests, Peninsular Ranges index Transverse Ranges List of mountain ranges
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Colorado Desert
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Californias Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately 7 million acres including the heavily irrigated Coachella, the Colorado Desert is home to many unique flora and fauna, many of which can be found nowhere else on the planet. The majority of the Colorado Desert lies at a low elevation, below 1,000 feet. Although the highest peaks of the Peninsular Range reach elevations of nearly 10,000 feet, in this region, the geology is dominated by the transition of the tectonic plate boundary from rift to fault. The southernmost strands of the San Andreas Fault connect to the northern-most extensions of the East Pacific Rise, consequently, the region is subject to earthquakes, and the crust is being stretched, resulting in a sinking of the terrain over time. The Colorado Deserts climate distinguishes it from other deserts, the region experiences greater summer daytime temperatures than higher-elevation deserts and almost never experiences frost. In addition, the Colorado Desert experiences two seasons per year, especially toward the southern portion of the region, the more northerly Mojave Desert usually has only winter rains. The west coast Peninsular Ranges, or other west ranges, of Southern California–northern Baja California, block most eastern Pacific coastal air and rains, producing an arid climate. Other short or longer-term weather events can move in from the Gulf of California to the south and these include remnants of Pacific hurricanes, storms from the southern tropical jetstream, and the northern ITCZ. The regions terrestrial habitats include creosote bush scrub, mixed scrub, including yucca and cholla cactus, desert saltbush, sandy soil grasslands, higher elevations are dominated by pinyon pine and California juniper, with areas of manzanita and Coulter pine. In addition to hardy perennials, more than half of the plant species are herbaceous annuals. In the southern portion of the region, the additional moisture supplied by summer rainfall fosters the germination of annual plants and supports smoketree, ironwood. The unique Joshua tree can be found in Joshua Tree National Park, common desert wildlife include mule deer, bobcat, desert kangaroo rat, cactus mouse, black-tailed jackrabbit, Gambels quail, and red-diamond rattlesnake. The best place to spot wildlife is at the wetland refuges along the Colorado River, Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, in the Colorado Deserts arid environment, aquatic and wetland habitats are limited in extent but are critically important to wildlife. Two of the regions most significant aquatic systems are the Salton Sea, in some places, summer rains produce short-lived seasonal pools that host uncommon species like Couchs spadefoot toad. Desert fan palm oases are rare ecological communities found only in the Colorado Desert, the only palm native to California, Washingtonia filifera, grows at the oases. Some sub-regions of the Colorado Desert contain endemic flora, many unique communities, particularly aquatic and dune systems, are limited in distribution and separated by vast expanses of inhospitable, arid desert terrain. Even limited human disturbances can have deleterious effects on the endemic
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Alta California
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Alta California, founded in 1769 by Gaspar de Portolà, was a polity of New Spain and after the Mexican War of Independence in 1822, a territory of Mexico. The region included all of the states of California, Nevada, and Utah. Large areas east of the Sierra Nevada and San Gabriel Mountains were claimed to be part of Alta California, to the southeast, beyond the deserts and the Colorado River, lay the Spanish settlements in Arizona. The areas formerly comprising Alta California were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican–American War in 1848, two years later, California joined the union as the 31st state. Other parts of Alta California became all or part of the later U. S. states of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. The Spanish explored the area of Alta California by sea beginning in the 16th century. During the following two centuries there were plans to settle the area, none of which were effectively carried out. Ultimately, New Spain did not have the resources nor population to settle such a far northern outpost. To ascertain the Russian threat a number of Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest were launched, the Spanish Crown funded the construction and subsidized the operation of the missions, with the goal that the relocation, conversion and enforced labor of Native people would bolster Spanish rule. The first Alta California mission and presidio were established by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra, the following year,1770, the second mission and presidio were founded in Monterey. In 1773 a boundary between the Baja California missions and the Franciscan missions of Alta California was set by Francisco Palóu, the missionary effort coincided with the construction of presidios and pueblos, which were to be manned and populated by Hispanic people. The first pueblo founded was San José in 1777, followed by Los Ángeles in 1781, by law, mission land and property were to pass to the indigenous population after a period of about ten years, when the natives would become Spanish subjects. In the interim period, the Franciscans were to act as mission administrators who held the land in trust for the Native residents, the transfer of property never occurred under the Franciscans. As the number of Spanish settlers grew in Alta California, the boundaries, conflicts between the Crown and the Church and between Natives and settlers arose. State and ecclesiastical bureaucrats debated over authority of the missions and they advocated that the Natives owned property and had the right to defend it. Governor Diego de Borica is credited with defining Alta and Baja Californias official borders, Mexico won independence in 1822, and Alta California became a territory of Mexico. The Spanish and later Mexican governments rewarded retired soldados de cuera with large grants, known as ranchos, for the raising of cattle. Hides and tallow from the livestock were the primary exports of California until the mid-19th century, the construction, ranching and domestic work on these vast estates was primarily done by Native Americans, who had learned to speak Spanish and ride horses
25.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
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With the defeat of its army and the fall of its capital, Mexico entered into negotiations to end the war. The treaty called for the U. S. to pay $15 million to Mexico, Mexicans in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexicos new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. Over 90% chose to become U. S. citizens, the U. S. Senate advised and consented to ratification of the treaty by a vote of 38–14. The opponents of this treaty were led by the Whigs, who had opposed the war and rejected Manifest destiny in general, and rejected this expansion in particular. The peace talks were negotiated by Nicholas Trist, chief clerk of the US State Department, Nicholas Trist negotiated with a special commission representing the collapsed government led by Don José Bernardo Couto, Don Miguel de Atristain, and Don Luis Gonzaga Cuevas of Mexico. Instead, Article V of the treaty simply described the new U. S. –Mexico border. Comparing the boundary in the Adams–Onís Treaty to the Guadalupe Hidalgo boundary, Mexico conceded about 55% of its pre-war, pre-Texas territorial claims, articles VIII and IX ensured safety of existing property rights of Mexican citizens living in the transferred territories. Despite assurances to the contrary, the property rights of Mexican citizens were not honored by the U. S. in accordance with modifications to. The U. S. also agreed to assume $3.25 million in debts that Mexico owed to United States citizens, the residents had one year to choose whether they wanted American or Mexican citizenship, Over 90% chose American citizenship, which included full voting rights. The others returned to Mexico, or in cases in New Mexico were allowed to remain in place as Mexican citizens. Article XII engaged the United States to pay, In consideration of the acquired,15 million