1.
City (California)
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California is a state located in the Western United States. It is the most populous state and the third largest by area after Alaska, according to the 2010 United States Census, California has 37,253,956 inhabitants and 155,779.22 square miles of land. California has been inhabited by numerous Native American peoples since antiquity, after the Mexican Cession of 1848, the California Gold Rush brought worldwide attention to the area. California is divided into 58 counties and contains 482 municipalities, one, San Francisco, is a consolidated city–county. California law makes no distinction between city and town, and municipalities may use either term in their official names. According to the 2010 Census,30,908,614 of Californias 37,253,956 residents lived in urban areas, the first municipality to incorporate was Sacramento on February 27,1850, while the most recent was Jurupa Valley on July 1,2011. Eight cities were incorporated before the states September 9,1850, the largest municipality by population and land area is Los Angeles with 3,792,621 residents and 468.67 square miles. The smallest by population is Vernon with 112 people, while the smallest by area is Amador City at 0.31 square miles
2.
Kern County, California
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Kern County is a county in the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 839,631, Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, CA Metropolitan statistical area. The county spans the end of the Central Valley. Its northernmost city is Delano and its southern reach expands just beyond Lebec to the Grapevine, the countys economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction. There is also an aviation, space, and military presence, such as Edwards Air Force Base, the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station. It is one of the fastest growing areas in the United States in terms of population growth, and suffers from significant water supply issues and poor air quality. The area was claimed by the Spanish in 1769, and in 1772 Commander Don Pedro Fages became the first European to enter it, in the beginning, the area that became Kern County was dominated by mining in the mountains and in the desert. The south of Tulare County was later organized as Kern County in 1866, with additions from Los Angeles and its first county seat was in the mining town of Havilah, in the mountains between Bakersfield and Tehachapi. The flatlands were considered inhospitable and impassable at the due to swamps, lakes, tule reeds. This changed when settlers started draining lands for farming and constructing canals, within 10 years the valley surpassed the mining areas as the economic center of the county, and the county seat was moved as a result from Havilah to Bakersfield in 1874. The discovery well of the Kern River Oil Field was dug by hand in 1899, soon the towns of Oil City, Oil Center and Oildale came into existence. The county derives its name from the Kern River, which was named for Edward Kern, frémonts 1845 expedition, which crossed Walker Pass. The Kern River was originally named Rio Bravo de San Felipe by Father Francisco Garces when he explored the area in 1776, severe earthquakes have struck Kern County within historical times, including the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake. On July 21,1952, an earthquake occurred with the epicenter about 23 miles south of Bakersfield and it measured 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale and killed 12 people. In addition to the deaths, it was responsible for hundreds of injuries, the main shock was felt over much of California and as far away as Phoenix, Arizona and Reno, Nevada. The earthquake occurred on the White Wolf Fault and was the strongest to occur in California since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Tehachapi suffered the greatest damage and loss of life from the earthquake, though its effects were widely felt throughout central and southern California. Ground disturbances that were created by the earthquakes were also surveyed, the details of these false accusations are covered extensively in the 2008 documentary Witch Hunt, narrated by Sean Penn. Kern county is considered to be a hotbed of country music, the Buck Owens Crystal Palace is located in Bakersfield
3.
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
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
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
6.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
7.
Municipal corporation
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A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located, often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter. A city charter or town charter is a document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and is considered to be a version of a constitution. Traditionally the granting of a charter gave a settlement and its inhabitants the right to town privileges under the feudal system, townspeople who lived in chartered towns were burghers, as opposed to serfs who lived in villages. Towns were often free, in the sense that they were protected by the king or emperor. Today the process for granting charters is determined by the type of government of the state in question, in monarchies, charters are still often a royal charter given by the Crown or the state authorities acting on behalf of the Crown. In federations, the granting of charters may be within the jurisdiction of the level of government such as a state or province. In Brazil, municipal corporations are called municípios and are created by means of legislation at the state level. All municipal corporations must also abide by a municipal law which is passed and amended at the municipal level. In Canada charters are granted by provincial authorities, in Germany, municipal corporations existed since antiquity and through medieval times, until they became out of favour during the absolutism. In order to strengthen the spirit, the city law of Prussia dated 19 November 1808 picked up this concept. It is the basis of municipal law. In India, a Municipal Corporation is a local government body. This standard varies from state to state, according to laws passed by state legislatures, the Corporation of Chennai was the first Municipal Corporation in India. It was established on 29 September 1688 by the British East India Company, the second was Hyderabad Municipal Corporation established in 1869 by the Nizam rulers of Hyderabad State. The third was the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, established in 1876, the Bombay Municipal Corporation was established in 1888 by the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act. The Delhi Municipal Council was established in 1911 during the Delhi Durbar when New Delhi was proclaimed to be the new Capital of India and it was elevated to Municipal Corporation level on 7 April 1958 by an Act of Parliament which established the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
8.
Jean Fuller
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Jeannie Lynn Jean Fuller is a U. S. politician who serves as the minority leader in the California State Senate. A Republican, she was previously a member of the California Assembly, Jean Fuller was born and raised in Kern County. She supplemented her education with coursework and seminars at the University of Southern California, Harvard University and she served as an educator in the Central Valley for more than 30 years, including time as Superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District. Statewide leadership roles include the California School Boards Association, Association of School Administrators, Fuller was named California Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in the 2004/2005 school year. Fuller earned national recognition for school improvement in 1998 when she was awarded the AASA Leadership for Learning Award, first elected to the California State Legislature in 2006, Fuller represented the 32nd Assembly district. Fuller went on to win the election for the California State Senate in for Californias 16th State Senate district in 2010. The 16th district includes parts of Kern, Tulare, and San Bernardino Counties as well as all of Inyo County, in 2015, Senator Fuller authored SB111, Securing Federal Funding for Schools that Serve Military Families. SB111, which was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, provides a 20% matching of funds for 11 California schools near or on a base, allocating $61 million in federal. In 2012, Fuller authored SB1367, the Archery Hunting/Firearms Bill and this bill revised the archery provisions of the Fish and Game code to authorize a peace officer to carry a firearm while hunting deer, while prohibiting use of that firearm to illegally hunt deer. SB1367 was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, official website State Senator - Jean Fuller
9.
