1.
California State Route 24
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State Route 24 in the U. S. It lies in Alameda County, where it is urban, and Contra Costa County. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, caltrans has only designated it as a scenic highway between the eastern end of the Caldecott Tunnel and I-680, however. SR24 begins at the interchange with Interstate 580 and Interstate 980 in Oakland. SR24 initially heads north before turning east near the Berkeley city limits, Route 24 rises from near sea level in downtown Oakland past its interchange with State Route 13, which is a freeway south of SR24 and a surface street north of SR24. After this, SR24 crosses the Contra Costa County county line through the four-bore Caldecott Tunnel, some protection of the views comes from the highways designation as a California Scenic Highway. On the other side of the tunnel, SR24 travels through unincorporated Contra Costa County before entering Orinda, SR24 crosses the Mokelumne Aqueduct soon after entering the city of Lafayette. SR24 terminates at the intersection with Interstate 680 just inside the city limits of Walnut Creek, the Pittsburg/Bay Point Line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit runs in the freeways center median, excepting the vicinity of the Caldecott Tunnel and the approach to the interchange with Interstate 680. Highway 24 remained along Ashby Avenue until completion of the Grove-Shafter Freeway in the late 1960s and this new freeway, which ran from the Caldecott Tunnel through downtown Oakland to the MacArthur and Nimitz Freeways, was designated Route 24 and Ashby was re-designated Route 13. Route 24 used to much further east. The section of Interstate 680 between the current terminus of SR24 and State Route 242 was dual-signed I-680 and SR24 until ca,1987, State Route 242 which runs primarily in Concord was signed as Route 24 until the same time. Highway 24 split from 89 near Graeagle, and continued east through Portola east until its terminus at U. S. Route 395, parts of the same route were also sometimes designated as State Route 84. Mileage is measured from the original western terminus, now part of Interstate 980
California State Route 24
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SR 24 near Lafayette with BART track and
Mt Diablo in the background
California State Route 24
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State Route 24
2.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
Summit
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The highest elevation summit, Mount Everest, shown with a climber at the summit wearing an oxygen mask. The summit is 8850 m (29,035 ft) elevation. (While the cruising altitude of jetliners is roughly 10,000 m (32,808 feet), they are pressurized.)
Summit
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View from the summit of Switzerland's highest,
Monte Rosa
Summit
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The summit of
Mount Damavand,
Iran, in winter
Summit
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Jeff Davis Peak, one of the highest peaks entirely within
Nevada
3.
North American Vertical Datum of 1988
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NAVD88 was established in 1991 by the minimum-constraint adjustment of geodetic leveling observations in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It held fixed the height of the tidal bench mark, referenced to the International Great Lakes Datum of 1985 local mean sea level height value, at Rimouski, Quebec. The definition of NAVD88 uses the Helmert orthometric height, which calculates the location of the geoid from modeled local gravity, the NAVD88 model is based on then-available measurements, and remains fixed despite later improved geoid models. NAVD88 replaced the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929, previously known as the Sea Level Datum of 1929, the elevation difference between points in a local area will show negligible change from one datum to the other, even though the elevation of both does change. NGVD29 used a model of gravity based on latitude to calculate the geoid and did not take into account other variations. Thus, the difference for points across the country does change between datums. Altitude Geodesy Sea Level Datum of 1929 Topographic elevation Topography Reference ellipsoid Geoid United States Geological Survey home page, U. S. National Geodetic Survey home page
North American Vertical Datum of 1988
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Geodesy
4.
Topographic prominence
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It is a measure of the independence of a summit. A peaks key col is a point on this contour line. By convention, the prominence of Mount Everest, the Earths highest mountain, is taken to equal the elevation of its summit above sea level, if the peaks prominence is P metres, to get from the summit to any higher terrain one must descend at least P metres. Together with the convention for Mount Everest, this implies that the prominence of any island or continental highpoint is equal to its elevation above sea level, for every ridge connecting the peak to higher terrain, find the lowest point on the ridge. The key col is defined as the highest of these cols, the prominence is the difference between the elevation of the peak and the elevation of the key col. The following mental exercise may illustrate the meaning of topographic prominence, imagine you are standing at the top of a peak and imagine that an imaginary sea level rises to your feet. Now slowly lower the sea level and an imaginary island appears beneath your feet. Your island will grow and will merge with other islands that emerge, the parent peak may be either close or far from the subject peak. The summit of Mount Everest is the parent peak of Aconcagua at a distance of 17,755 km, the key col may also be close or far from the subject peak. The key col for Aconcagua is the Bering Strait at a distance of 13,655 km, the key col for the South Summit of Mount Everest is about 100 m distant. Prominence is interesting to many mountaineers because it is a measurement that is strongly correlated with the subjective significance of a summit. Peaks with low prominences are either subsidiary tops of some higher summit or relatively insignificant independent summits, peaks with high prominences tend to be the highest points around and are likely to have extraordinary views. Only summits with a sufficient degree of prominence are regarded as independent mountains, for example, the worlds second-highest mountain is K2. While Mount Everests South Summit is taller than K2, it is not considered an independent mountain because it is a subsummit of the main summit, many lists of mountains take topographic prominence as a criterion for inclusion, or cutoff. John and Anne Nuttalls The Mountains of England and Wales uses a cutoff of 15 m, in the contiguous United States, the famous list of fourteeners uses a cutoff of 300 ft /91 m. Also in the U. S.2000 feet of prominence has become a threshold that signifies that a peak has major stature. This generates lists of peaks ranked by prominence, which are different from lists ranked by elevation. Such lists tend to emphasize isolated high peaks, such as range or island high points, one advantage of a prominence-ranked list is that it needs no cutoff, since a peak with high prominence is automatically an independent peak
Topographic prominence
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Figure 3. Diagram of a mountain range showing peaks and cols, from which mountain parentage and prominences can be determined.
Topographic prominence
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Topographic prominence of three peaks near Great Pond Mountain, Maine, USA. Red triangles mark the peaks, the lowest contour line encircling each peak are shown in black and the green dots mark the key cols. The prominences are Atkins Hill: 430 – 310 = 120 ft, Cave Hill: 570 - 530 = 40 ft, Mead Mountain: 671 - 530 = 141 ft. The parent peak of each peak is Great Pond Mountain.