dollars. Article XI of the treaty was important to Mexico. S, would return captives of the Indians to Mexico. Mexicans believed that the United States had encouraged and assisted the Comanche and Apache raids that had devastated northern Mexico in the years before the war and this article promised relief to them Article XI, however, proved unenforceable. Destructive Indian raids continued despite a heavy U. S. presence near the Mexican border, Mexico filed 366 claims with the U. S. government for damages done by Comanche and Apache raids between 1848 and 1853. In 1853, in the Treaty of Mesilla concluding the Gadsden Purchase, the remainder of New Mexico and Arizona were peacefully purchased under the Gadsden Purchase, which was carried out in 1853. In this purchase the United States paid an additional $10 million, however, the American Civil War delayed construction of such a route, and it was not until 1881 that the Southern Pacific Railroad finally was completed, fulfilling the purpose of the acquisition. Mexico had claimed the area in question since winning its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. About 80,000 Mexicans lived in the areas of California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas during the period of 1845 to 1850, and far fewer in Nevada, in southern and western Colorado, and in Utah
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Lake Tahoe
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Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at 6,225 ft, it straddles the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, and its depth is 1,645 ft, making it the second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon. The lake was formed about 2 million years ago as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin and it is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides. The area surrounding the lake is referred to as Lake Tahoe. More than 75% of the watershed is national forest land. Lake Tahoe is a major tourist attraction in both Nevada and California and it is home to winter sports, summer outdoor recreation, and scenery enjoyed throughout the year. Snow and ski resorts are a significant part of the areas economy, the Nevada side also offers large casinos, with highways providing year-round access to the entire area. It is about 22 mi long and 12 mi wide and has 72 mi of shoreline, approximately two-thirds of the shoreline is in California. Although highways run within sight of the shore for much of Tahoes perimeter. The Lake Tahoe Watershed of 505 sq mi includes the area that drains to the lake. Lake Tahoe is fed by 63 tributaries and these drain an area about the same size as the lake and produce half its water, with the balance entering as rain or snow falling directly on it. The Truckee River is the only outlet, flowing northeast through Reno, Nevada. It accounts for one third of the water leaves the lake. The flow of the Truckee River and the height of the lake are controlled by the Lake Tahoe Dam at the outlet, the natural rim is at 6,223 ft above sea level, with a spillway at the dam controlling overflow. The maximum legal limit, to which the lake can be allowed to rise in order to water, is at 6,229.1 ft. Around New Year 1996/1997 a Pineapple Express atmospheric river melted snow and caused the lake and river to overflow, inundating Reno, the Lake Tahoe Basin was formed by vertical motion faulting. Uplifted blocks created the Carson Range on the east and the main Sierra Nevada crest on the west, down-dropped blocks created the Lake Tahoe Basin in between
27.
Colorado River
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The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The 1, 450-mile-long Colorado River drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U. S. starting in the central Rocky Mountains in the U. S. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora. Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U. S. National Parks, the Colorados large flow and steep gradient are used for generating hydroelectric power, and its major dams regulate peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles of the river, beginning with small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. Most native peoples that inhabit the basin today are descended from groups that settled in the region beginning about 1,000 years ago. Europeans first entered the Colorado Basin in the 16th century, when explorers from Spain began mapping and claiming the area, early contact between Europeans and Native Americans was generally limited to the fur trade in the headwaters and sporadic trade interactions along the lower river. After most of the Colorado River basin became part of the U. S. in 1846, several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century – one of which, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. American explorers collected valuable information that would later be used to develop the river for navigation, lesser numbers settled in the upper basin, which was the scene of major gold strikes in the 1860s and 1870s. Large engineering works began around the start of the 20th century, with guidelines established in a series of international. The U. S. federal government was the driving force behind the construction of dams and aqueducts in the river system, although many state. Most of the dams in the river basin were built between 1910 and 1970, the system keystone, Hoover Dam, was completed in 1935. The Colorado is now considered among the most controlled and litigated rivers in the world, as demands for Colorado River water continue to rise, the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy. The Colorado begins at La Poudre Pass in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, after a short run south, the river turns west below Grand Lake, the largest natural lake in the state. As it flows southwest, it gains strength from many tributaries, as well as larger ones including the Blue, Eagle. In a few areas, such as the marshy Kawuneeche Valley near the headwaters, arcing northwest, the Colorado begins to cut across the eponymous Colorado Plateau, a vast area of high desert centered at the Four Corners of the southwestern United States. In Utah, the Colorado flows primarily through the slickrock country and this is one of the most inaccessible regions of the continental United States. Here, the San Juan River, carrying runoff from the slope of Colorados San Juan Mountains, joins the Colorado from the east. S
28.
Davis Dam
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Davis Dam is a dam on the Colorado River about 70 miles downstream from Hoover Dam. It stretches across the border between Arizona and Nevada, originally called Bullhead Dam, Davis Dam was renamed after Arthur Powell Davis, who was the director of the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1914 to 1923. The United States Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the dam, Davis Dam impounds the Colorado River and forms Lake Mohave. Davis Dam Davis Dam is a zoned earth-fill dam with a spillway,1,600 ft in length at the crest. The earth fill dam begins on the Nevada side, but it does not extend to the Arizona side on the east, instead, there is an inlet formed by earth and concrete, that includes the spillway. The hydroelectric power plant is beside the inlet, the dams purpose is to re-regulate releases from Hoover Dam upstream, and facilitate the delivery of Colorado River water to Mexico. Bullhead City, Arizona, and Laughlin, Nevada, are located just below the dam along the river, Bullhead City was originally a construction town for workers building the dam. A road is located on the crest of the earth portion of the dam. It was formerly part of Arizona State Route 68 to Nevada, in April 2004, the roadway was shut down to vehicle traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic are permitted, the old roadway is now an extension of the Heritage Trail system. Barriers have been placed on the road at each end of the earthen dam. The facility is heavily patrolled by security forces who strictly enforce parking regulations, Davis Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant The Davis Dam Power Plant is a hydroelectric power plant located on the Arizona side of the dam, beside the inlet. The hydroelectric plant generates between 1 and 2 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, the plant has a capacity of 251 MW and the tops of its five Francis turbines are visible from outside the plant. The plants head is 136 ft. AZ-77, Davis Dam HAER No
29.