California Republican Party
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The California Republican Party is the California affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party chairman is Jim Brulte, and is based in Burbank, California, the CRP also has a headquarters in Sacramento. The partys stated goals are to enhance economic prosperity within the state, cut taxes, the CRP is active throughout the entire state of California, and the party prides itself on providing common sense solutions to the most troubling issues. As of 2016 Republicans represent approximately 28% of the registered voters. Crime and justice—The California Republican Party supports the governments protecting the welfare of the people and creating fair, the party advocates victims rights under the position that the victim is just as important as the offender in a crime. They believe overcrowding is an issue that should be solved by the creation of both private and public prisons. The party also supports the use of punishment for heinous crimes. The party call for a cut on unnecessary spending in order to create government infrastructure that will boost the economy, the party also supports Right-to-work laws and opposes closed shop establishments. Education— The California Republican Party believes that all children have the right to a first-class education, the party supports parents and local school boards being the primary regulators of the education system. The party also supports incentives for quality educators and that school admission, the party also believes that unions have too much influence in Californias schools and that has caused the degradation of the curriculum and the marginalization of involvement by parents. Environment—The California Republican Party believes in long-term responsible stewardship of Californias natural resources, the party supports California industry being a world leader in developing and manufacturing safe, renewable and sustainable energy. The party also believes that city governments should be held to the standards of cleaning waste water as are applied to private industry. Equal Opportunity—We oppose quotas, special rights, set asides, or guaranteed equality of results and we support laws prohibiting discrimination in employment and housing based on race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or religion. Family values—We support the two-parent family as the best environment for raising children, the Supreme Courts ruling cannot and must not be used to coerce a church or religious institution into performing marriages that their faith does not recognize. We believe public policy and education should not be exploited to advocate or teach any social or political agenda, healthcare—The California Republican Party opposes government mandated health care plans and single payer plans. The party also opposes any government healthcare plan for California that would involve taxes on doctors or hospitals, coverage for illegal aliens, the party also supports private sector solutions such as small business insurance pools, employment pricing reductions, guaranteed insurability and medical savings accounts. Immigration—The California Republican Party contends that the state of California is rich in the history of immigration, English should be mandatory in the workplace and businesses should be able to require employees to speak the English and all immigrants should be required to learn the language. Illegal aliens should be deported if they engage in criminal activity, the party supports the government offering intensive English language instruction to all who need it, including stipends to help immigrants attend the programs
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California's 23rd congressional district
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Californias 23rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U. S. state of California. The current district is centered in areas of the southern San Joaquin Valley and southern Sierra Nevada, the Tehachapi Mountains, and it includes the cities of Mojave and Ridgecrest, as well as most of Bakersfield. Sequoia National Park and Sequoia National Forest are within it, the district was represented in the 115th United States Congress by Republican Kevin McCarthy. In June 2014 McCarthy was elected Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, from 2003–2013 the district ran along the Pacific coasts of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Major cities in the district included Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and it was often referred to as the district that disappears at high tide or the ribbon of shame. As of April 2015, there are three members of the U. S. House of Representatives from Californias 23rd congressional district that are currently living. List of United States congressional districts GovTrack. us, Californias 23rd congressional district RAND California Election Returns, District Definitions California Voter Foundation map - CD23
11.
Kevin McCarthy (California politician)
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Kevin Owen McCarthy is an American congressman from Bakersfield, California. He serves in the United States House of Representatives for Californias 23rd district, a Republican, he was formerly chairman of the California Young Republicans and the Young Republican National Federation. McCarthy worked as director for U. S. Representative Bill Thomas, and in 2000 was elected as a trustee to the Kern Community College District and he then served in the California State Assembly from 2002 to 2006, the last two years as minority leader. When Thomas retired from the House of Representatives in 2006, McCarthy ran to succeed him and won the election. After announcing his candidacy for Speaker on September 28,2015, he dropped out of the race on October 8 after a gaffe where he said, Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, but we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. But no one would have any of that had happened, had we not fought. McCarthy was born in Bakersfield, California, the son of Roberta Darlene, a homemaker, and Owen McCarthy, McCarthy is a fourth-generation resident of Kern County. He is the first Republican in his family, as his parents were members of the Democratic Party. At the age of 19, he opened his first business and he subsequently sold the deli to attend California State University, Bakersfield, where he obtained a B. S. in marketing in 1989 and an M. B. A. in 1994. In 1995, he was chairman of the California Young Republicans, from 1999 to 2001, he was chairman of the Young Republican National Federation. From the late 1990s until 2000, he was director for U. S. Representative Bill Thomas, who, at the time, chaired the House Ways, McCarthy won his first election in 2000, as a Kern Community College District trustee. McCarthy was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002, becoming Republican floor leader during his term in 2003. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2006, McCarthy entered the Republican primary for Californias 22nd District after his former boss, Bill Thomas, announced his retirement. He won the three-way Republican primary--the real contest in this heavily Republican district--with 85 percent of the vote and he then won the general election with 70. 7% of the vote. McCarthy was unopposed for a second term and he was virtually unopposed, winning 98. 8% of the vote, with opposition coming only from a write-in candidate. Redistricting before the 2012 election resulted in McCarthys district being renumbered as the 23rd District and it became somewhat more compact, losing its share of the Central Coast while picking up large parts of Tulare County
12.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
13.