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
6.
Contra Costa County, California
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Contra Costa County is a county in the state of California in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,049,025, the name is Spanish for opposite coast, referring to its position on the other side of the bay from San Francisco. Contra Costa County is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area and it occupies the northern portion of the East Bay region and is primarily suburban. In the northern part of the county, significant coal and sand deposits were formed in even earlier geologic eras, other areas of the county have ridges exposing ancient but intact seashells, embedded in sandstone layers alternating with limestone. Layers of volcanic ash ejected from geologically recent but now extinct volcanoes, compacted and now tilted by compressive forces, may be seen at the site of some road excavations. This county is an agglomeration of several distinct geologic terranes, as is most of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, younger deposits at middle altitudes include pillow lavas, the product of undersea volcanic eruptions. There is an extensive but little recorded human history pre-European settlement in this area, the earliest definitively established occupation by modern man appears to have occurred six to ten thousand years ago. However, there may have been human presence far earlier, at least as far as non–settling populations are concerned, extensive trading from tribe to tribe transferred exotic materials such as obsidian throughout the region from far distant Californian tribes. Unlike the nomadic Native American of the Great Plains it appears that these tribes did not incorporate warfare into their culture but were generally cooperative. Within these cultures the concept of individual or collective land ownership was nonexistent, early European settlers in the region, however, did not record much about the culture of the natives. Most of what is known comes from preserved contemporaneous and excavated artifacts. Although there were no missions established within this county, Spanish influence here was direct and extensive, in 1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain. Mission lands extended throughout the Bay Area, including portions of Contra Costa County, between 1836 and 1846, during the era when California was a province of independent Mexico, the following 15 land grants were made in Contra Costa County. Rough surveying was based on a map, or diseño, measured by streams, shorelines, and/or horseman who marked it with rope, lands outside rancho grants were designated el sobrante, as in surplus or excess, and considered common lands. The law required the construction of a house within a year, fences were not required and were forbidden where they might interfere with roads or trails. Locally a large family required roughly 2000 head of cattle and two leagues of land to live comfortably. Foreign entrepreneurs came to the area to provide goods that Mexico couldn’t, Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros was granted to Francisco Alviso, Antonio Higuera, and Manuel Miranda. Two ranchos, both called Rancho San Ramon, were granted by the Mexican government in the San Ramon Valley, in 1833, Bartolome Pacheco and Mariano Castro shared the two square league Rancho San Ramon
Contra Costa County, California
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The west face of
Mount Diablo, the most notable natural landmark in Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County, California
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Seal
Contra Costa County, California
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Mount Diablo from the Shell Ridge Open Space
Contra Costa County, California
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View of the Shell Martinez oil refinery
7.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
Mountain range
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The
Himalayas, the highest mountain range on Earth, seen from space
Mountain range
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Mountain range of
High Tatras in
Slovakia in 1865
Mountain range
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The
Andes, the world's longest mountain range on the surface of a continent, seen from the air
Mountain range
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Hillary and Norgay Montes on Pluto (14 July 2015)
8.
Diablo Range
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The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges. It is located in the eastern San Francisco Bay area south to the Salinas Valley area of northern California, the United States. The Diablo Range extends from the Carquinez Strait in the north to Orchard Peak in the south, near the point where State Route 46 crosses over the Coast Ranges at Cholame, as described by the USGS. It is bordered on the northeast by the San Joaquin River, on the southeast by the San Joaquin Valley, on the southwest by the Salinas River, geologically, the range corresponds to the California Coast Ranges east of the Calaveras Fault in this northern section. Though the average elevation is about 3,000 feet, a summit at over 2,300 feet is considered high, mainly because the range is mostly rolling grasslands and plateaus, the plateaus are usually at about 2, 000–3,000 feet. The hills rising out of valleys rise to about 1,000 feet at most, foothills, such as the which are found near the Santa Clara Valley, Livermore Valley and San Joaquin Valley, are lowest, from 400–1,000 feet. Canyons usually are 300–400 feet deep and valleys are deeper but gentler, the peaks often have high topographic prominence because they are typically surrounded by hills, valleys, or lower plateaus. Streams draining the slopes of the Diablo Range include Hospital Creek. Stream draining the western slopes include Alameda Creek and Coyote Creek, the Diablo Ranges following peaks and ridges are between 2, 517–5,241 feet and are distinct landmarks. Mount Diablo, San Benito Mountain, Mount Hamilton Ridge, the Diablo Range is paralleled for much of its distance by U. S. Route 101 to the west and by I-5 to the east. The Diablo Range is largely unpopulated outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, major nearby communities include Antioch, Concord, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Pleasanton, Livermore, Fremont and the Central Valley city of Tracy. In the South Bay, communities near the range are Milpitas, eastern San Jose, Morgan Hill, South of Pacheco Pass, the only major nearby communities are Los Baños, and Hollister. The small town of Coalinga may also be notable for its location on State Route 198, most of the range consists of private ranchland, limiting recreational use. In addition, some land is held in conservation easements by the California Rangeland Trust. In addition, the elevation of 3,000 feet is not high enough to catch most of the incoming moisture at higher altitudes. Winters are mild with rainfall, but summers are very dry. Areas above 2,500 feet get light to moderate snow in the winter, especially at the highest point, however, though sites at the lower end get annual snowfall, it is typically light and melts too fast to be noticed. Once or twice a decade there is deep and long lasting snowfall
Diablo Range
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The Diablo Range in the vicinity of San Benito Mountain
Diablo Range
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View of Mt. Diablo from
Concord; The main peak is at right, North Peak at left and Mt. Zion at center
Diablo Range
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The south edge (mostly Monument Peak) of the Mission Ridge as seen from
Milpitas.
Diablo Range
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The southern end of
Henry W. Coe State Park, near
Gilroy
9.
