1.
Stream
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A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and banks. Streams are important as conduits in the cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge. The biological habitat in the vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats, the study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element of environmental geography. Brook A stream smaller than a creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep and it is usually small and easily forded. A brook is characterised by its shallowness and its bed being composed primarily of rocks, creek In North America, Australia and New Zealand, a small to medium-sized natural stream. Sometimes navigable by motor craft and may be intermittent, in parts of Maryland, New England, the UK and India, a tidal inlet, typically in a salt marsh or mangrove swamp, or between enclosed and drained former salt marshes or swamps. In these cases, the stream is the stream, the course of the seawater through the creek channel at low. River A large natural stream, which may be a waterway, runnel the linear channel between the parallel ridges or bars on a shoreline beach or river floodplain, or between a bar and the shore. Tributary A contributory stream, or a stream which does not reach the sea, sometimes also called a branch or fork. There are a number of names for a stream. Allt is used in Highland Scotland, beck is used in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Dumfriesshire, Cumbria, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire. Bourne or winterbourne is used in the chalk downland of southern England, brook is used in the Midlands, Lancashire and Cheshire. Burn is used in Scotland and North East England, gill or ghyll is seen in the north of England and other areas influenced by Old Norse. Rivulet is an term encountered in Victorian era publications, stream is used in Southern England. Syke is used in lowland Scotland and Cumbria for a seasonal stream, branch is used to name streams in Maryland and Virginia. Falls is also used to name streams in Maryland, for streams/rivers which have waterfalls on them, little Gunpowder Falls and The Jones Falls are actually rivers named in this manner, unique to Maryland. Kill in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey comes from a Dutch language word meaning riverbed or water channel, run in Ohio, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia can be the name of a stream
2.
Waterfall
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A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of drops in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of an iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls are commonly formed in the course of a river. At these times the channel is narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens slowly, as the watercourse increases its velocity at the edge of the waterfall, it plucks material from the riverbed. Whirlpools created in the turbulence as well as sand and stones carried by the increase the erosion capacity. This causes the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed and to recede upstream, often over time, the waterfall will recede back to form a canyon or gorge downstream as it recedes upstream, and it will carve deeper into the ridge above it. The rate of retreat for a waterfall can be as high as one, eventually, the outcropping, more resistant cap rock will collapse under pressure to add blocks of rock to the base of the waterfall. Waterfalls normally form in an area due to erosion. After a long period of being formed, the water falling off the ledge will retreat. Eventually, as the pit grows deeper, the waterfall collapses to be replaced by a steeply sloping stretch of river bed, a river sometimes flows over a large step in the rocks that may have been formed by a fault line. Waterfalls can occur along the edge of a trough, where a stream or river flowing into a glacier continues to flow into a valley after the glacier has receded or melted. The large waterfalls in Yosemite Valley are examples of this phenomenon, another reason hanging valleys may form is where two rivers join and one is flowing faster than the other. Waterfalls can be grouped into ten classes based on the average volume of water present on the fall using a logarithmic scale. Class 10 waterfalls include Niagara Falls, Paulo Afonso Falls and Khone Falls, young Wrote Waterfalls, form and process this work made waterfalls a much more serious topic for research for modern Geoscientists. Ledge waterfall, Water descends vertically over a cliff, maintaining partial contact with the bedrock. Block/Sheet. Classical, Ledge waterfalls where fall height is equal to stream width. Curtain, Ledge waterfalls which descend over a larger than the width of falling water stream
3.
River source
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The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the furthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. As an example of the definition above, the USGS at times considers the Missouri River as a tributary of the Mississippi River. But it also follows the first definition above in using the combined Missouri - lower Mississippi length figure in lists of lengths of rivers around the world. This definition, from geographer Andrew Johnston of the Smithsonian Institution, is used by the National Geographic Society when pinpointing the source of rivers such as the Amazon or Nile. A definition given by the state of Montana agrees, stating that a source is never a confluence but is in a location that is the farthest, along water miles. Under this definition neither a lake nor a confluence of tributaries can be a river source. Likewise, the source of the Amazon River has been determined this way, when not listing river lengths, however, alternative definitions may be used. In the case of the Missouri River, Lewis and Clark would have had to travel to the east. to reach the source. Sometimes the source of the most remote tributary may be in an area that is more marsh-like, for example, the source of the River Tees is marshland. The furthest stream is often called the headstream. Headwaters are often small streams with cool waters because of shade and they may also be glacial headwaters, waters formed by the melting of glacial ice. Headwater areas are the areas of a watershed, as opposed to the outflow or discharge of a watershed. The river source is often but not always on or quite near the edge of the watershed, for example, the source of the Colorado River is at the Continental Divide separating the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean watersheds of North America. A river is considered a geographic feature, with only one mouth. For an example, note how the Mississippi River and Missouri River sources are officially defined, U. S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, Mississippi River, Length,2,340 miles, Source, 47°14′22″N 95°12′29″W U. S. For example, The River Thames rises in Gloucestershire, the White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. The word source, when applied to lakes rather than rivers or streams, refers to the lakes inflow
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.