2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the United States Constitution, the U. S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U. S. Census was the previous census completed, participation in the U. S. Census is required by law in Title 13 of the United States Code. On January 25,2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 Census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, more than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U. S. Post Office beginning March 15,2010, the number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1,2010. The 2010 Census national mail participation rate was 74%, from April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called non-response follow-up. In December 2010, the Census Bureau delivered population information to the president for apportionment, personally identifiable information will be available in 2082. The Census Bureau did not use a form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, the 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions, How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1,2010. Were there any additional people staying here on April 1,2010 that you did not include in Question 1, mark all that apply, Is this house, apartment, or mobile home – What is your telephone number. What is Person 1s age and Person 1s date of birth, is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else, the form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total. In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a basis will receive the survey each year. In June 2009, the U. S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples, however, the final form did not contain a separate same-sex married couple option
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Pacific Time Zone
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The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC−7 and is based on the mean solar time of the 105th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. In the United States and Canada, this zone is generically called the Pacific Time Zone. Specifically, it uses Pacific Standard Time when observing standard time, most of Canada uses daylight saving time. In Mexico, the UTC−8 time zone is known as the Northwest Zone, the largest city in the Pacific Time Zone is Los Angeles, the citys metropolitan area is the largest in the zone. The following states or areas are part of the Pacific Time Zone, California Washington Oregon – all, except for most of Malheur County, nevada Idaho Panhandle – the northern half of Idaho, north of the Salmon River. The town of Hyder, Alaska, is officially in the Alaska Time Zone, however, most of the town observes the Pacific Time because of strong connections with nearby Stewart, British Columbia, which is in the Pacific Time Zone. The United States Post Office in Hyder strictly adheres to Alaska Time, in Canada, the Pacific Time Zone includes most of British Columbia, all of Yukon, and the townsite of Tungsten. In Mexico, the state of Baja California lies completely within the Pacific Time Zone and this does not include the state of Baja California Sur, which is south of Baja California. Through 2006, the time changed to daylight time at 02,00 LST to 03,00 LDT on the first Sunday in April. The Canadian provinces and territories that use daylight time each adopted these dates between October 2005 and February 2007, in Mexico, beginning in 2010, the portion of the country in this time zone uses the extended dates, as do some other parts. The vast majority of Mexico, however, still uses the old dates
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Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
16.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
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North American Numbering Plan
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The North American Numbering Plan is a telephone numbering plan that encompasses 25 distinct regions in twenty countries primarily in North America, including the Caribbean and the U. S. territories. Not all North American countries participate in the NANP, each participating country forms a regulatory authority that has plenary control over local numbering resources. The FCC also serves as the U. S. regulator, Canadian numbering decisions are made by the Canadian Numbering Administration Consortium. The NANP divides the territories of its members into numbering plan areas which are encoded numerically with a telephone number prefix. Each telephone is assigned a telephone number unique only within its respective plan area. The telephone number consists of a central office code and a four-digit station number. The combination of a code and the telephone number serves as a destination routing address in the public switched telephone network. For international call routing, the NANP has been assigned the calling code 1 by the International Telecommunications Union. The North American Numbering Plan conforms with ITU Recommendation E.164, from its beginnings in 1876 and throughout the first part of the 20th century, the Bell System grew from essentially local or regional telephone systems. These systems expanded by growing their subscriber bases, as well as increasing their service areas by implementing additional local exchanges that were interconnected with tie trunks and it was the responsibility of each local administration to design telephone numbering plans that accommodated the local requirements and growth. As a result, the Bell System as a developed into an unorganized system of many differing local numbering systems. The diversity impeded the efficient operation and interconnection of exchanges into a system for long-distance telephone communication. The new numbering plan was accepted in October 1947, dividing most of North America into 86 Numbering Plan Areas. Each NPA was assigned a Numbering Plan Area code, often abbreviated as area code and these codes were first used by long-distance operators to establish long-distance calls between toll offices. The first customer-dialed direct call using area codes was made on November 10,1951, from Englewood, New Jersey, to Alameda, California. Direct distance dialing was introduced across the country and by the early 1960s most areas of the Bell System had been converted and it was commonplace in cities. In the following decades, the system expanded to all of the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda. By 1967,129 area codes had been assigned, mexican participation was planned, but implementation stopped after two area codes had been assigned and Mexico opted for an international numbering format, using country code 52
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Area codes 442 and 760
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Area code 760 is a California telephone area code that was split from area code 619 on March 22,1997. Area code 442 is an overlay of 760 that became effective on November 21,2009 and it encompasses much of the southeastern and southernmost portions of the state. The area includes Imperial, Inyo, and Mono counties, as well as portions of San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, area code 760 was split from 619 in 1997, which in turn had been split from area code 714 in 1982. Within a decade from its creation, however,760 was strained to the point that a new code would be necessary to serve the area. The initial plan was an area code split, with the San Diego
19.
Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited, variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier, the database never removes an entry, except in cases of obvious duplication. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U. S. geographical features, the general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places as a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard and street, department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Digital Gazeteer, Users Manual. Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways, A Journey Into America, standard was withdrawn in September 2008, See Federal Register Notice, Vol.73, No. 170, page 51276 Report, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, Domestic Geographic Names, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28, November 2000. Board on Geographic Names website Geographic Names Information System Proposals from the general public Meeting minutes
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U.S. Route 395
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U. S. Route 395 is a U. S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia, the northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road becomes Highway 395 upon entering British Columbia, Canada. At one time, the route extended south to San Diego, I-15 replaced the stretch of 395 that ran from San Diego to Hesperia. Old Highway 395 can be seen along or near I-15 in many locations before it branches off at Hesperia to head north, the route runs through the U. S. states of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. US395 runs along the Eastern Sierra in the Owens Valley, the route started out as a spur of U. S. Route 195 and ran north from Spokane. As a result, the route never intersects its parent, U. S. Route 95, US395 developed into a parallel of its parent route when extended south in the early 1930s. US395 stays west of its parent route, which runs through Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, US395 begins in the Mojave Desert community of Hesperia at the junction with Interstate 15. The highway proceeds north across the Mojave Desert crossing State Route 58 at Kramer Junction just east of the town of Boron, several large solar generating fields are sited at Kramer Junction. The highway continues north until merging with SR14, which used to be the end of a concurrent run with US6. From here to Bishop the highway follows the escarpment of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. For most of this run the highway is routed through the Owens Valley. The highway exits California at Topaz Lake to serve the Reno, US395 in Nevada is a major highway, the majority of which is now or is scheduled to be upgraded to Interstate Highway standards. The portion from Carson City to Reno is signed as and concurrent with I-580, the highway follows the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada as it travels between its southern and northern California segments. US395 enters Nevada at Topaz Lake then descends to Carson Valley where it becomes the street through Gardnerville, Minden. In Reno the highway is designated the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freeway, the highway returns to California just north of Reno at Bordertown. The highway returns to California just north of Reno and this northern piece also follows the Sierra Nevada. It passes near the town of Susanville, cutting abruptly to the east after it meets with SR36 near Johnstonville, US395 also serves several points of interest along this portion, such as Hallelujah Junction, Honey Lake, and the Modoc Plateau. US395 enters Oregon at New Pine Creek, then north to Lakeview
21.