Lake Mohave
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Lake Mohave is a reservoir on the Colorado River between the Hoover Dam and Davis Dam in Cottonwood Valley defining the border between Nevada and Arizona in the United States. A maximum width of 4 miles wide and an elevation of 647 feet, there are three resorts on Lake Mohave, Katherine Landing and Willow Beach in Arizona and Cottonwood Cove in Nevada. Katherine Landing and Cottonwood Cove resorts offer lodging, RV parks with utility hook-ups, campgrounds, a restaurant a store, popular recreational activities in Lake Mohave are swimming, kayaking, fishing, boating, and skiing. There are kayaking, scuba diving, and fishing supplies in Bullhead City, Lake Mohave offers year-round recreational opportunities. Its clear water caters to boaters, swimmers, and fishermen while its desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers and it is also home to thousands of desert plants and animals, adapted to survive in an extreme place where rain is scarce and temperatures soar. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which encompasses Lake Mead, Lake Mohave, at Lake Mohave, divers can explore Black Canyon, which has excellent diving conditions. Advanced divers can check out Ringbolt Rapids, where swift water makes for an additional challenge, work Barge on the Arizona side has a 38-foot tow barge that sank in 1946. Cabinsite Point has two boat wrecks to view, PWCs allowed to be operated within Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which encompasses Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, include any four-stroke, and two-strokes meeting EPA2006 emission standards. As of December 31,2012 many two-stroke personal watercraft are no longer allowed to operate within Lake Mead National Recreation Area and these include any PWC with a carbureted two-stroke engine. Enforcement began January 1,2013 as part of a ten-year phase-in, the volcanic origin of Black Canyon and Cottonwood Valley has resulted in a number of hot springs along the northern portion of Lake Mohave. Gold Strike Hot Springs is located close to the shore which is accessible from a trailhead 1.2 miles south of the Hoover Dam. These springs are available from the Gold Strike Hot Springs Trail Head two miles east of the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada. Due to the two mile hike from public parking and consistent pools, these springs are frequently visited. Two Mile Hot Springs and Arizona Hot Springs are within a few miles of this same area, the habitats are composed primarily of bundled salt cedar trees attached to wooden pallets. When placed in the water, the structures create cover for sport fish, additionally, Lake Mohave contains one of the largest and most genetically diverse population of razorback sucker remaining in the wild. Larvae are then transported by boat to Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery where they grow in protected raceways for up to three years. When individuals have reached approximately 14 inches in length, they are released back into Lake Mohave in order to avoid predation by larger, introduced game fish such as striped bass
30.
Yuma, Arizona
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Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the corner of the state. Yuma is the city of the Yuma, Arizona Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2014 estimated population of the Yuma MSA is 203,247, more than 85,000 retirees make Yuma their winter residence. The areas first settlers for thousands of years were Native American cultures and their descendants now occupy the Cocopah and Quechan reservations. In 1540, Spanish colonial expeditions under Hernando de Alarcon and Melchior Diaz visited the area, the Colorado River narrows to slightly under 1,000 feet wide in one area. Military expeditions that crossed the Colorado River at the Yuma Crossing include Juan Bautista de Anza, the Mormon Battalion, during and after the California Gold Rush to the late 1870s, the Yuma Crossing was known for its ferry crossings for the Southern Emigrant Trail. This was considered the gateway to California, as it was one of the few spots where travelers could cross the otherwise very wide Colorado River. Following the United States establishing Fort Yuma, two towns developed one mile down river, the one on the California side was called Jaeger City, named after the owner of Jaegers Ferry, which crossed the river there. It was for a time the larger of the two, with the Butterfield Overland Mail office and station, two blacksmiths, a hotel, two stores, and other dwellings, the other was called Colorado City. Developed on the side of the river in what is now Arizona by speculator Charles Poston. When started, it was just north of the border between Mexican-ruled Sonora, Mexico and California, after the Gadsden Purchase by the United States, the town bordered on the Territory of New Mexico. This area was designated as the Territory of Arizona in 1863, the county of San Diego collected taxes from there for many years. From 1853 a smaller settlement, Arizona City, grew up on the ground across from the fort and was organized under the name of its post office in 1858. It had adobe dwellings, two stores and two saloons, Colorado City and Jaeger City were almost completely destroyed by the Great Flood of 1862 and had to be rebuilt on higher ground. At that time Colorado City became part of Arizona City and it took the name Yuma in 1873. From 1854, Colorado City was the major stop for traffic up. After the 1862 flood, it part of Arizona City
31.
Constitutional Convention (California)
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The California Constitutional Conventions were two separate constitutional conventions that took place in California during the nineteenth century. The first, held in September and October 1849, in advance of California attaining U. S. statehood the following year and this document maintains jurisdiction along with the current constitution which was ratified on May 7,1879. Article 3 Section 2 of the current Constitution references the original boundaries as stated in the 1849 Constitution at Article 7, multiple calls for a third state constitutional convention have been raised during the past quarter-century, but none has thus far gained widespread political momentum. The first California Constitutional Convention took place in September and October in 1849, riley, ex officio Governor of California, issued a proclamation on 3 June 1849 calling for a convention and a special election on August 1 where delegates to the convention would be elected. The second California Constitutional Convention took place from March 1878 to March 1879, the new California Constitution produced by the Convention was voted for on May 7,1879, and adopted by a vote of 77,959 to 67,134. Mr. Wunderman was visiting the California legislature at a time when the government was in the midst of a record 80-day-long budget stalemate. Among the consequences of the deficit, the state enacted unprecedented fee increases at its colleges and universities. In an email sent to the author of this article, Mr. Wunderman stated and it was more an expression of frustration attributed to Perata than an actual suggestion, I believe. The organized effort to call a convention in California began with a series of summits. The principal proponents of the Sacramento summit were the Bay Area Council, the California League of Women Voters, Common Cause, velasquez Institute, the Center for Governmental Studies, the Greenlining Institute, the Courage Campaign, the Planning and Conservation League, and the Silicon Valley Network. Californians have held constitutional conventions twice in the past, the first 1849 and the second, in 1878-1879, gave birth to the constitution that still governs California. The hope of those who supported a convention is that it could take on the manifold structural problems in Californias budget process at a single stroke. Letters requesting ballot titles for two potential California 2010 ballot propositions were filed with the California Attorney General in June 2009, revised language was submitted in October 2009. Problems they point to include, It has the worst bond rating of the 50 states, in 2009, income-tax receipts are coming in far below expectations. If the California 2009 ballot propositions May 19 ballot propositions had passed, the amount of deficit expected if they failed, as they did, was $15.4 billion. Those who do are older, whiter and richer than the younger, browner and poorer population. 63% said that delegates to a convention should include a wide range of perspectives. A Constitutional Revision Commission met in the mid-1990s and made a series of recommendations about a revision of the states constitution
32.