Topographic map
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Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features. A topographic map is published as a map series, made up of two or more map sheets that combine to form the whole map. A contour line is a line connecting places of equal elevation, however, in the vernacular and day to day world, the representation of relief is popularly held to define the genre, such that even small-scale maps showing relief are commonly called topographic. The study or discipline of topography is a broader field of study. Topographic maps are based on topographical surveys, performed at large scales, these surveys are called topographical in the old sense of topography, showing a variety of elevations and landforms. This is in contrast to older cadastral surveys, which primarily show property, the first multi-sheet topographic map series of an entire country, the Carte géométrique de la France, was completed in 1789. Topographic surveys were prepared by the military to assist in planning for battle, as such, elevation information was of vital importance. As they evolved, topographic map series became a resource in modern nations in planning infrastructure. Excluding borders, each sheet was 44 cm high and up to 66 cm wide, although the project eventually foundered, it left an indexing system that remains in use. TIGER was developed in the 1980s and used in the 1990, digital elevation models were also compiled, initially from topographic maps and stereographic interpretation of aerial photographs and then from satellite photography and radar data. Since all these were government projects funded with taxes and not classified for security reasons. Initial applications were mostly professionalized forms such as innovative surveying instruments, by the mid-1990s, increasingly user-friendly resources such as online mapping in two and three dimensions, integration of GPS with mobile phones and automotive navigation systems appeared. As of 2011, the future of standardized, centrally printed topographical maps is left somewhat in doubt, the various features shown on the map are represented by conventional signs or symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads and these signs are usually explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet. Topographic maps are commonly called contour maps or topo maps. In the United States, where the national series is organized by a strict 7. 5-minute grid. Topographic maps conventionally show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines, contour lines are curves that connect contiguous points of the same altitude. In other words, every point on the line of 100 m elevation is 100 m above mean sea level
Topographic map
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Part of the same map in a perspective
shaded relief view illustrating how the contour lines follow the terrain
Topographic map
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A topographic map with contour lines
Topographic map
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Section of topographical map of
Nablus area (
West Bank) with contour lines at 100-meter intervals. Heights are colour-coded
Topographic map
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Curvimeter used to measure the length of a curve
10.
United States Geological Survey
–
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
United States Geological Survey
–
Clarence King, founder of the USGS
United States Geological Survey
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Seal of the United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
–
The USGS headquarters in
Reston, Virginia
United States Geological Survey
–
USGS gauging station 03221000 on the
Scioto River below
O'Shaughnessy Dam near
Dublin, Ohio
11.
Geologic time scale
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The table of geologic time spans, presented here, agrees with the nomenclature, dates and standard color codes set forth by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Evidence from radiometric dating indicates that Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, the geology or deep time of Earth’s past has been organized into various units according to events which took place in each period. Older time spans, which predate the reliable record, are defined by their absolute age. Some other planets and moons within the Solar System have sufficiently rigid structures to have preserved records of their own histories, for example, Venus, Mars, dominantly fluid planets, such as the gas giants, do not preserve their history in a comparable manner. Apart from the Late Heavy Bombardment, events on other planets probably had little influence on the Earth. Construction of a scale that links the planets is, therefore, of only limited relevance to the Earths time scale. The existence, timing, and terrestrial effects of the Late Heavy Bombardment is still debated, the largest defined unit of time is the supereon, composed of eons. Eons are divided into eras, which are in turn divided into periods, epochs, the terms eonothem, erathem, system, series, and stage are used to refer to the layers of rock that correspond to these periods of geologic time in Earths history. Geologists qualify these units as early, mid, and late when referring to time, and lower, middle, for example, the lower Jurassic Series in chronostratigraphy corresponds to the early Jurassic Epoch in geochronology. The adjectives are capitalized when the subdivision is formally recognized, and lower case when not, thus early Miocene but Early Jurassic. Geologic units from the time but different parts of the world often look different and contain different fossils. For example, in North America the Lower Cambrian is called the Waucoban series that is subdivided into zones based on succession of trilobites. In East Asia and Siberia, the unit is split into Alexian, Atdabanian. A key aspect of the work of the International Commission on Stratigraphy is to reconcile this conflicting terminology, the term Anthropocene is used informally by popular culture and a growing number of scientists to describe the current epoch in which we are living. The term was coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to describe the current time, others say that humans have not even started to leave their biggest impact on Earth, and therefore the Anthropocene hasnt even started yet. Whatever the case, the ICS has not officially approved the term, leonardo da Vinci concurred with Aristotles interpretation that fossils represented the remains of ancient life. The 11th-century Persian geologist Avicenna and the 13th-century Dominican bishop Albertus Magnus extended Aristotles explanation into a theory of a petrifying fluid. Avicenna also first proposed one of the principles underlying geologic time scales, the Chinese naturalist Shen Kuo also recognized the concept of deep time
Geologic time scale
–
Key concepts
Geologic time scale
12.
Cretaceous
–
The Cretaceous is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million years from the end of the Jurassic Period 145 million years ago to the beginning of the Paleogene Period 66 Mya. It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era, the Cretaceous Period is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation Kreide. The Cretaceous was a period with a warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites and rudists, during this time, new groups of mammals and birds, as well as flowering plants, appeared. The Cretaceous ended with a mass extinction, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, in which many groups, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs. The end of the Cretaceous is defined by the abrupt Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, the name Cretaceous was derived from Latin creta, meaning chalk. The Cretaceous is divided into Early and Late Cretaceous epochs, or Lower and Upper Cretaceous series, in older literature the Cretaceous is sometimes divided into three series, Neocomian, Gallic and Senonian. A subdivision in eleven stages, all originating from European stratigraphy, is now used worldwide, in many parts of the world, alternative local subdivisions are still in use. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds of the Cretaceous are well identified. No great extinction or burst of diversity separates the Cretaceous from the Jurassic and this layer has been dated at 66.043 Ma. A140 Ma age for the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary instead of the usually accepted 145 Ma was proposed in 2014 based on a study of Vaca Muerta Formation in Neuquén Basin. Víctor Ramos, one of the authors of the study proposing the 140 Ma boundary age sees the study as a first step toward formally changing the age in the International Union of Geological Sciences, due to the high sea level there was extensive space for such sedimentation. Because of the young age and great thickness of the system. Chalk is a type characteristic for the Cretaceous. It consists of coccoliths, microscopically small calcite skeletons of coccolithophores, the group is found in England, northern France, the low countries, northern Germany, Denmark and in the subsurface of the southern part of the North Sea. Chalk is not easily consolidated and the Chalk Group still consists of sediments in many places. The group also has other limestones and arenites, among the fossils it contains are sea urchins, belemnites, ammonites and sea reptiles such as Mosasaurus. In southern Europe, the Cretaceous is usually a marine system consisting of competent limestone beds or incompetent marls
Cretaceous
–
Drawing of fossil jaws of
Mosasaurus hoffmanni, from the
Maastrichtian of
Dutch Limburg, by Dutch geologist
Pieter Harting (1866).