Indian Wells Valley
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Indian Wells Valley is an arid north-south basin in east-central California. In the geologic sense, it is a extension of Owens Valley to the north, with the recent volcanics of the Coso Range being the separator. It is defined by a fault on the west side of the valley. Unlike Owens Valley, it is bound by a fault to the south and this valley is part of the northwesternmost Mojave Desert plant community and ecoregion. The largest city in the valley is Ridgecrest, other locations include Inyokern, Indian Wells, and communities associated with the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, the primary industry in the valley. California State Route 14 and US Highway 395 are the main transportation corridors through the valley, groundwater Quality in the Indian Wells Valley, California United States Geological Survey
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Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
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Occupying three counties – Kern, San Bernardino and Inyo – the installation’s closest neighbors are the cities of Ridgecrest, Inyokern, Trona and Darwin. The main gate of the installation is located at the intersection of Inyokern Road, in total, its two ranges and main site cover more than 1,100,000 acres, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. As of 2010, at least 95% of that land has been left undeveloped, the roughly $3 billion infrastructure of the installation consists of 2,132 buildings and facilities,329 miles of paved roads, and 1,801 miles of unpaved roads. The 19,600 square miles of restricted and controlled airspace at China Lake makes up 12% of California’s total airspace, jointly-controlled by NAWS China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base and Fort Irwin, this airspace is known as the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex. NAWS China Lakes mission is to support the Navys research, testing, All aircraft operations at NAWS China Lake are conducted at Armitage Field, which has three runways with more than 26,000 feet of taxiway. More than 20,000 manned and un-manned military sorties are conducted out of Armitage by U. S, foreign military personnel also use the airfield and range to conduct more than 1,000 test and evaluation operations each year. Nearly 900 military and civilians passed through Armitage Field in 2007, at the same time, the Navy needed a new proving ground for aviation ordnance. Lauritsen and then Commander Sherman E. Burroughs met and formed a pact to find a site that would meet both their needs, the Navy established China Lake as the Naval Ordnance Test Station in November 1943. Its mission was defined in a letter by the Secretary of the Navy, a station having for its primary function the research, development and testing of weapons, and having additional function of furnishing primary training in the use of such weapons. Testing began within a month of the Stations formal establishment, thompson was the first civilian head at the unit. In 1950, NOTS scientists and engineers developed the air-intercept missile 9 Sidewinder, other rockets and missiles developed or tested at China Lake include the Mighty Mouse, Zuni, Sidewinder, Shrike, Joint Stand-Off Weapon and Joint Direct Attack Munition. In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited NAWS China Lake for an air show, in July 1967, NOTS China Lake and the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Corona, California, became the Naval Weapons Center. The Corona facilities were closed and their functions transferred to the desert in 1971, in July 1979, the mission and functions of the National Parachute Test Range at Naval Air Facility El Centro were transferred to China Lake. At the same time, the plant at China Lake was designated as a Naval Air Weapons Station and became host of the NAVAIR Weapons Division. The bases role in the community evolved from that of primary landlord, the NAWS housing area, much smaller than that of the 1960s, is sufficient to support the bases military. In 1982 the community area of China Lake, including most of housing, was annexed by the City of Ridgecrest. In 2013, Congress reserved China Lakes acreage for military use for an additional 25 years, China Lake allowed both civilians and military to live side-by-side in government housing. China Lake residents could attend a church at All Faith Chapel, the China Lake Way, more formally known as Principles of Operation, were established in 1946 through the leadership of Vannevar Bush
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2000 United States Census
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This was the twenty-second federal census and was at the time the largest civilly administered peacetime effort in the United States. Approximately 16 percent of households received a form of the 2000 census. Full documentation on the 2000 census, including forms and a procedural history, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Microdata from the 2000 census is available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with electronic boundary files, personally identifiable information will be available in 2072. The U. S. resident population includes the number of people in the 50 states. The Bureau also enumerated the residents of the U. S. territory of Puerto Rico, its population was 3,808,610, the 2000 Census was the first time survey options for multiracial Americans were provided. S. Households had access to computers, 42% have Internet access, regionally, the South and West experienced the bulk of the nations population increase,14,790,890 and 10,411,850, respectively. This meant that the center of U. S. population moved to Phelps County. The Northeast grew by 2,785,149, the Midwest by 4,724,144, the results of the census are used to determine how many congressional districts each state is apportioned. Congress defines the formula, in accordance with Title 2 of the U. S. Code, each member of the House represents a population of about 647,000. The populations of the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are excluded from the apportionment population because they do not have voting seats in the U. S, since the first census in 1790, the decennial count has been the basis for the United States representative form of government. Article I, Section II specifies that The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, in 1790, each member of the House represented about 34,000 residents. Since then, the House more than quadrupled in size, today, each member represents about 20 times as many constituents. This recommendation was followed by the Secretary of Commerce, after the census was tabulated, Utah challenged the results in two different ways. Utah was extremely close to gaining a fourth seat, falling 857 people short. The margin was later shortened to 80 people, after the government discovered that it overcounted the population of North Carolina by 2,673 residents. Utah claimed that individuals traveling abroad as religious missionaries should be counted as residents, almost half of all Mormon missionaries, more than 11,000 individuals, were from Utah, only 102 came from North Carolina
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Mountain
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A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism and these forces can locally raise the surface of the earth. Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers, weather conditions, a few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in huge mountain ranges. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level and these colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains, different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction and recreation, the highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain. Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as criteria for defining a mountain, whether a landform is called a mountain may depend on local usage. The highest point in San Francisco, California, is called Mount Davidson, notwithstanding its height of 300 m, similarly, Mount Scott outside Lawton, Oklahoma is only 251 m from its base to its highest point. Whittows Dictionary of Physical Geography states Some authorities regard eminences above 600 metres as mountains, in addition, some definitions also include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 or 500 feet. For a while, the US defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or taller, any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill. However, today, the United States Geological Survey concludes that these terms do not have technical definitions in the US, using these definitions, mountains cover 33% of Eurasia, 19% of South America, 24% of North America, and 14% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earths land mass is mountainous, there are three main types of mountains, volcanic, fold, and block. All three types are formed from plate tectonics, when portions of the Earths crust move, crumple, compressional forces, isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features. The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher and steeper, major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Volcanoes are formed when a plate is pushed below another plate, at a depth of around 100 km, melting occurs in rock above the slab, and forms magma that reaches the surface. When the magma reaches the surface, it builds a volcanic mountain. Examples of volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the magma does not have to reach the surface in order to create a mountain, magma that solidifies below ground can still form dome mountains, such as Navajo Mountain in the US