Interstate 5
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It serves the largest cities on the U. S. West Coast, including Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and also links the cities of Washington, Oregon. Upon crossing the Mexican border at its terminus, Interstate 5 continues to Tijuana. Upon crossing the Canada–US border at its terminus, it continues to Vancouver as British Columbia Highway 99. It is the 12th longest highway in the U. S. following I-15, I-5 links to control cities in California, Oregon, and Washington. North of Seattle, the city is Vancouver, British Columbia, it is signed as Vancouver B. C. in order to avoid confusion with Vancouver. One notable control city that I-5 does not directly reach is San Francisco, to the south, in the Tracy area, I-580 splits from I-5 towards San Francisco, while to the north, near Vacaville, I-505 cuts south to I-80, which serves that city. That routing, via I-580, I-80, and I-505, was planned originally as I-5W, the southernmost point of I-5 is at the Mexican border at the San Ysidro border crossing, one of the busiest in the world. Here I-5 is also known as the San Diego Freeway, at Dana Point, I-5 turns inland and heads due north through Mission Viejo to the El Toro Y interchange in southeastern Irvine. I-5 becomes the Santa Ana Freeway as it runs southeast to northwest, passing through cities and suburbs in Orange. Southern Californians refer to it as the 5 Freeway or as the Santa Ana Freeway in the Los Angeles area, from this point, the San Diego Freeway continues northward as I-405. When the freeway reaches the East Los Angeles Interchange one mile east of downtown Los Angeles, the route continues through the San Fernando Valley and then crosses the Newhall Pass through the Santa Susana Mountains into the Santa Clarita Valley. The interchange with State Route 14 is unusual in that traffic is separated into its own lanes for both the mainline of the freeway and the transition ramps to and from SR14. At that point, the Golden State Freeway rises sharply to the north through the Grapevine to eventually reach the second-highest point of its entire length, path 26 power lines generally follow the freeway along this stretch. I-580 splits from I-5 at a point south of Tracy, providing a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. After passing Tracy, I-5 heads north through Stockton and Sacramento before turning west to Woodland, at Woodland, the Interstate heads northwest again towards Dunnigan, where it converges with I-505. From Dunnigan, I-5 skirts north along the edge of the Sacramento Valley to Red Bluff. I-5 then enters the Shasta Cascade region, passing through Redding, the interstate then travels to Weed and Yreka before reaching the Oregon border
33.
San Francisco Bay Area
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The San Francisco Bay Area is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses the cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Francisco. The Bay Areas nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California, the fifth-largest in the United States, the Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 Companies in the United States, and is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay, the inner East Bay is more densely populated, with generally older buildings, and a more ethnically diverse population. The word Lamorinda was coined by combining the names of the cities it includes, Lafayette, Moraga, walnut Creek is situated east of Lamorinda and north of the San Ramon Valley and, together with Concord, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill comprises Central Contra Costa County. The cities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley and the areas surrounding them comprise East Contra Costa County. The Tri-Valley consists of the Amador, the Livermore, and the San Ramon Valleys, dublin and Pleasanton comprise the Amador Valley, Livermore lies in the Livermore Valley, and the San Ramon Valley consists of Alamo, Danville, Diablo and its namesake, San Ramon. The outer East Bay is connected to the inner East Bay by BART, Interstate 580 to the south, and State Routes State Route 4 to the north, the outer East Bays infrastructure was mostly built up after World War II. This area remains largely white demographically, although the Hispanic and Filipino populations have grown significantly over the past 2–3 decades, the region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known locally as the North Bay. This area encompasses Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County, the city of Fairfield, being part of Solano County, is often considered the easternmost city of the North Bay. With few exceptions, this region is affluent, Marin County is ranked as the wealthiest in the state. The North Bay is relatively rural compared to the remainder of the Bay Area, with areas of undeveloped open space, farmland. Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is the North Bays largest city, with a population of 167,815 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area population of 466,891, making it the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. The North Bay is the section of the Bay Area that is not currently served by a commuter rail service. The area from San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, geographically part of the San Francisco Peninsula, is known locally as The Peninsula, many of these families are of foreign background and have significantly contributed to the diversity of the area. Whereas the term peninsula technically refers to the entire geographical San Franciscan Peninsula, in local terms, San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, the north, east, and west. The city squeezes roughly 870,000 people in under 47 square miles, on any given day, there can be as many as 1 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism
34.
San Francisco, California
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
35.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
36.
San Jose, California
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San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the economic, cultural, and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2015 population of 1,026,908, it is the third most populous city in California and the tenth most populous in United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley, on the shore of San Francisco Bay. San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, the most affluent county in California. San Jose is the largest city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was inhabited by the Ohlone people, San Jose was founded on November 29,1777, as the Pueblo of San José de Guadalupe, the first civilian town founded in Spanish Alta California. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose became the states first capital, following World War II, San Jose experienced an economic boom, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 60s. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from a center to an urbanized metropolitan area. Results of the 1990 U. S. Census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California, by the 1990s, San Jose and the rest of Silicon Valley had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries. San Jose is considered to be a city, notable for its affluence. San Joses location within the high tech industry, as a cultural, political. San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world, and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world, according to the Brookings Institute. Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems, eBay, Adobe Systems, PayPal, Brocade, Samsung, Acer, Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans. The first lasting European presence began with a series of Franciscan missions established from 1769 by Junípero Serra, San Jose came under Mexican rule in 1821 after Mexico broke with the Spanish crown. It then became part of the United States, after it capitulated in 1846, on March 27,1850, San Jose became the second incorporated city in the state, with Josiah Belden its first mayor. San Jose was Californias first state capital, and hosted the first, today the Circle of Palms Plaza in downtown is the historical marker for the first state capital. The city was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, in the period 1900 through 1910, San Jose served as a center for pioneering invention, innovation, and impact in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air flight. These activities were led principally by John Montgomery and his peers, the City of San Jose has established Montgomery Park, a Monument at San Felipe and Yerba Buena Roads, and John J. Montgomery Elementary School in his honor
37.