Cretaceous
–
Although the first representatives of leafy trees and true grasses emerged in the Cretaceous, the flora was still dominated by conifers like
Araucaria (Here: Modern Araucaria araucana in Chile).
Cretaceous
–
Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the largest land predators of all time, lived during the late Cretaceous.
Cretaceous
–
Up to 2 m-long
Velociraptor was likely feathered and roamed the late Cretaceous.
13.
Jurassic
–
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that spans 56.3 million years from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period 145 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles, the start of the period is marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. The Jurassic is named after the Jura Mountains within the European Alps, by the beginning of the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea had begun rifting into two landmasses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. This created more coastlines and shifted the continental climate from dry to humid, on land, the fauna transitioned from the Triassic fauna, dominated by both dinosauromorph and crocodylomorph archosaurs, to one dominated by dinosaurs alone. The first birds also appeared during the Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs, other major events include the appearance of the earliest lizards, and the evolution of therian mammals, including primitive placentals. Crocodilians made the transition from a terrestrial to a mode of life. The oceans were inhabited by marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, the chronostratigraphic term Jurassic is directly linked to the Jura Mountains. The name Jura is derived from the Celtic root jor, which was Latinised into juria, the Jurassic period is divided into the Early Jurassic, Middle, and Late Jurassic epochs. The Jurassic System, in stratigraphy, is divided into the Lower Jurassic, Middle, the separation of the term Jurassic into three sections goes back to Leopold von Buch. The Jurassic North Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow, while the South Atlantic did not open until the following Cretaceous period, the Tethys Sea closed, and the Neotethys basin appeared. Climates were warm, with no evidence of glaciation, as in the Triassic, there was apparently no land over either pole, and no extensive ice caps existed. In contrast, the North American Jurassic record is the poorest of the Mesozoic, the Jurassic was a time of calcite sea geochemistry in which low-magnesium calcite was the primary inorganic marine precipitate of calcium carbonate. Carbonate hardgrounds were thus very common, along with calcitic ooids, calcitic cements, the first of several massive batholiths were emplaced in the northern American cordillera beginning in the mid-Jurassic, marking the Nevadan orogeny. Important Jurassic exposures are found in Russia, India, South America, Japan, Australasia. As the Jurassic proceeded, larger and more groups of dinosaurs like sauropods and ornithopods proliferated in Africa. Middle Jurassic strata are well represented nor well studied in Africa. Late Jurassic strata are also poorly represented apart from the spectacular Tendaguru fauna in Tanzania, the Late Jurassic life of Tendaguru is very similar to that found in western North Americas Morrison Formation. During the Jurassic period, the primary living in the sea were fish
Jurassic
–
Various
dinosaurs roamed forests of similarly large
conifers during the Jurassic period.
Jurassic
–
Jurassic limestones and marls (the
Matmor Formation) in southern
Israel.
Jurassic
–
The late Jurassic
Morrison Formation in
Colorado is one of the most fertile sources of dinosaur fossils in North America.
Jurassic
–
Gigandipus, a
dinosaur footprint in the Lower Jurassic
Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, southwestern
Utah.
14.
Sedimentary rock
–
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the Earths surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle in place. The particles that form a rock by accumulating are called sediment. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals precipitate from solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out of suspension. The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earths crust is extensive, sedimentary rocks are only a thin veneer over a crust consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers as strata, forming a structure called bedding, sedimentary rocks are also important sources of natural resources like coal, fossil fuels, drinking water or ores. The study of the sequence of rock strata is the main source for an understanding of the Earths history, including palaeogeography, paleoclimatology. The scientific discipline that studies the properties and origin of rocks is called sedimentology. Sedimentology is part of both geology and physical geography and overlaps partly with other disciplines in the Earth sciences, such as pedology, geomorphology, geochemistry, sedimentary rocks have also been found on Mars. Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of rock fragments that were cemented by silicate minerals. Clastic rocks are composed largely of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, clay minerals, and mica, any type of mineral may be present, clastic sedimentary rocks, are subdivided according to the dominant particle size. Most geologists use the Udden-Wentworth grain size scale and divide unconsolidated sediment into three fractions, gravel, sand, and mud and this tripartite subdivision is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites, arenites, and lutites, respectively, in older literature. The subdivision of these three categories is based on differences in clast shape, conglomerates and breccias), composition. Conglomerates are dominantly composed of rounded gravel, while breccias are composed of dominantly angular gravel, composition of framework grains The relative abundance of sand-sized framework grains determines the first word in a sandstone name. Naming depends on the dominance of the three most abundant components quartz, feldspar, or the lithic fragments that originated from other rocks, all other minerals are considered accessories and not used in the naming of the rock, regardless of abundance. Clean sandstones with open space are called arenites. Muddy sandstones with abundant muddy matrix are called wackes, six sandstone names are possible using the descriptors for grain composition and the amount of matrix. Mudrocks are sedimentary rocks composed of at least 50% silt- and clay-sized particles and these relatively fine-grained particles are commonly transported by turbulent flow in water or air, and deposited as the flow calms and the particles settle out of suspension
Sedimentary rock
–
Middle
Triassic marginal marine sequence of siltstones (reddish layers at the cliff base) and limestones (brown rocks above),
Virgin Formation, southwestern
Utah, USA
Sedimentary rock
–
Sedimentary rocks on Mars, investigated by NASA's
Curiosity Mars rover
Sedimentary rock
–
Steeply dipping sedimentary rock strata along the
Chalous Road in northern
Iran
Sedimentary rock
–
Claystone deposited in
Glacial Lake Missoula,
Montana,
United States. Note the very fine and flat bedding, common for distal
lacustrine deposition.
15.