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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
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Coso Range
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The Coso Range of eastern California is located immediately south of Owens Lake, east of the Sierra Nevada, and west of the Argus Range. The southern part of the lies in the restricted Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. The mountains include Coso Peak, at 8,160 feet above sea level, as well as Silver Peak and Silver Mountain, the range is underlain principally by Mesozoic granitic rocks that are partly veneered by upper Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Coso Volcanic Field. The volcanic units include widespread basaltic flows, dacitic flows and tuff and these volcanic rocks are encompassed by an oval-shaped zone of late Cenozoic ring faulting that measures about 24 miles east to west and 28 miles north to south and that defines a structural basin. Most of the Coso Range and a slice of the adjacent Sierra Nevada lie within this ring structure. The youngest volcanic rocks are Pleistocene and, with associated active fumaroles, occupy a north-trending structural, the ring structure and associated volcanic rocks suggest a large underlying magma chamber that has periodically erupted lava to the surface during the past few million years. Numerous rock art sites are found in the range, left by the ancient Coso People, the prehistoric Coso inhabitants exported volcanic glass and this highly valued toolstone has been found as far distant as the Channel Islands of California. Little Petroglyph Canyon and Renegade Canyon within the Range are open for guided tours through the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, Coso Volcanic Field Fossil Falls Mountain ranges of the Mojave Desert List of mountain ranges of California California Road and Recreation Atlas. 2005, pg.87 C. Michael Hogan, morro Creek, ed. by A. Burnham Alan P. Garfinkel,2007, Archaeology and Rock Art of the Eastern Sierra and Great Basin Frontier, Maturango Museum, Ridgecrest, California. Paradigm Shifts, Rock Art Studies, and the Coso Sheep Cult of Eastern California, archived from the original on 2009-05-24
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Argus Range
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The Argus Range is a mountain range located in Inyo County, California, southeast of the town of Darwin. The range forms the boundary of Panamint Valley, and the northwestern boundary of Searles Valley. The Coso Range is located to the west, and the Panamint Range to the east, the Argus Range is one of the westernmost of the Basin and Range Province ranges. The northern end of the range is just south of the Panamint Springs Resort on Highway 190, the range runs south to Argus Peak, just northwest of Searles Lake, near the town of Trona, California. In addition to Argus Peak, the range contains Maturango Peak, the crest of the Argus Range is located within NAWS China Lake and so the peaks of this range are off-limits to the general public. The two peaks that are most alluring to would-be hikers are Argus Peak and Maturango Peak towering to the west of Panamint Valley, the Argus Range Wilderness, under the administration of the Bureau of Land Management, runs 28 miles along the east side of the Argus Range. It extends from the reservation on the west to the foot of the Argus Range on the east. For most of its length, this area is no more than two miles wide. Many land-owners were affected by the creation of the Argus Range Wilderness Area in 1994
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El Paso Mountains
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The El Paso Mountains are located in the northern Mojave Desert, in central Southern California in the Western United States. The range lies in a direction east of Highway 14. Red Rock Canyon State Park lies at the end of the range. The mountain range is approximately 18 miles long and it is 16 mi north−northeast of California City, and south of Ridgecrest and Inyokern. Highway 395 crosses the range near Johannesburg, black Mountain, an extinct volcano, is the highest point of the range at 5,244 feet. The El Paso Mountains Wilderness Area is within the range, managed by the BLM−Bureau of Land Management, the Last Chance Archaeological District, within the wilderness area, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Kern County, California. Vegetation primarily consists of creosote bush scrub community, with Joshua trees on the side of the range. The Burro Schmidt Tunnel, a mining ore transport tunnel dug by hand by William Burro H. Schmidt between 1906 and 1938, goes through the El Paso Mountains and its southern portal overlooks the ghost town of Garlock. The Coso People were early Native American inhabitants of this mountain range and they created extensive carvings in rock within the El Paso and neighboring mountains, and conducted considerable trade with other tribes as distant as the Chumash on the Pacific coast. History of the Mojave Desert region Natural history of the Mojave Desert Alan P. Garfinkel, dating Classic Coso Style Sheep Petroglyphs in the Coso Range and El Paso Mountains, Implications for Regional Prehistory, v. 2/15/04 C. Michael Hogan. Morro Creek, ed. by A. Burnham Allan, Stuart
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Lancaster, California
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Lancaster /ˈlæn. kæstər/ is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of 2013, Lancaster was the 31st largest city in California, Lancaster is part of a twin city complex with its southern neighbor Palmdale and together they are the principal cities within the Antelope Valley region and Californias High Desert. Lancaster is located approximately 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and it is separated from the Los Angeles Basin by the San Gabriel Mountains to the south, and from Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley by the Tehachapi Mountains to the north. The population of Lancaster grew from 37,000 at the time of its incorporation in 1977 to over 156,000 in 2010, according to the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance report of 2015, Lancaster has a population of 168,049. The area where Lancaster is now located, known as the Antelope Valley, was home to the Paiute Indians. In 1876 the Southern Pacific completed the line through the Antelope Valley, linking San Francisco, train service brought passengers through the water-stop-turned-community, which, with the help of promotional literature, attracted new settlers. The following year, the Lancaster News started publication, making it the first weekly newspaper in the Antelope Valley, by 1890, Lancaster was bustling and booming, and thanks to adequate rainfall, farmers planted and sold thousands of acres of wheat and barley. Thanks to the construction of the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct starting in 1908. In the 1980s through the end of the program, Edwards Air Force Base, the development of Air Force Plant 42 in 1958, augmented in the 1960s by construction of Lockheed Aircrafts Plant 10, created tens of thousands of jobs. High-wage employment hit its peak in the 1970s during the Lockheed L-1011 commercial wide body jetliner project, for which all assembly and some engineering,250 L-1011 aircraft were assembled and flown from this plant and airfield. Lancaster was a community in Los Angeles County until 1977. Lancaster State Prison opened in 1993 and before that Los Angeles County hosted no prisons, most of Lancasters civic leaders and residents opposed the building of the prison, and four inmates escaped from LAC in its first year of operation. Nevertheless, by 2000 a proposal to increase the proportion of maximum-security inmates received little criticism. In 2005, Hyundai Motor Co. announced the opening of a 4, 300-acre, $60 million Proving Ground. In 2010, the city opened The BLVD, a one-mile revitalized stretch of Lancaster Boulevard between 10th Street West and Sierra Highway, City leaders have set the ambitious goal of becoming the nations first Net-Zero municipality, wherein they will produce more clean energy than they consume. Much of the infrastructure including City Hall, local schools. In March 2013, Lancaster became the first city in the US to require solar panels on all new homes in an effort to make the community more carbon neutral, the rule took effect in January,2014. War Eagle Field is an airfield located in the Mojave Desert