Sacramento, California
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Sacramento is the capital city of the U. S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. It is at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the portion of Californias expansive Central Valley. Its estimated 2014 population of 485,199 made it the sixth-largest city in California, Sacramento is the cultural and economic core of the Sacramento metropolitan area, which includes seven counties with a 2010 population of 2,414,783. In 2002, the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University conducted for Time magazine named Sacramento Americas Most Diverse City, Sacramento became a city through the efforts of the Swiss immigrant John Sutter, Sr. his son John Augustus Sutter, Jr. and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew quickly thanks to the protection of Sutters Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839, the city was named after the Sacramento River, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish cavalry officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santísimo Sacramento, California State University, Sacramento, is the largest university in the city and one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. University of the Pacific is a university with one of its three campuses in Sacramento. In addition, the University of California, Davis, located in nearby Davis, operates its UC Davis Medical Center, nisenan and Plains Miwok Native Americans had lived in the area for perhaps thousands of years. Unlike the settlers who would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Native Americans left little evidence of their existence. Traditionally, their diet was dominated by acorns taken from the oak trees in the region, and by fruits, bulbs, seeds. In 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley, a Spanish writer with the Moraga expedition wrote, Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths, the air was like champagne, and drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. The valley and the river were then christened after the Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, John Sutter first arrived on August 13,1839 at the divergence of the American and Sacramento Rivers with a Mexican land grant of 50,000 acres. The next year, he and his party established Sutters Fort, representing Mexico, Sutter called his colony New Helvetia, a Swiss inspired name, and was the political authority and dispenser of justice in the new settlement. Soon, the colony began to grow as more and more pioneers headed west, within just a few short years, John Sutter had become a grand success, owning a ten-acre orchard and a herd of thirteen thousand cattle. Fort Sutter became a stop for the increasing number of immigrants coming through the valley. In 1847, Sutter hired James Marshall to build a sawmill so that he could continue to expand his empire, Sutter received 2,000 fruit trees in 1847, which started the agriculture industry in the Sacramento Valley. In 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutters Mill in Coloma and he hired topographical engineer William H
38.
Greater Sacramento
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The metropolitan area experienced a growth of nearly 20% in the last decade. In the 2000 census, the Sacramento MSA had a population of 1,930,857 and it lies in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada regions of California as well as a small region of Western Nevada. Greater Sacramento also contains sites of natural beauty including Lake Tahoe and it is also located in one of the worlds most important agricultural areas. The regions eastern counties are located in Gold Country, site of the California Gold Rush, the Greater Sacramento area is composed of eight counties, two metropolitan areas and two micropolitan areas. Sutter and Yuba counties comprise the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, Nevada County comprises the Truckee-Grass Valley Micropolitan Area, and Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos micropolitan area. An increasing phenomenon taking shape in Greater Sacramento is growth of urban sprawl as Sacramento, local and state governments are trying to prevent destruction of forests and open land and curbing the spread before Sacramento faces an urban sprawl crisis as the Greater Los Angeles Area has. It is the only interstate MSA/CSA in California, Sacramento is the largest city in the metropolitan area, home to nearly 470,000, making it the sixth largest city in California and the 35th largest in the United States. It has been the capital of California since 1851 and has played an important role in the history of California. When gold was discovered in nearby Sutters Mill in Coloma, Sacramento became a boom town luring in migrants making their way from San Francisco to the fields of the Sierras. Sacramento today continues to be one of the largest rail hubs in North America, in 2002, Time Magazine featured an article recognizing Sacramento as the most diverse and integrated city in America. Government jobs are still the largest sector of employment in the city, the remainder of Sacramento County is suburban in general with most of the working population commuting to Downtown Sacramento and with a smaller proportion commuting all the way to the Bay Area. El Dorado and Placer Counties form the remainder of the core of Greater Sacramento and are composed of the Sierra foothills. Placer County has been an important mining area not only for gold, the Yuba-Sutter Area consists of Yuba and Sutter counties and is a primarily agricultural area, although the southern area is more suburban in character. It is home to Sunsweet Growers, which owns the worlds largest dried fruit plant in Yuba City. The Donner Memorial State Park is located in the county, where the ill-fated Donner Party was trapped in winter storms in 1846–47 while attempting to make it to California on an organized trip. Douglas County, is the county in Nevada in the Greater Sacramento area and is the only non-Californian county to be located in a California metropolitan region. The addition of Douglas County is recent, as Greater Sacramento continues to grow beyond its region, Western Nevada continues to be influenced by Sacramento and California. Douglas County is home of Tahoe resorts and casinos as well as suburban outskirts of Sacramento, the western half of Greater Sacramento is centered on the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country
39.