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
6.
Sonoma County, California
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Sonoma County is a county in the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 483,878 and its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is located to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino County and it is west of Napa County and Lake County. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area and it is the northwestern county in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region. Sonoma is the county and largest producer of California’s Wine Country region, which also includes Napa, Mendocino. It possesses thirteen approved American Viticultural Areas and over 250 wineries, in 2002, Sonoma County ranked as the 32nd county in the United States in agricultural production. More than 7.4 million tourists each year, spending more than $1 billion in 2006. Sonoma County is the home of Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College, Sonoma County is home to several Native American tribes. By the 1830s, European settlement had set a new direction that would prove to radically alter the course of land use, Sonoma County has rich agricultural land, albeit largely divided between two nearly monocultural uses as of 2007, grapes and pasturage. The voters have twice approved open space initiatives that have provided funding for public acquisition of natural areas, preserving forested areas, coastal habitat, and other open space. The Pomo, Coast Miwok and Wappo peoples were the earliest human settlers of Sonoma County, spaniards, Russians, and other Europeans claimed and settled in the county from the late 16th to mid-19th century, seeking timber, fur, and farmland. The Russians were the first newcomers to establish a permanent foothold in Sonoma County and this settlement and its outlying Russian settlements came to include a population of several hundred Russian and Aleut settlers and a stockaded fort with artillery. However, the Russians abandoned it in 1841 and sold the fort to John Sutter, settler and Mexican land grantee of Sacramento. The Mission San Francisco Solano, founded in 1823 as the last and northernmost of 21 California missions, is in the present City of Sonoma, El Presidio de Sonoma, or Sonoma Barracks, was established in 1836 by Comandante General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. The City of Sonoma was the site of the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846, Sonoma was one of the original counties formed when California became a state in 1850, with its county seat originally the town of Sonoma. However, by the early 1850s, the town of Sonoma had declined in importance in terms of commerce and population, its county buildings were crumbling, and it was relatively remote. As a result, elements in the newer, rapidly growing towns of Petaluma, Santa Rosa, the dispute ultimately was between the bigger, richer commercial town of Petaluma and the more centrally located, growing agricultural center of Santa Rosa. Allegedly, several Santa Rosans, not caring to wait, decided to take action and, one night, rode down the Sonoma Valley to Sonoma, took the county seals and records, some of the countys land was annexed from Mendocino County between 1850 and 1860
7.
Napa County, California
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Napa County is a county located north of San Pablo Bay in the northern portion of the U. S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 136,484, the county seat is the City of Napa. Napa County was one of the counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the territory were given to Lake County in 1861. Napa County comprises the Napa, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland. It is one of four North Bay counties, in prehistoric times, the valley was inhabited by the Patwin Native Americans, with possible habitation by Wappo tribes in the northwestern foothills. Most villages are thought to have been constructed near the floodplains of watercourses that drain the valley and their food consisted of wild roots, acorns, small animals, earthworms, grasshoppers, and bread made from crushed California buckeye kernels. In winter they would construct huts made of tree branches, in summer they camped near rivers and streams. In winter months, they were clad in wild animal skins. The maximum prehistoric population is not to have exceeded 5000 persons. In 1776, a fort was erected by the Spanish Governor, Felipe de Neve a short distance northwest of Napa, francis Castro and Father Jose Altimura were the first Europeans to explore the Napa Valley in 1823. When the first white settlers arrived in the early 1830s, there were six tribes in the valley speaking different dialects, the Mayacomos tribe lived in the area where Calistoga was founded. The Callajomans were in the area near where the town of St. Helena now stands, further south, the Kymus dwelt in the middle part of the valley. The Napa and Ulcus tribes occupied part of the area where the City of Napa now exists while the Soscol tribe occupied the portion that now makes up the end of the valley. Many of the native peoples died during an epidemic in 1838. Settlers also killed several over claims of cattle theft, during the era between 1836 and 1846, when California was a province of independent Mexico, the following 13 ranchos were granted in Napa County, George C. Yount was a settler in Napa County and is believed to be the first Anglo-Saxon resident in the county. In 1836 Yount obtained the Mexican grant Rancho Caymus where he built what is said to be the first log house in California, soon afterward, he built a sawmill and grain mill, and was the first person to plant a vineyard in the county
8.