National Natural Landmark
–
The National Natural Landmarks Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in both public and private ownership, the program was established on May 18,1962, by United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. The program aims to encourage and support voluntary preservation of sites that illustrate the geological and ecological history of the United States and it also hopes to strengthen the publics appreciation of the countrys natural heritage. As of November 2016,599 sites have been added to the National Registry of National Landmarks, the registry includes nationally significant geological and ecological features in 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The National Park Service administers the NNL Program and if requested, land acquisition by the federal government is not a goal of this program. National Natural Landmarks are nationally significant sites owned by a variety of land stewards, the legislative authority for the National Natural Landmarks Program stems from the Historic Sites Act of August 21,1935, the program is governed by federal regulations. The NNL Program does not have the features of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Thus, designation of a National Natural Landmark presently constitutes only an agreement with the owner to preserve, insofar as possible, administration and preservation of National Natural Landmarks is solely the owners responsibility. Either party may terminate the agreement after they notify the other, the UKs Site of Special Scientific Interest list is a rough equivalent. The NNL designation is made by the Secretary of the Interior after in-depth scientific study of a potential site, all new designations must have owner concurrence. The selection process is rigorous, to be considered for NNL status, since establishment of the NNL program, a multi-step process has been used to designate a site for NNL status. Since 1970, the steps have constituted the process. A natural area inventory of a region is completed to identify the most promising sites. After landowners are notified that the site is being considered for NNL status, the evaluation report is peer reviewed by other experts to assure its soundness. The report is reviewed further by National Park Service staff, the site is reviewed by the Secretary of the Interiors National Park Advisory Board to determine that the site qualifies as an NNL. The findings are provided to the Secretary of the Interior who approves or declines, landowners are notified a third time informing them that the site has been designated an NNL. Each major natural history theme can be subdivided into various sub-themes. The NNL program does not require designated properties to be owned by public entities, lands under almost all forms of ownership or administration have been designated—federal, state, local, municipal and private
National Natural Landmark
–
The
Trona Pinnacles with National Natural Landmark sign
National Natural Landmark
–
Shiprock National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
16.
California Historical Landmark
–
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below, The first, last, only, associated with an individual or group having a profound influence on the history of California. California Historical Landmarks of #770 and above are listed in the California Register of Historical Resources. By contrast, a site, building, feature, or event that is of local significance may be designated as a California Point of Historical Interest. List of California Historical Landmarks by county National Historic Sites National Register of Historic Places listings in California — with links to list articles by county, los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments San Francisco Designated Landmarks Johnson, Marael. A Guide to California Roadside Historical Markers, official OHP—California Office of Historic Preservation website OHP, California Historical Sites searchpage — links to lists by county
California Historical Landmark
–
California State Capitol, a California Historical Landmark.
California Historical Landmark
–
Golden Capitol dome interior.
17.
Concord, California
–
Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067 making it the 8th largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months. The city is a major regional suburban East Bay center within the San Francisco Bay Area, Concord is located at 37°58′41″N 122°01′52″W. It is 29 miles northeast of San Francisco,22 miles northeast from Oakland,65 miles southwest of Sacramento, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.5 square miles, all of it land. Despite this, some crime and homelessness remain issues in the downtown area, to the north and east of downtown is the older residential area of Concord, with many homes dating back to before World War II. In the far edge of town is a primarily industrial area. The southeastern area of the city, centered along Clayton Road, is residential and was mostly developed in the 1960s and 1970s. In the southwest area of the city is the primarily Latino neighborhood known as Four Corners, centered around the intersection of Monument Boulevard, though it shares no border with Concord, Martinez is located almost immediately adjacent to Concord on the northwest. The North Concord BART station is known as Martinez BART. Concord has a hot summer Mediterranean climate, official data from the National Weather Service cooperative station in Concord shows average January temperatures are a maximum of 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit and a minimum of 41.6 °F. Average July temperatures are a maximum of 87.8 °F, there are an average of 45.0 days with highs of 90 °F or higher and 3.8 days with lows of 32 °F or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 110 °F on July 23,2006, the lowest record temperature was 24 °F on December 23,1998. Average annual precipitation is 18.31 inches, falling on an average of 57 days annually, the wettest year was 1995 with 26.62 inches and driest year was 2007 with 10.57 inches. The most rainfall in one month was 11.79 inches in December 2005, the valleys north of Mount Diablo were inhabited by the Miwok people, who hunted elk and fished in the numerous streams flowing from the mountain into the San Francisco Bay. In 1772, Spanish explorers began to cross the area, in 1834 the Mexican land grant Rancho Monte del Diablo at the base of Mount Diablo was granted to Salvio Pacheco. Concord was founded under the name of Todos Santos, on the initiative of Pacheco in 1869 and it achieved prominence in the 19th century as a result of most residents of Pacheco relocating to Concord to avoid the devastation of fire and flood which crippled Pachecos formerly booming economy. Concord was incorporated on February 5,1905, the area around Concord in the surrounding Ygnacio and Clayton Valleys was a large agricultural area. Crops that were grown included grapes, walnuts, wheat, hay, the area to the east was the site of a few enormous wheat ranches over 5,000 acres, and was almost a sea of wheat all the way to the marshes bordering Suisun Bay
Concord, California
–
Todos Santos Plaza
Concord, California
–
Todos Santos Plaza is downtown
Concord, California
–
Sunvalley Mall
Concord, California
–
Aerial view of the Naval Weapons Station
18.
San Francisco Bay Area
–
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
San Francisco Bay Area
–
San Francisco
San Francisco Bay Area
–
San Jose
San Francisco Bay Area
–
Oakland
San Francisco Bay Area
–
A view of the
San Francisco skyline from the bay.
19.
Northern California
–
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
Northern California
–
Clockwise:
California State Capitol in
Sacramento,
Golden Gate Bridge,
San Francisco skyline,
San Jose skyline,
Muir Woods National Monument, the northern California coast as seen from
Muir Beach Overlook, view of the California side of
Lake Tahoe and
Natural Bridges State Beach in
Santa Cruz.
Northern California
–
Northern California counties in red
Northern California
–
Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevada.
Northern California
–
Map of northern California counties.
20.