Sequoia sempervirens
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Sequoia sempervirens /sᵻˈkɔɪ. ə sɛmpərˈvaɪrənz/ is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood and it is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1, 200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and these trees are also among the oldest living things on Earth. The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron, here, the term redwood on its own refers to the species covered in this article, and not to the other two species. Scottish botanist David Don described the redwood as the evergreen taxodium in his colleague Aylmer Bourke Lamberts 1824 work A description of the genus Pinus, austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher erected the genus Sequoia in his 1847 work Synopsis coniferarum, giving the redwood its current binomial name of Sequoia sempervirens. The redwood is one of three living species, each in its own genus, in the subfamily Sequoioideae, molecular studies have shown the three to be each others closest relatives, generally with the redwood and giant sequoia as each others closest relatives. However, Yang and colleagues in 2010 queried the polyploid state of the redwood, further analysis strongly supported the hypothesis that Sequoia was the result of a hybridization event involving Metasequoia and Sequoiadendron. Thus, Yang and colleagues hypothesize that the inconsistent relationships among Metasequoia, Sequoia, the coast redwood can reach 115 m tall with a trunk diameter of 9 m. It has a crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark can be thick, up to 1-foot, and quite soft and fibrous, with a bright red-brown color when freshly exposed. The root system is composed of shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots, the leaves are variable, being 15–25 mm long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees. On the other hand, they are scale-like, 5–10 mm long on shoots in full sun in the crown of older trees. They are dark green above and have two blue-white stomatal bands below, leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture. The species is monoecious, with pollen and seed cones on the same plant, the seed cones are ovoid, 15–32 millimetres long, with 15–25 spirally arranged scales, pollination is in late winter with maturation about 8–9 months after. Each cone scale bears three to seven seeds, each seed 3–4 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres broad, the seeds are released when the cone scales dry out and open at maturity. The pollen cones are ovular and 4–6 millimetres long and its genetic makeup is unusual among conifers, being a hexaploid and possibly allopolyploid. Both the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of the redwood are paternally inherited, the prevailing elevation range is 98–2,460 ft above sea level, occasionally down to 0 and up to 3,000 ft. They usually grow in the mountains where precipitation from the incoming moisture off the ocean is greater, the tallest and oldest trees are found in deep valleys and gullies, where year-round streams can flow, and fog drip is regular
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Yosemite Valley
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Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California. The valley is about 8 miles long and up to a deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan. The valley is drained by the Merced River and a multitude of streams and waterfalls including Tenaya, Illilouette, Yosemite, Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America, and is a big attraction especially in the spring when the water flow is at its peak. The valley is renowned for its beauty, and is widely regarded as the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park. The Valley is the attraction in the park for the majority of visitors. On July 2,2011 there was a record 20,851 visitors to the valley, most visitors enter the valley from roads to the west and pass through the famous Tunnel View entrance. Visitor facilities are located in the center of the valley, there are both hiking trail loops that stay within the valley and trailheads that lead to higher elevations, all of which afford glimpses of the parks many scenic wonders. Yosemite Valley is located on the slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains,150 miles due east of San Francisco. It stretches for 7.5 miles in a roughly east-west direction, Yosemite Valley represents only one percent of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay. More than half a dozen creeks tumble from hanging valleys at the top of cliffs that can rise 3000–4000 feet above the valley floor. These streams combine into the Merced River, which flows out from the end of the valley. The flat floor of Yosemite Valley holds both forest and large meadows, which provide breathtaking views of the surrounding crests and waterfalls. The first view of Yosemite Valley many visitors see is the Tunnel View, so many paintings were made from a viewpoint nearby that the National Park Service named that viewpoint Artist Point. The view from the end of the Valley contains the great granite monolith El Capitan on the left. Just past this spot the Valley suddenly widens with the Cathedral Spires, to this point, the Valley has been curving gently to the left, to the north. Now a grand curve back to the right begins, with Yosemite Falls on the north, followed by the Royal Arches, opposite to the south is Glacier Point,3,200 feet above the Valley floor. At this point the Valley splits into two, one section slanting northeast, with the other curving from south to southeast, between them both, at the eastern end of the valley, is Half Dome, the most famous and most recognizable natural feature in the Sierra Nevada. Above and to the northeast of Half Dome is Clouds Rest, at 9926 feet, snow melting in the Sierra forms creeks and lakes
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Mount Shasta
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Mount Shasta is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 feet, it is the second highest peak in the Cascades, Mount Shasta has an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles, which makes it the most voluminous stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The mountain and its area are managed by the U. S. Forest Service as part of the Shasta–Trinity National Forest. Mount Shasta is connected to nearby Shastina, and they dominate the northern California landscape and it rises abruptly and stands nearly 10,000 ft above the surrounding terrain. On a clear day, snowy Mount Shasta can be seen from the floor of the Central Valley 140 miles to the south. The mountain has attracted the attention of poets, authors, if Shastina were a separate mountain, it would rank as the fourth-highest peak of the Cascade Range. Mount Shastas surface is free of deep glacial erosion except, paradoxically. This is the largest glacial valley on the volcano, although it not now have a glacier in it. There are seven named glaciers on Mount Shasta, with the four largest radiating down from high on the summit cone to below 10,000 ft primarily on the north. The Whitney Glacier is the longest, and the Hotlum is the most voluminous glacier in the state of California. Three of the smaller named glaciers occupy cirques near and above 11,000 ft on the south and southeast sides, including the Watkins, Konwakiton, and Mud Creek glaciers. The oldest known human habitation in the dates to about 7,000 years ago. The historic eruption of Mount Shasta in 1786 may have been observed by Lapérouse, although perhaps first seen by Spanish explorers, the first reliably reported land sighting of Mount Shasta by a European or American was by Peter Skene Ogden in 1826. In 1827, the name Sasty or Sastise was given to nearby Mount McLoughlin by Ogden, the name was transferred to present-day Mount Shasta in 1841, partly as a result of work by the United States Exploring Expedition. Beginning in the 1820s, Mount Shasta was a prominent landmark along what became known as the Siskiyou Trail, the Siskiyou Trail was on the track of an ancient trade and travel route of Native American footpaths between Californias Central Valley and the Pacific Northwest. The California Gold Rush brought the first Euro-American settlements into the area in the early 1850s, including at Yreka, California, the first recorded ascent of Mount Shasta occurred in 1854, after several earlier failed attempts. In 1856, the first women reached the summit, by the 1860s and 1870s, Mount Shasta was the subject of scientific and literary interest. A book by California pioneer and entrepreneur James Hutchings, titled Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California, the summit was achieved by John Muir, Josiah Whitney, Clarence King, and John Wesley Powell
42.