Calabazas Creek (Sonoma County)
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Calabazas Creek is a 5. 5-mile-long stream in the Sonoma Valley, California, US, that rises in the southern Mayacamas Mountains and empties into Sonoma Creek near Glen Ellen. In the Spanish language, calabazas means squash, pumpkins or gourds, the word calabazas is found on a diseño of part of the Agua Caliente land grant in 1840, just west of the Arroyo de los Guilicos. Gudde felt that this stream may be a record of Calabazas Creek. One of Sonoma Countys oldest stone bridges, from the year 1915. As of 2007 the Sonoma County Open Space District has acquired 1,290 acres in this watershed for conservation purposes, Calabazas Creek has historically hosted a robust steelhead run. Up until about twelve years ago, this location was part of the seabed of the Pacific Ocean. This uplift formed the volcanically based Mayacamas Mountains, some rock quarrying was historically conducted near Nunns Canyon Road in the upper Calabazas Creek watershed. Calabazas Creek originates about 4 mi northeast of the town of Glen Ellen, California, just north of Trinity Road and its headwaters form from the convergence of several unnamed perennial streams. It descends in a direction through the canyon, augmented by the waters of Nunns Iron Spring and other tributaries. It emerges into the Valley of the Moon and turns southward and it flows west of the town of Agua Caliente. As it parallels Henno Road soutward into Glen Ellen, it is fed by Stuart Creek, just after it crosses Arnold Drive, it empties into Sonoma Creek. The upper reach can be defined as the portion of Calabazas Creek north of its crossing of State Route 12, initially there are two large ranches on either side of Calabazas Creek, Beltane Ranch to the west and Atwood Ranch to the east. Proceeding upstream for the mile, there is continuous close viewing of the creek. An abandoned rock quarry is situated about 0.3 miles north of State Route 12 on the west bank.7 miles of the headwaters. Some of the steeply sloped forested areas are characterized as examples of such woodlands. Besides the riparian habitat, the dominant plant community is the oak woodland, in the oak woodlands, the dominant understory plants are native toyon, blackberry and western poison-oak. Common animals observed include black-tailed deer, gray squirrel, jackrabbit, raccoon, skunk, less frequently mountain lion are seen. There is abundant birdlife including the scrub jay, Stellers jay, acorn woodpecker, black phoebe, a number of amphibians occur near the creek and its tributary elements, including the rough skinned newt, Taricha granulosa
9.
Yulupa Creek
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Yulupa Creek is a 2. 8-mile-long southeast-flowing perennial stream that rises on the southeastern flanks of the northern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma County, California, United States. This creek, which drains the slopes of Bennett Mountain, is tributary to Sonoma Creek. Yulupa Creek rises in the Sonoma Mountains, on the edge of Annadel State Park near Bennett Ridge Road. It descends initially to the southeast, after about 2 miles it meets Bennett Valley Road, which it follows eastward to Warm Springs Road, where it discharges into Sonoma Creek. NOAA fisheries has designated the Yulupa Creek watershed as Critical Habitat for Oncorhychus mykiss as well as O. tshawytscha as of 2004. Land use in this watershed consists of Annadel State Park usage and very low density rural single family residential development, in addition to known spawning area for O. mykiss, Yulupa Creek has been designated as a high quality riparian zone and an identified habitat of freshwater shrimp. Moreover, the watershed area is a California oak woodland. These forested areas have been characterized as some of the best examples of such woodlands, an unusual characteristic of these forests is the high content of undisturbed prehistoric bunch grass understory, testifying to the absence of historic grazing or other agriculture. Besides the riparian habitat, plant communities include California oak woodland, Douglas fir forest, chaparral, grassland and marsh. The dominant plant community is the oak woodland, which has a canopy of coast live oak, Garry oak, black oak, Pacific madrone, bigleaf maple, occasionally in the vicinity of drainage swales and creeks, canyon live oak is found. In the oak woodlands, the dominant understory plants are native bunch grass, toyon, blackberry, western poison-oak, common animals observed include black-tailed deer, gray squirrel, raccoon, skunk and opossum. Less frequently bobcat and mountain lion are seen, there is abundant birdlife including the scrub jay, Stellers jay, acorn woodpecker, black phoebe and junco. A number of amphibians occur near the creek and its elements, including the rough skinned newt. Ledson Marsh has an outlet to the north fork of Yulupa Creek. Elevations within the basin of Yulupa Creek range from about 430 to 1800 feet above sea level. Sandstone is the dominant rock type, as a remnant of the ancient sea floor, slopes within the headwaters area commonly range from 15 to 30 percent, and lower reaches have gradients of two to five percent. Typical soil depths in the area range from 14 to 20 inches. Much of the type in the Yulupa Creek riparian zone consists of Laniger loam, with rhyolite outcrops
10.