Clayton, California
–
Clayton is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 10,897 as of the 2010 census, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles, all land. Clayton is located at the foot of Mt. Diablo State Park and this region experiences hot and dry summers. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Clayton has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, in 1857, the town of Clayton was laid out and founded by Joel Henry Clayton and his two younger brothers. Clayton was born in Bugsworth, now Buxworth, in the United Kingdom, after years in other states he settled down with his wife Margaret at his town at the foot of Mount Diablo, where he and his family prospered. Clayton was named after Joel Henry Clayton, although only by the flip of a coin, Joel Clayton and Charles Rhine cofounded the town, and each wanted to name it after himself. If Charles had won it would have become Rhinesville, but Joel Clayton won, Joel and his wife Margaret both died in Clayton, and were buried in Live Oak Cemetery in what is now Concord, CA. Clayton prospered during the mining boom in eastern Contra Costa County. The post office opened in 1861, following a previous incorporation attempt in 1960, Clayton incorporated in 1964 in order to stave off an annexation attempt in 1963 of the Cardinet Glen neighborhood by nearby Concord. On December 7,2009, it snowed in Clayton and Concord for the first time since the 1970s, on September 8,2013, fire broke out on Mount Diablo. Called the Morgan Fire, it started at the mine area of Morgan Territory Road. The fire grew quickly and threatened homes and livestock, evacuations were ordered for several areas, including Oak Hill Lane and Curry Canyon. It took over 1000 firefighters and eight aircraft to extinguish it, full containment was announced on September 14,2013, having burned 1,259 ha. The Clayton branch of the Contra Costa County Library system is located in Clayton, the 2010 United States Census reported that Clayton had a population of 10,897. The population density was 2,840.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Clayton was 9,273 White,146 African American,34 Native American,717 Asian,16 Pacific Islander,234 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 982 persons. The Census reported that 10,887 people lived in households,10 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, there were 136 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 36 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 647 households were made up of individuals and 310 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.72
Clayton, California
–
Parts of Clayton as seen from
Mt. Diablo in Summer 2005
Clayton, California
–
Bodies of water
21.
Danville, California
–
The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the municipalities in California that uses town in its name instead of city. The population was 42,039 in 2010, Danville hosts a farmers market each Saturday next to the San Ramon Valley Museum. The Iron Horse Regional Trail runs through Danville and it was first a railroad that has been converted to an 80-foot wide corridor of bike and hike trails as well as controlled intersections. Extending from Dublin to Concord, the passes through Danville. Danville is also home to the Village Theatre and Art Gallery, hosting theatre, Broadway shows. For over 130 years, Danvilles history has one of change. Often referred to as the Heart of the San Ramon Valley, Danville was first populated by Native Americans who lived next to the creeks, later it was part of Mission San Joses grazing land and a Mexican land grant called Rancho San Ramon. Initially a farming community, the Town of Danville switched from wheat to fruits and nuts after the Southern Pacific Railroad built a line through the area in 1891. It developed as a residential suburb starting in 1947 when the first sizable housing tracts were constructed, the Danville Post Office opened in 1860 with hotel owner Henry W. Harris as the first postmaster. Harris reported in 1862 that there were 20 people living in the town proper, hearing stories of the prosperity to be found in California, people from the mid-west and east began to settle in Danville and the surrounding valleys. Most new residents had been farmers and observed that the land was fertile. The 1869 census counted nearly 1800 people in the combined Danville and they squatted or purchased land from the Mexican and other owners and established ranches, farms and businesses. Settlers raised cattle and sheep and grew wheat, barley and onions, later the farms produced hay, a wide variety of fruit crops, walnuts and almonds. In the 1800s horses and wagons hauled these products north to the docks at Pacheco and Martinez,2, which wound by San Ramon Creek and was almost impassable in the rainy season. Churches, schools, farmers unions and fraternal lodges began as the community evolved, the Union Academy, a private high school begun by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, served the County from 1859 to 1868 when it burned down. The Danville Presbyterian Church was dedicated in 1875, following a vote of Protestants regarding what denomination it should be, the new building was described as the handsomest church building in the County by the writers of the day. In 1873, Danville Grange No.85 was chartered with Charles Wood elected as the first Worthy Master, the Grange began as a family farmers union and included all the Valley movers and shakers
Danville, California
–
The Clock Tower square in the heart of downtown Danville
Danville, California
–
Museum Of The San Ramon Valley
Danville, California
–
Town Meeting Hall
Danville, California
–
Bodies of water
22.
Mount Diablo State Park
–
Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville and it is an isolated upthrust peak of 3,849 feet, visible from most of the San Francisco Bay Area. The summit is accessible by foot, bicycle, or motor vehicle, Road access is via North Gate Road or South Gate Road. The peak is in Mount Diablo State Park, a park of about 20,000 acres. Preserved lands on and around Mount Diablo total more than 90,000 acres. The day use fee per vehicle for the park is by entrance way, $6 via Macedo Ranch or Mitchell Canyon, on a clear day the Sierra Nevada is plainly visible. The best views are after a storm, a snowy Sierra shows up better. Lassen Peak,181 miles away, is occasionally just visible over the curve of the earth, sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park is visible, but Half Dome is hidden by the 8000-foot ridge at 37. 755N119. 6657W. Eight bridges are visible, from west to east, San Mateo, Bay, Golden Gate, San Rafael, Carquinez, Benicia, Antioch, claims that the mountains viewshed is the largest in the world—or second largest after Mount Kilimanjaro—are ill founded. It does boast one of the largest viewsheds in the Western United States, countless peaks in the state are taller, but Mount Diablo has a remarkable visual prominence for a mountain of such low elevation. The summit is used as the datum for land surveying in much of northern California. Mount Diablo is sacred to many California Native American peoples, according to Miwok mythology and Ohlone mythology, prior to European entry, the creation narrative varied among surrounding local groups. In one surviving fragment, Mount Diablo and Reeds Peak were surrounded by water. In another, Molok the Condor brought forth his grandson Wek-Wek the Falcon Hero, about 25 independent tribal groups with well-defined territories lived in the East Bay countryside surrounding the mountain. Their members spoke dialects of three languages, Ohlone, Bay Miwok, and Northern Valley Yokuts. The Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone from Mission San Jose and the East Bay area, called the mountain Tuyshtak, the Nisenan of the Sacramento Valley called it Sukkú Jaman, or as Nisenan elder Dalbert Castro once explained, the place where dogs came from in trade. A Southern Miwok name was Supemenenu and it has also been suggested that an early Indian name for the mountain is Kawukum or Kahwookum, but there is no evidence to confirm the assertion. It resurfaced as a real estate gimmick in 1916 with a new translation, Laughing Mountain
Mount Diablo State Park
–
West face of Mount Diablo and
Hwy 24
Mount Diablo State Park
–
Aerial view of the Los Medanos foothills and Mount Diablo from over Suisun Bay at Concord, California
Mount Diablo State Park
–
View of Mount Diablo from
Concord; The main peak is at right, North Peak at left and Mount Zion at center
Mount Diablo State Park
–
The summit of Mount Diablo
23.