Mount Rainier
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Mount Rainier, Mount Tacoma, or Mount Tahoma is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the U. S. state of Washington. It is an active stratovolcano located 54 miles south-southeast of Seattle. Because of its amount of glacial ice, Mt.7 million living in its metropolitan area. Mount Rainier was first known by the Native Americans as Talol, one hypothesis of the word origin is, in the Lushootseed language spoken by the Puyallup people. Another hypothesis is that Tacoma means larger than Mount Baker in Lushootseed, Ta, larger, plus Koma, other names originally used include Tahoma, Tacobeh, and Pooskaus. The current name was given by George Vancouver, who named it in honor of his friend, the map of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806 refers to it as Mt. Regniere. Tacoma was preferred in the city of Tacoma, in 1890, the United States Board on Geographic Names declared that the mountain would be known as Rainier. Following this in 1897, the Pacific Forest Reserve became the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, despite this, there was still a movement to change the mountains name to Tacoma and Congress was still considering a resolution to change the name as late as 1924. After the 2015 restoration of the original name Denali to Mount McKinley in Alaska, Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington and the Cascade Range. This peak is located just east of Eatonville and just southeast of Seattle, Mount Rainier is ranked third of the 128 ultra-prominent mountain peaks of the United States. Mount Rainier has a prominence of 13,210 ft, which is greater than that of K2. On clear days it dominates the horizon in most of the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area to such an extent that locals sometimes refer to it simply as the Mountain. On days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Corvallis, Oregon and Victoria, with 26 major glaciers and 36 sq mi of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each more than 1,000 ft in diameter, with the larger east crater overlapping the west crater, the Carbon, Puyallup, Mowich, Nisqually, and Cowlitz Rivers begin at eponymous glaciers of Mount Rainier. The sources of the White River are Winthrop, Emmons, the broad top of Mount Rainier contains three named summits. The highest is called the Columbia Crest, the second highest summit is Point Success,14,158 ft, at the southern edge of the summit plateau, atop the ridge known as Success Cleaver. It has a prominence of about 138 ft, so it is not considered a separate peak. The lowest of the three summits is Liberty Cap,14,112 ft, at the edge, which overlooks Liberty Ridge, the Sunset Amphitheater
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Washington state
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It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, Washington is the 18th largest state with an area of 71,362 square miles, and the 13th most populous state with over 7 million people. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the states highest elevation at almost 14,411 feet and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. Washington is a leading lumber producer and its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals. Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, power, flood control, Washington was named after President George Washington by an act of the United States Congress during the creation of Washington Territory in 1853. Washington is the only U. S. state named after a president, confusion over the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D. C. led to renaming proposals during the statehood process for Washington in 1889, which failed to garner support. Washington, D. C. s own statehood movement in the 21st century includes a proposal to use the name State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, which would conflict with the current state of Washington. To distinguish it from the capital, Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington state, or, in more formal contexts. Residents of Washington and the Pacific Northwest simply refer to the state as Washington, Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. Washington is bordered by Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part, to the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean. The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state, from the Cascade Mountains westward, Western Washington has a mostly marine west coast climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains, from the north to the south, these major volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state, is 50 miles south of the city of Seattle and it is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states. Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains, far west on the Olympic Peninsula and these deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States. Eastern Washington – the part of the state east of the Cascades – has a dry climate. It includes large areas of steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rain shadow of the Cascades. Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to 21.2 inches in Pullman, the Okanogan Highlands and the rugged Kettle River Range and Selkirk Mountains cover much of the northeastern quadrant of the state
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Oceanic climate
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Oceanic climates are defined as having a monthly mean temperature below 22 °C in the warmest month, and above 0 °C in the coldest month. It typically lacks a dry season, as precipitation is evenly dispersed throughout the year. Oceanic climates generally have cool summers and mild to cool winters, Oceanic climates are most dominant in Europe, where they spread much farther inland than in other continents. Oceanic climates can have much storm activity as they are located in the belt of the stormy westerlies, many oceanic climates have frequent cloudy or overcast conditions due to the near constant storms and lows tracking over or near them. Precipitation is both adequate and reliable throughout the year in oceanic climates, extended months of rain and cloudy conditions are common in oceanic climates. Seattle is an example of this, between October and May, Seattle experiences high rainfall and is mostly or partly cloudy six out of every seven days. In most areas with a climate, precipitation comes in the form of rain for the majority of the year. However, some areas with this climate see some snowfall annually during winter, outside of Australia and parts of New Zealand, most areas with an oceanic climate experience at least one snowstorm per year. In the poleward locations of the climate zone, snowfall is more frequent. Overall temperature characteristics of the oceanic climates feature cool temperatures and infrequent extremes of temperature, summers are cool, with the warmest month having a mean temperature below 22 °C. Poleward of the latter is a zone of the subpolar oceanic climate, with long and cold winters and cool. Examples of this climate include parts of coastal Iceland in the Northern Hemisphere and extreme southern Chile, Oceanic climates are not necessarily always found in coastal locations on the aforementioned parallels, however, in most cases oceanic climates parallel higher middle latitude oceans. The polar jet stream, which moves in a west to east direction across the middle latitudes, advancing low pressure systems, storms, in coastal areas of the higher middle latitudes, the prevailing onshore flow creates the basic structure of most oceanic climates. Oceanic climates are a product and reflection of the adjacent to them. In summer, high pressure pushes the prevailing westerlies north of many oceanic climates. As a result of the Gulf Stream, west-coast areas located in high latitudes like Ireland, the UK, Oceanic climates in Europe occur mostly in Northwest Europe, from Ireland and Great Britain eastward to central Europe. Most of France, Germany, Norway, the north coast of Spain, examples of oceanic climates are found in London, Bergen, Dublin, Berlin, Bilbao, Donostia-San Sebastian, Biarritz, Bayonne, Zürich, Copenhagen and Paris. With decreasing distance to the Mediterranean Sea, the climate of Northwest Europe gradually changes to the subtropical dry-summer or Mediterranean climate of southern Europe
45.
Mediterranean climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, the Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in southern Europe and north Africa and the Sahara Desert with France and England both bordering this climate, France especially. The South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert, under the Köppen climate classification, hot dry-summer climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica. Mediterranean climate Explanation of Mediterranean Climate
46.
Continental Mediterranean Climate
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A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, the Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in southern Europe and north Africa and the Sahara Desert with France and England both bordering this climate, France especially. The South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert, under the Köppen climate classification, hot dry-summer climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica. Mediterranean climate Explanation of Mediterranean Climate
47.