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Palmdale
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Palmdale is a city in the center of northern Los Angeles County in the U. S. state of California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the City of Los Angeles, on August 24,1962, Palmdale became the first community in the Antelope Valley to incorporate. 47 years later, in November 2009, voters approved making it a charter city and its population was 152,750 at the 2010 census, up from 116,670 at the 2000 census. Palmdale is the 33rd most populous city in California, in 2013, the Palmdale / Lancaster urban area had an estimated population of 513,547. According to area folklore, the travelers had been told they would know they were close to the ocean when they saw palm trees, never actually having seen palm trees before, they mistook the local Joshua trees for palms and so named their settlement after them. According to David L. Durham Joshua trees were sometimes called yucca palms at the time, the village was officially established upon the arrival of a post office on June 17,1888. By the 1890s farming families continued to migrate to Palmenthal and nearby Harold to grow grain, however, most of these settlers were unfamiliar with farming in a desert climate, so when the drought years occurred, most abandoned their settlement. By 1899, only one family was left in the original village, the rest of the settlers, including the post office, moved closer to the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. This new community was renamed Palmdale and was located where the present day civic center is, a railroad station was built along the tracks there. This railroad was operated by Southern Pacific and traveled between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Wells Fargo stagecoach line that ran between San Francisco and New Orleans stopped there as well. During this period, crops of apples, pears and alfalfa became plentiful, in 1915, Palmdales first newspaper, the Palmdale Post, was published. Today it is called the Antelope Valley Press, in 1921, the first major link between Palmdale and Los Angeles was completed, Mint Canyon/Lancaster Road, later designated U. S. Route 6. Completion of this caused the local agricultural industry to flourish and was the first major step towards defining the metropolis that exists today. Presently this road is known as Sierra Highway, in 1924, the Little Rock Dam and the Harold Reservoir, present day Lake Palmdale, were constructed to assist the agricultural industry and have enough water to serve the growing communities. Agriculture continued to be the foremost industry for Palmdale and its northern neighbor Lancaster until the outbreak of World War II, in 1933, the United States government established Muroc Air Base six miles north of Lancaster in Kern County, now known as Edwards Air Force Base. They also bought Palmdale Airport in 1952 and established an aerospace development, one year later, in 1953, Lockheed established a facility at the airport. After this point in time, the industry took over as the primary local source of employment. Today the city is referred to as the Aerospace Capital of America because of its rich heritage in being the home of many of the aircraft used in the United States military
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Bakersfield, California
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Bakersfield is a city in California, United States, and the county seat of Kern County. It covers about 142 square miles near the end of the San Joaquin Valley. Bakersfields population is approximately 365,000, making it the ninth-most populous city in California, the Bakersfield–Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kern County, had a 2010 census population of 839,631, making it the 62nd largest metropolitan area in the United States. The more built-up urban area that includes Bakersfield and areas immediately around the city, such as East Bakersfield, the city is a significant hub for both agriculture and oil production. Kern County is the most productive oil producing county, and the fourth most productive county in the United States. Industries include natural gas and other energy extraction, aerospace, mining, petroleum refining, manufacturing, distribution, food processing, the city is also the birthplace of the country music genre known as the Bakersfield sound. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of Native American settlements dating back thousands of years, the Yokuts lived in lodges along the branches of the Kern River Delta and hunted antelope, tule elk, deer, bear, fish, and game birds. In 1776, Spanish missionary Father Francisco Garcés became the first European to explore the area, following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, settlers flooded into the San Joaquin Valley. In 1851, gold was discovered along the Kern River in the southern Sierra Nevada, the Bakersfield area, once a tule-reed-covered marshland, was first known as Kern Island to the handful of pioneers who built log cabins there in 1860. The area was subject to flooding from the Kern River, which occupied what is now the downtown area. In 1862, disastrous floods swept away the original settlement founded in 1860 by the German-born Christian Bohna, among those attracted to the area by the California gold rush was Thomas Baker, a lawyer and former colonel in the militia of Ohio, his home state. Baker moved to the banks of the Kern River in 1863, at what became known as Bakers Field, by 1870, with a population of 600, what is now known as Bakersfield was becoming the principal town in Kern County. In 1873, Bakersfield was officially incorporated as a city, alexander Mills was hired as the city marshal, a man one historian would describe as. An old man by the time he became Marshal of Bakersfield, but he was a Kentuckian, a handy man with a gun, and not lacking in initiative and resource when the mood moved him. Businessmen and others began to resent Mills, who was cantankerous, wanting to fire him but fearing reprisals, they came up with a scheme to disincorporate, effectively leaving him without an employer. According to local historian Gilbert Gia, the city was also failing to collect the taxes it needed for services, in 1876, the city voted to disincorporate. For the next 22 years, a citizens council managed the community, by 1880, the town had a population of 801, and by 1890, it had a population of 2,626. Migration from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Southern California brought new residents, the city reincorporated on January 11,1898
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San Bernardino, California
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San Bernardino /ˈsæn ˌbɜːrnɑːrˈdiːnoʊ/ is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area. It serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, as one of the Inland Empires anchor cities, San Bernardino spans 81 square miles on the floor of the San Bernardino Valley and has a population of 209,924 as of the 2010 census. San Bernardino is the 17th-largest city in California and the 100th-largest city in the United States, San Bernardino is home to numerous diplomatic missions for the Inland Empire, being one of four cities in California with numerous consulates. The governments of Guatemala and Mexico have established their consulates in the area of the city. California State University, San Bernardino is located in the part of the city. The university also hosts the Coussoulis Arena, in addition, the city is home to the Inland Empire 66ers baseball team, they play their home games at San Manuel Stadium in downtown San Bernardino. In August 2012, San Bernardino became the largest city to choose to file for protection under Chapter 9 of the U. S. Bankruptcy code, San Bernardinos case was filed on August 1. On December 2,2015, a terrorist attack left 14 people dead and 22 seriously injured, the city of San Bernardino, California, occupies much of the San Bernardino Valley, which indigenous tribespeople originally referred to as The Valley of the Cupped Hand of God. The Tongva Indians also called the San Bernardino area Waaach in their language, upon seeing the immense geological arrowhead-shaped rock formation on the side of the San Bernardino Mountains, they found the hot and cold springs to which the arrowhead seemed to point. Politana was the first Spanish settlement in the San Bernardino Valley, Two years later the settlement was destroyed by superstitious local tribesmen, following the powerful earthquakes that shook the region. Several years later, the Serrano and Mountain Cahuilla rebuilt the Politana rancheria and they did and established the San Bernardino de Sena Estancia. Serrano and Cahuilla people inhabited Politana until long after the 1830s decree of secularization, the city of San Bernardino one of the oldest communities in the state of California, and in its present-day location, was not largely settled until 1851, after California became a state. The first Anglo-American colony was established by pioneers associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons, hardworking Mormon colonists developed irrigated, commercial farming and lumbering, supplying agricultural produce and lumber throughout Southern California. The city was incorporated in the year 1857. Later that year most of the colonists were recalled by Brigham Young in 1857 due to the Utah War, once highly regarded in early California, news of the Mountain Meadows Massacre poisoned attitudes toward the Mormons. They sold these lands to new settlers who came to dominate the culture and politics in the county, many the new land owners unlike the sober Mormons, indulged in drinking at saloons now allowed in the town. Disorder, fighting and violence in the vicinity became common, reaching a climax in the 1859 Ainsworth - Gentry Affair, in 1860 a gold rush began in the mountains nearby with the discovery of gold by William F. Holcomb in Holcomb Valley early 1860. Another strike followed in the reach of Lytle Creek