State park
–
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use state as a political subdivision. State parks are established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U. S. state, some of the Mexican states, the term is also used in the Australian state of Victoria. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to parks, but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, in general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with a few exceptions such as the Adirondack Park in New York and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California. As of 2014, there were 10,234 state park units in the United States, there are some 739 million annual visits to the countrys state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles of trail,217,367 campsites, many states include designations beyond state park in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas, state beaches, some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, however several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by the state of Georgia as a park since 1825. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its forests as The State Park but, needing money. The first state park with the designation of state park was Mackinac Island State Park in 1895, list of U. S. state parks National Association of State Park Directors Wilderness preservation systems in the United States Ahlgren, Carol. The Civilian Conservation Corps and Wisconsin State Park Development, the State Park Movement in America, A Critical Review excerpt and text search Larson, Zeb. Silver Falls State Park and the Early Environmental Movement, oregon Historical Quarterly 112#1 pp, 34-57 in JSTOR Newton, Norman T. When Forests Trumped Parks, The Maryland Experience, 1906-1950, Maryland Historical Magazine 101#2 pp, 203-224
State park
–
Niagara Falls State Park,
New York, USA
State park
–
American bison in
Custer State Park,
South Dakota, USA
State park
–
Bodie State Historical Park,
California, USA
State park
–
Babcock State Park,
West Virginia, USA
24.
Open space reserve
–
An open space reserve is an area of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside. They may be owned or owned by non-profit or private interests. A certain amount of overlap occurs with similar planning and conservation terms, protected areas are open space reserves in which certain resources indigenous to the landscape are protected as opposed to conserved. Urban open space specifically refers to open space reserves within an urban setting, greenways are linear open space reserves, linear corridors that span interconnected open space reserves, or linear chains of connected open space reserves. A green belt is an area of open space surrounding an urban area. Green infrastructure is the mass and viability of undeveloped, natural. Nature reserves and wildlife refuges are areas of space set aside for the sake of protecting non-human species. National forests, state forests, and municipal forests are types of open space set aside for the primary purpose of forest conservation. Flood control projects and protected ecological research areas may also be considered open space reserves secondary to their primary purpose, arastradero Preserve near Palo Alto, California Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, Simi Hills, California. Protected area Urban open space Greenway Green infrastructure Green belt Greenfield land Nature reserve Open Space 101 Landscope America, chapter 18.11 Open Space Reserve and Urban Reserve Land Use. Open Space Land Application Schedule, Line 5, The statutory definition of Open Space is as follows
Open space reserve
–
Mount Loretto Unique Area, New York City
Open space reserve
–
Conservation biology
Open space reserve
–
Air
25.
Drainage basin
–
A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
Drainage basin
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Animation of
Latoriţa River drainage basin,
Romania
Drainage basin
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Example of a drainage basin. The dashed line is the main water divide of the hydrographic basin.
Drainage basin
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Endorheic basin in
Central Asia
Drainage basin
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The
Mississippi River drains the largest area of any
U.S. river, much of it
agricultural regions. Agricultural runoff and other water pollution that flows to the outlet is the cause of the
hypoxic, or dead zone in the
Gulf of Mexico.
26.
Easement
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An easement is a non-possessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another and it is similar to real covenants and equitable servitudes, in the United States, the Restatement of Property takes steps to merge these concepts as servitudes. An easement is considered as a property right in itself at common law and is treated as a type of property in most jurisdictions. The rights of an easement holder vary substantially among jurisdictions, for example, an affirmative easement might allow land owner A to drive their cattle over the land of B. A has an easement from B. Conversely, a negative easement might restrict A from blocking Bs mountain view by putting up a wall of trees, a has a negative easement from B. As defined by Evershed MR in Re Ellenborough Park Ch 131, the party gaining the benefit of the easement is the dominant estate, while the party granting the benefit or suffering the burden is the servient estate. For example, the owner of parcel A holds an easement to use a driveway on parcel B to gain access to As house. Here, parcel A is the dominant estate, receiving the benefit, a private easement is held by private individuals or entities. A public easement grants an easement for a use, for example. Conversely, an easement in gross benefits an individual or a legal entity, the easement can be for a personal use or a commercial use. Historically, an easement in gross was neither assignable nor inheritable and they are divisible, but must be exclusive and all holders of the easement must agree to divide. If subdivided, each subdivided parcel enjoys the easement, a floating easement exists when there is no fixed location, route, method, or limit to the right of way. For example, a right of way may cross a field, without any visible path, a floating easement may be public or private, appurtenant or in gross. One case defined it as, easement defined in general terms, furthermore, a floating easement becomes fixed after construction and cannot thereafter be changed. Some legal scholars classify structural encroachments as a type of easement, similar to a license or profit-à-prendre, Wayleave is normally a temporary arrangement and does not automatically transfer to a new owner or occupier. More generally, an agreement can be used for any service provider. In the United States, an easement in gross is used for such needs, easements are most often created by express language in binding documents
Easement
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A metal plaque on the sidewalk of
New York City to declare that the crossing onto the private property is a revocable license to protect it from becoming an easement by prescription.
Easement
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A sells the front lot, but forgets to get an easement for driveway access.
27.
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
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
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The Sierra's
Mills Creek cirque (center) is on the west side of the
Sierra Crest, south of
Mono Lake (top, blue).
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
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Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the range and the contiguous United States
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
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The Sierra hosts many waterways, such as the
Tuolumne River.
Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
–
Mount Tallac above
Lake Tahoe
28.