Sacramento metropolitan area
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The metropolitan area experienced a growth of nearly 20% in the last decade. In the 2000 census, the Sacramento MSA had a population of 1,930,857 and it lies in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada regions of California as well as a small region of Western Nevada. Greater Sacramento also contains sites of natural beauty including Lake Tahoe and it is also located in one of the worlds most important agricultural areas. The regions eastern counties are located in Gold Country, site of the California Gold Rush, the Greater Sacramento area is composed of eight counties, two metropolitan areas and two micropolitan areas. Sutter and Yuba counties comprise the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, Nevada County comprises the Truckee-Grass Valley Micropolitan Area, and Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos micropolitan area. An increasing phenomenon taking shape in Greater Sacramento is growth of urban sprawl as Sacramento, local and state governments are trying to prevent destruction of forests and open land and curbing the spread before Sacramento faces an urban sprawl crisis as the Greater Los Angeles Area has. It is the only interstate MSA/CSA in California, Sacramento is the largest city in the metropolitan area, home to nearly 470,000, making it the sixth largest city in California and the 35th largest in the United States. It has been the capital of California since 1851 and has played an important role in the history of California. When gold was discovered in nearby Sutters Mill in Coloma, Sacramento became a boom town luring in migrants making their way from San Francisco to the fields of the Sierras. Sacramento today continues to be one of the largest rail hubs in North America, in 2002, Time Magazine featured an article recognizing Sacramento as the most diverse and integrated city in America. Government jobs are still the largest sector of employment in the city, the remainder of Sacramento County is suburban in general with most of the working population commuting to Downtown Sacramento and with a smaller proportion commuting all the way to the Bay Area. El Dorado and Placer Counties form the remainder of the core of Greater Sacramento and are composed of the Sierra foothills. Placer County has been an important mining area not only for gold, the Yuba-Sutter Area consists of Yuba and Sutter counties and is a primarily agricultural area, although the southern area is more suburban in character. It is home to Sunsweet Growers, which owns the worlds largest dried fruit plant in Yuba City. The Donner Memorial State Park is located in the county, where the ill-fated Donner Party was trapped in winter storms in 1846–47 while attempting to make it to California on an organized trip. Douglas County, is the county in Nevada in the Greater Sacramento area and is the only non-Californian county to be located in a California metropolitan region. The addition of Douglas County is recent, as Greater Sacramento continues to grow beyond its region, Western Nevada continues to be influenced by Sacramento and California. Douglas County is home of Tahoe resorts and casinos as well as suburban outskirts of Sacramento, the western half of Greater Sacramento is centered on the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country
48.
Semiconductor
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Semiconductors are crystalline or amorphous solids with distinct electrical characteristics. They are of high electrical resistance — higher than typical resistance materials and their resistance decreases as their temperature increases, which is behavior opposite to that of a metal. The behavior of charge carriers which include electrons, ions and electron holes at these junctions is the basis of diodes, transistors and all modern electronics. Semiconductor devices can display a range of properties such as passing current more easily in one direction than the other, showing variable resistance. The modern understanding of the properties of a semiconductor relies on quantum physics to explain the movement of carriers in a crystal lattice. Doping greatly increases the number of carriers within the crystal. When a doped semiconductor contains mostly free holes it is called p-type, the semiconductor materials used in electronic devices are doped under precise conditions to control the concentration and regions of p- and n-type dopants. A single semiconductor crystal can have many p- and n-type regions, although some pure elements and many compounds display semiconductor properties, silicon, germanium, and compounds of gallium are the most widely used in electronic devices. Elements near the so-called metalloid staircase, where the metalloids are located on the table, are usually used as semiconductors. Some of the properties of materials were observed throughout the mid 19th. The first practical application of semiconductors in electronics was the 1904 development of the Cats-whisker detector, developments in quantum physics in turn allowed the development of the transistor in 1947 and the integrated circuit in 1958. There are several developed techniques that allow semiconducting materials to behave like conducting materials and these modifications have two outcomes, n-type and p-type. These refer to the excess or shortage of electrons, respectively, an unbalanced number of electrons would cause a current to flow through the material. Heterojunctions Heterojunctions occur when two differently doped semiconducting materials are joined together, for example, a configuration could consist of p-doped and n-doped germanium. This results in an exchange of electrons and holes between the differently doped semiconducting materials, the n-doped germanium would have an excess of electrons, and the p-doped germanium would have an excess of holes. The transfer occurs until equilibrium is reached by a process called recombination, a product of this process is charged ions, which result in an electric field. Excited Electrons A difference in electric potential on a material would cause it to leave thermal equilibrium. This introduces electrons and holes to the system, which interact via a process called ambipolar diffusion, whenever thermal equilibrium is disturbed in a semiconducting material, the amount of holes and electrons changes
49.
Environmental engineering
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It also includes studies on the environmental impact of proposed construction projects. Environmental engineers study the effect of advances on the environment. To do so, they conduct studies on management to evaluate the significance of such hazards, advise on treatment and containment. Environmental engineers design municipal water supply and industrial wastewater treatment systems, at many universities environmental engineering programs are offered at either the department of civil engineering or the department of chemical engineering at engineering faculties. Environmental civil engineers focus on hydrology, water management, bioremediation. Environmental chemical engineers, on the hand, focus on environmental chemistry, advanced air and water treatment technologies. Additionally, engineers are more frequently obtaining specialized training in law and are utilizing their technical expertise in the practices of environmental engineering law, most jurisdictions also impose licensing and registration requirements. Ever since people first recognized that their health is related to the quality of their environment, the ancient Indian Harappan civilization utilized early sewers in some cities more than 5000 years ago. The Romans constructed aqueducts to prevent drought and to create a clean, in the 15th century, Bavaria created laws restricting the development and degradation of alpine country that constituted the regions water supply. However, its roots back to early efforts in public health engineering. The introduction of drinking water treatment and sewage treatment in industrialized countries reduced waterborne diseases from leading causes of death to rarities, in many cases, as societies grew, actions that were intended to achieve benefits for those societies had longer-term impacts which reduced other environmental qualities. One example is the application of the pesticide DDT to control agricultural pests in the years following World War II. The story of DDT as vividly told in Rachel Carsons Silent Spring is considered to be the birth of the environmental movement. Conservation movements and laws restricting public actions that would harm the environment have been developed by various societies for millennia. Notable examples are the laws decreeing the construction of sewers in London and Paris in the 19th century, to some extent, this field overlaps the desire to decrease carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from combustion processes. If impacts are expected, they then develop mitigation measures to limit or prevent such impacts, in the United States, the practice of environmental assessment was formally initiated on January 1,1970, the effective date of the National Environmental Policy Act. Since that time, more than 100 developing and developed nations either have planned specific analogous laws or have adopted procedure used elsewhere, NEPA is applicable to all federal agencies in the United States. Water is treated to water quality objectives for the end uses
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