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Inyokern Airport
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Inyokern Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile northwest of the central business district of Inyokern, in Kern County, California, United States. It is owned by the Indian Wells Valley Airport District and serves the Indian Wells Valley area, the airport is mostly used for general aviation and was previously served by a number of commuter and regional airlines over the years with passenger flights to Los Angeles. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 11,149 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008,11,081 enplanements in 2009 and it is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport. According to the March 11,1954 Southwest Airways system timetable, Southwest Airways then changed its name to Pacific Air Lines which in 1960 was operating nonstop DC-3 service to Los Angeles International Airport. By 1964, Pacific was operating Martin 4-0-4 propliners from the airport to LAX, Air West then changed its name to Hughes Airwest which continued to serve the airport with F-27 propjet flights to LAX via Lancaster. In 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops to LAX in competition with Air West, c&M Airlines and Indian Wells Airlines operated small Cessna prop aircraft. The Inyokern Airport Dragstrip opened in 1954, and was the second oldest continuously operating dragstrip in the United States, behind Thornhill Dragstrip in Kenton, the drag strip closed during the 2005 season due to new Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Beginning in the 1950s, regular glider records were set out of Inyokern in various sources of lift. Due to its location on the lee side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, it is an excellent location for altitude records in wave conditions or distance and speed records in thermal lift. It is a location, as the winds change frequently. Many well known pilots have flown out of Inyokern, including Neil Armstrong, Paul Bikle. In the wake of the drag strips closing, the airport has been promoting its use for film shoots. A notable example of new use is a television advertisement titled Gravity. Inyokern Airport covers an area of 1,640 acres at an elevation of 2,457 feet above sea level. It has three paved runways, 15/33 is 7,100 by 75 feet, 2/20 is 6,275 by 75 feet. For the 12-month period ending December 31,2010, the airport had 28,573 aircraft operations, an average of 78 per day, 80% general aviation, 10% military, 6% air taxi, and 5% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 117 aircraft based at airport, 84% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, 5% glider
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Mount 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
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Badwater Basin
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Badwater Basin is an endorheic basin in Death Valley National Park, Death Valley, Inyo County, California, noted as the lowest point in North America, with an elevation of 282 ft below sea level. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 United States, is only 84.6 miles to the north west. The site itself consists of a small spring-fed pool of bad water next to the road in a sink, the pool does have animal and plant life, including pickleweed, aquatic insects, and the Badwater snail. Adjacent to the pool, where water is not always present at the surface, repeated freeze–thaw, the pool is not the lowest point of the basin, the lowest point is several miles to the west and varies in position, depending on rainfall and evaporation patterns. The salt flats are hazardous to traverse, and so the sign marking the low point is at the pool instead, the basin was considered the lowest elevation in the Western Hemisphere until the discovery of Laguna del Carbón in Argentina at −344 ft. At Badwater Basin, significant rainstorms flood the valley bottom periodically, newly formed lakes do not last long though, because the 1.9 in of average rainfall is overwhelmed by a 150 in annual evaporation rate. This is the greatest evaporation potential in the United States, meaning that a 12 ft lake could dry up in a single year, when the basin is flooded, some of the salt is dissolved, it is redeposited as clean crystals when the water evaporates. A popular site for tourists is the sign marking sea level on the cliff above the Badwater Basin, numerous evaporation cycles and a lack of outflow caused an increasing hypersalinity, typical for endorheic bodies of water. Over time, this hypersalinization, combined with sporadic rainfall and occasional aquifer intrusion, has resulted in periods of briny soup, or salty pools, on the lowest parts of Death Valleys floor. Salts began to crystallize, coating the surface with the thick crust, ranging from 3 to 60 in, Death Valley pupfish List of elevation extremes by country List of elevation extremes by region John McKinney, Californias Desert Parks, A Day Hikers Guide. Wilderness Press 2006, ISBN 0-89997-389-2, S. 54–55 Don J. Easterbrook, geological Society of America 2003, ISBN 94-592-0504-6, S. 63–64 Badwater Basin in the Encyclopædia Britannica
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Contiguous 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
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United States Census Bureau
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The United States Census Bureau is a principal agency of the U. S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureaus primary mission is conducting the U. S. Census every ten years, in addition to the decennial census, the Census Bureau continually conducts dozens of other censuses and surveys, including the American Community Survey, the U. S. Economic Census, and the Current Population Survey, furthermore, economic and foreign trade indicators released by the federal government typically contain data produced by the Census Bureau. The Bureaus various censuses and surveys help allocate over $400 billion in federal funds every year and help states, local communities, the Census Bureau is part of the U. S. Department of Commerce and its director is appointed by the President of the United States. The Census Bureau now conducts a population count every 10 years in years ending with a 0. Between censuses, the Census Bureau makes population estimates and projections, the Census Bureau is mandated with fulfilling these obligations, the collecting of statistics about the nation, its people, and economy. The Census Bureaus legal authority is codified in Title 13 of the United States Code, the Census Bureau also conducts surveys on behalf of various federal government and local government agencies on topics such as employment, crime, health, consumer expenditures, and housing. Within the bureau, these are known as surveys and are conducted perpetually between and during decennial population counts. The Census Bureau also conducts surveys of manufacturing, retail, service. Between 1790 and 1840, the census was taken by marshals of the judicial districts, the Census Act of 1840 established a central office which became known as the Census Office. Several acts followed that revised and authorized new censuses, typically at the 10-year intervals, in 1902, the temporary Census Office was moved under the Department of Interior, and in 1903 it was renamed the Census Bureau under the new Department of Commerce and Labor. The department was intended to consolidate overlapping statistical agencies, but Census Bureau officials were hindered by their role in the department. An act in 1920 changed the date and authorized manufacturing censuses every 2 years, in 1929, a bill was passed mandating the House of Representatives be reapportioned based on the results of the 1930 Census. In 1954, various acts were codified into Title 13 of the US Code, by law, the Census Bureau must count everyone and submit state population totals to the U. S. President by December 31 of any year ending in a zero. States within the Union receive the results in the spring of the following year, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau regions are widely used. for data collection, the Census Bureau definition is pervasive. Title 13 of the U. S. Code establishes penalties for the disclosure of this information, all Census employees must sign an affidavit of non-disclosure prior to employment. The Bureau cannot share responses, addresses or personal information with anyone including United States or foreign government, only after 72 years does the information collected become available to other agencies or the general public