Lassen Peak
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Lassen Peak, commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, Lassen rises 3,500 ft above the terrain and has a volume of 0.5 cu mi. It was created on the northeastern flank of now-gone Mount Tehama. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc which stretches from southwestern British Columbia to northern California, on May 22,1915, a powerful explosive eruption at Lassen Peak devastated nearby areas, and spread volcanic ash as far as 200 mi to the east. This explosion was the most powerful in a series of eruptions from 1914 through 1917, Lassen Peak and Mount St. Helens were the only two volcanoes in the contiguous United States to erupt during the 20th century. Lassen Volcanic National Park was created in Tehama County, California, to preserve the areas as they were, for future observation and study. Lassen Peak has the highest known winter snowfall amounts in California, there is an average annual snowfall of 660 in, and in some years, more than 1,000 in of snow falls at its base altitude of 8,250 ft at Lake Helen. The Lassen Peak area receives more precipitation than anywhere in the Cascade Range south of the Three Sisters volcanoes in Oregon, the heavy annual snowfall on Lassen Peak creates fourteen permanent patches of snow on and around the mountain top, despite Lassens rather modest elevation, but no glaciers. Lightning has been known to strike the summit of the volcano frequently during summer thunderstorms, Lassen Peak is the southernmost in the chain of eighteen large volcanic peaks that stretch from southwestern British Columbia to northern California. These peaks were formed during the past 35 million years while the large Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and the much smaller Gorda plate to its south subducted under the North American plate. As the oceanic crust of the Juan de Fuca plate melts in the zone, pools of magma form. Roughly 27,000 years ago, Lassen Peak started to form as a dacite lava dome pushed its way through Tehamas destroyed north-eastern flank. As the lava dome grew it shattered overlaying rock, which formed a blanket of talus around the emerging steep-sided volcano. It likely resembled the nearby 1, 100-year-old Chaos Crags, Lassen Peak reached its present height in a relatively short time, probably in just a few years. From 25,000 to 18,000 years ago, during the last glacial period of the current Ice Age, for example, the bowl-shaped depression on the volcano’s northeastern flank, called a cirque, was eroded by a glacier that extended out 7 mi from the dome. The most recent eruptive period of Lassen Peak began in 1914, the region around Lassen Peak remains active, with mudpots, fumaroles, and hot springs demonstrating area activity. The areas around Lassen Peak and the nearby Mount Shasta are considered to be the most likely volcanoes in the Cascade Range to erupt during the decades and centuries. Before the arrival of settlers, the areas surrounding Lassen Peak, especially to its east, south
Lassen Peak
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Lassen Peak and devastated area from cinder cone
Lassen Peak
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Northeast side of Lassen Peak, showing the area devastated by mudflows and a
lateral blast in 1915.
Lassen Peak
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Boiling mudpot in Little Hot Springs Valley
Lassen Peak
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Vulcan's Eye on Lassen Peak from Lake Helen
29.
Sentinel Dome
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Sentinel Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, United States. It lies on the wall of Yosemite Valley,0.8 miles southwest of Glacier Point and 1.4 miles northeast of Profile Cliff. Sentinel Dome is known for a Jeffrey Pine that grew from its peak, the pine was photographed as early as 1867 by Carleton Watkins, and was the subject of a well-known photograph by Ansel Adams. The tree died during the drought of 1976, but remained standing until August 2003, the original Native American name of Sentinel Dome, in the Southern Sierra Miwok language, was Sakkaduch. The Bunnell survey named it South Dome, but the Whitney survey renamed it Sentinel Dome, the view from the top offers a 360 degree view of Yosemite Valley and surroundings. One can see Half Dome, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, North Dome, Basket Dome, Sentinel Dome provides a 360 degree view of the night sky and it and nearby Glacier Point are popular places for stargazing. The trail to the base of Sentinel Dome is a relatively easy 1. 1-mile hike, the trailhead, the same as the Taft Point trailhead, is located 6 miles from Bridalveil Creek on the Glacier Point road. Once at the base, hikers traverse the less imposing northeast granite slope to the summit, in winter, Sentinel Dome can be reached from Badger Pass by a 10-miles ski tour
Sentinel Dome
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Sentinel Dome
Sentinel Dome
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Panoramic view from the top of Sentinel Dome. The Jeffrey Pine is visible at the center, collapsed.
Sentinel Dome
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The iconic
Jeffrey Pine that formerly stood atop Sentinel Dome
Sentinel Dome
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Valley attractions
30.
Yosemite National Park
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Yosemite National Park is a national park spanning portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in Northern California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, on average, about 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, and most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. The park set a record in 2016, surpassing 5 million visitors for the first time in its history. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness, Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has a range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet and contains five major vegetation zones, chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone. Of Californias 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada, there is suitable habitat for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy. The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks, about 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, about one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial episode, the downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today. The name Yosemite originally referred to the name of a tribe which was driven out of the area by the Mariposa Battalion. Before then the area was called Ahwahnee by indigenous people, as revealed by archeological finds, the Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, though humans may have first visited the area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The indigenous natives called themselves the Ahwahneechee, meaning dwellers in Ahwahnee and they are related to the Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. Many tribes visited the area to trade, including nearby Central Sierra Miwoks, a major trading route went over Mono Pass and through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake, just to the east of the Yosemite area. Vegetation and game in the region were similar to that present today, acorns were a staple to their diet, as well as seeds and plants, salmon. In 1851 as part of the Mariposa Wars intended to suppress Native American resistance and he was pursuing forces of around 200 Ahwahneechee led by Chief Tenaya. Accounts from this battalion were the first well-documented reports of ethnic Europeans entering Yosemite Valley, attached to Savages unit was Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, the company physician, who later wrote about his awestruck impressions of the valley in The Discovery of the Yosemite. Bunnell is credited with naming Yosemite Valley, based on his interviews with Chief Tenaya, Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Pai-Ute Colony of Ah-wah-nee
Yosemite National Park
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Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View
Yosemite National Park
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Paiute ceremony (1872)
Yosemite National Park
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Dr.
Lafayette Bunnell gave Yosemite Valley its name among Americans.
Yosemite National Park
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Vernal Falls, Yosemite (1889) by
Thomas Hill, who painted many images of the region
_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
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