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Owens Valley
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The mountain peaks on either side reach above 14,000 feet in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley is at 4,000 feet, making the valley one of the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a shadow, which makes Owens Valley the Land of Little Rain. The bed of Owens Lake, now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat and these episodes inspired aspects of the film Chinatown. Towns in the Owens Valley include Bishop, Lone Pine, Independence, the major road in the valley is U. S. Route 395. Owens Valley is a graben—a downdropped block of land between two vertical faults, Owens Valley is the westernmost graben in the Basin and Range Province. It is also part of a trough which extends from Oregon to Death Valley called the Walker Lane, the western flank of much of the valley has large moraines coming off the Sierra Nevada. These unsorted piles of rock, boulders, and dust were pushed to where they are by glaciers during the last ice age, an excellent example of a moraine is on State Route 168 as it climbs into Buttermilk Country. This graben was formed by a series of earthquakes, such as the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake. The topmost part of this escarpment is exposed at Alabama Hills, the Owens Valley is also part of the Long Valley Caldera, a super-volcano that last erupted 260,000 years ago. It is filled with many mini-volcanoes, which look like hills, see also, Inyo and Mono Craters. Smaller versions of the Devils Postpile, can be found, for example, the valley contains plants adapted to alkali flat habitat. One of these, the Owens Valley checkerbloom, is endemic to Owens Valley, the valley was inhabited in late prehistoric times by the Timbisha in the extreme south end around Owens Lake and by the Mono tribe in the central and northern portions of the valley. The Timbisha speak the Timbisha language, classified in the Numic branch of Uto-Aztecan language family, the closest related languages are Shoshoni and Comanche. The Eastern Mono speak a dialect of the Mono language which is also Numic, the Timbisha presently live in Death Valley at Furnace Creek although most families also have summer homes in the Lone Pine colony. The Eastern Mono live in colonies from Lone Pine to Bishop. Trade between Native Americans of the Owens Valley between coastal tribes such as the Chumash has been indicated by the archaeological record, on May 1,1834, Joseph R. Walker entered Owens Valley at the mouth of Walker Pass. He and his group of 52 men traveled up the valley on their way back to the Humboldt Sink, fremont named the Owens valley, river and lake for Richard Owens, one of his guides. Camp Independence was established on Oak Creek nearby modern Independence, California, on July 4,1862, from 1942 to 1945 during World War II, the first Japanese American Internment camp operated in the valley at Manzanar near Independence, California
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Richter magnitude scale
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The Richter magnitude scale assigns a magnitude number to quantify the size of an earthquake. As measured with a seismometer, an earthquake that registers 5.0 on the Richter scale has a shaking amplitude 10 times greater than an earthquake that registered 4.0 at the same distance. This means that, for instance, an earthquake of magnitude 5 releases 31.6 times as energy as an earthquake of magnitude 4. In the United States, the Richter scale was succeeded in the 1970s by the moment magnitude scale, the moment magnitude scale is now the scale used by the United States Geological Survey to estimate magnitudes for all modern large earthquakes. Richter derived his earthquake-magnitude scale from the apparent magnitude scale used to measure the brightness of stars and that fixed measure was chosen to avoid negative values for magnitude, given that the slightest earthquakes that could be recorded and located at the time were around magnitude 3.0. The Richter magnitude scale itself has no limit, and contemporary seismometers can register, record. M L was not designed to be applied to data with distances to the hypocenter of the earthquake that were greater than 600 km. Later, to express the size of earthquakes around the planet, Gutenberg and Richter developed a surface wave magnitude scale and these are types of waves that are recorded at teleseismic distances. The two scales were adjusted such that they were consistent with the M L scale and that adjustment succeeded better with the M s scale than with the M b scale. Each scale saturates when the earthquake is greater than magnitude 8.0, because of this, researchers in the 1970s developed the moment magnitude scale. The older magnitude-scales were superseded by methods for calculating the seismic moment, about the origins of the Richter magnitude scale, C. F. Richter said, I found a paper by Professor K. Wadati of Japan in which he compared large earthquakes by plotting the maximum ground motion against distance to the epicenter. I tried a similar procedure for our stations, but the range between the largest and smallest magnitudes seemed unmanageably large, dr. Beno Gutenberg then made the natural suggestion to plot the amplitudes logarithmically. I was lucky, because logarithmic plots are a device of the devil, the particular instrument used would become saturated by strong earthquakes and unable to record high values. The scale was replaced in the 1970s by the moment magnitude scale, for earthquakes adequately measured by the Richter scale, anything above 5 is classified as a risk by the USGS. Several scales have historically described as the Richter scale, especially the local magnitude M L. In addition, the body wave magnitude, m b, a couple of new techniques to measure magnitude are in the development stage by seismologists. All magnitude scales have been designed to give similar results
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Aftershock
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An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock. Aftershocks are formed as the crust around the fault plane adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Typically, aftershocks are found up to an equal to the rupture length away from the fault plane. The pattern of aftershocks helps confirm the size of area that slipped during the main shock, Aftershocks rates and magnitudes follow several well-established empirical laws. The frequency of aftershocks decreases roughly with the reciprocal of time after the main shock and this empirical relation was first described by Fusakichi Omori in 1894 and is known as Omoris law. It is expressed as n = k where k and c are constants, a modified version of Omoris law, now commonly used, was proposed by Utsu in 1961. N = k p p is a third constant which modifies the decay rate. According to these equations, the rate of aftershocks decreases quickly with time, the rate of aftershocks is proportional to the inverse of time since the mainshock and this relationship can be used to estimate the probability of future aftershock occurrence. These patterns describe only the behavior of aftershocks, the actual times, numbers and locations of the aftershocks are stochastic. N =10 a − b M Where, N is the number of greater or equal to M M is magnitude a and b are constants In summary, there are more small aftershocks. Aftershocks are dangerous because they are unpredictable, can be of a large magnitude. An aftershock sequence is deemed to have ended when the rate of seismicity drops back to a background level, i. e. no further decay in the number of events with time can be detected. Land movement around the New Madrid is reported to be no more than 0.2 mm a year, Aftershocks on the San Andreas are now believed to top out at 10 years while earthquakes in New Madrid are considered aftershocks nearly 200 years after the 1812 New Madrid earthquake. Some scientists have tried to use foreshocks to help predict upcoming earthquakes, on the East Pacific Rise however, transform faults show quite predictable foreshock behaviour before the main seismic event. Reviews of data of past events and their foreshocks showed that they have a low number of aftershocks, seismologists use tools such as the Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequence model to study cascading aftershocks. Following a large earthquake and aftershocks, many people have reported feeling phantom earthquakes when in fact no earthquake was taking place and this condition, known as earthquake sickness is thought to be related to motion sickness, and usually goes away as seismic activity tails off. Earthquake Aftershocks Not What They Seemed at Live Science
United States
California