Graham Creek
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Graham Creek is a 2. 9-mile-long perennial stream in Sonoma County, California, tributary to Sonoma Creek. Graham Creek rises in the northern Sonoma Mountains and flows generally northeasterly down the flank of Sonoma Mountain. Historically this watercourse was called Wild Water Creek, a used in the time of author Jack London. Steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss, have historically entered Graham Creek via Sonoma Creek for spawning, stream surveys conducted from 1966 to 1986 indicated significant, but declining populations of anadromous fish. The spawning habitat of Graham Creek is considered medium to high value, most of the watershed is covered with native California oak woodland habitat populated with a variety of riparian and upland flora and fauna. Historical grazing that began in the 19th century caused certain ecological damage, the earliest historical records show the property was within a Spanish Land Grant in the 1860s. By the late 1890s much of the watershed had been overgrazed. London commented that he wished to reverse the damage in the watershed. The most common plant community is the California oak woodland, which has a canopy of coast live oak, Garry oak, Black oak, Pacific Madrone, Bigleaf maple and California laurel. In some of the steeper, cooler riparian zones there are small groves of Coast redwood. In these oak woodlands, the dominant understory plants are toyon, blackberry, western poison-oak, animals commonly observed include Black-tailed Deer, gray squirrel, raccoon, skunk and opossum. Less frequently bobcat and mountain lion are seen, there is abundant birdlife including the scrub jay, Stellers jay, Acorn woodpecker and junco. Anadromous fish movements in Graham Creek have been studied, although even more research has been conducted of the mainstem Sonoma Creek. In the case of Graham Creek, relatively steep side canyons and stream gradient commence almost immediately above the confluence with Sonoma Creek
11.
Bear Creek (Sonoma Creek)
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Bear Creek is a 2. 8-mile-long stream in eastern Sonoma County, California, United States, a tributary of Sonoma Creek. The stream originates near the Sonoma-Napa county line, about 0.6 miles north of the northern Bald Mountain summit and it descends first to the west and then to the south, emptying into Sonoma Creek just west of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park. As of 2000, Bear Creek supported steelhead trout, graham Creek List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area Yulupa Creek
12.
Kenwood, California
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Kenwood, California is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Sonoma County, California, United States, located on Sonoma Highway between the cities of Santa Rosa and Sonoma. It lies east of Sonoma Creek in the part of Sonoma Valley. Bennett Mountain lies west of the town, and Sugarloaf Ridge to the northeast, the population was 1,028 at the 2010 census. Like all of Sonoma County, Kenwood is considered part of the Wine Country, viticulturally, it lies in the Sonoma Valley AVA. The Kenwood area is known for vineyards and wineries, restaurants, an area landmark is the Kunde Estate Winery on Sonoma Highway, which was first planted in 1879. Kenwood Plaza Park, located two blocks south of State Route 12 at 200 Warm Springs Road and Shaw Park, which is located at 100 Shaw Ave also off State Route 12, both are managed by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department. Annadel State Park lies to the west, Hood Mountain Regional Park lies to the north, further to the south lies Jack London State Historic Park. Kenwood is located on the Rancho Los Guilicos Mexican land grant, in 1887, the Sonoma Land & Improvement Company, which owned the property on which the town now sits, laid out lots in anticipation of the railroad which would arrive the following year. The infant community tried on many names, Rohrerville, for one of the owners of the company, Los Guilicos. The First Congregational Church of Los Guilicos was built in 1888 and it was relocated from the corner of Los Guilicos and Laurel to its present site in 1893. The parsonage was used for the Kenwood School until construction was completed in 1960, the original name of the church was changed first to Los Guilicos Congregational Church and then to its current name Kenwood Community Church. In 1981, the church was designated Historic Landmark 82 by the County of Sonoma, a number of townspeople were unhappy, complaining the Guilicos was hard to pronounce. Around 1895 a vote was taken to change the name again, one story says that Kenwood won because many of the settlers had come from Kenwood, Illinois. Another traces the choice to the fact that many landowners in the area were from old English families and it is possible that both stories are true, and the names permanence stemmed from its acceptability to different groups. Some notable people had ranches in the area including mining, railroad, newspaper and banking magnate, Thomas Kearns and it is reported that he entertained President Theodore Roosevelt there at the Kearns Ranch, also known as the William Hood House. Ray Flugger founded Flowmaster, Inc. in 1983 while working out of a barn in Kenwood. The 2010 United States Census reported that Kenwood had a population of 1,028, the population density was 199.1 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Kenwood was 930 White,1 African American,1 Native American,23 Asian,2 Pacific Islander,45 from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 persons
13.
Glen Ellen, California
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Glen Ellen is a census-designated place in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census, Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Park, Sonoma Valley Regional Park, and a former home of Hunter S. Thompson. Stuart purchased a part of the Rancho Agua Caliente land grant and in 1868 began building a house there, eventually establishing a 1, the town that grew up around the vineyard also came to be called Glen Ellen, and Stuarts home was later renamed Glen Oaks Ranch. Glen Ellen is about 6 miles northwest of the city of Sonoma, the United States Census Bureau fixes the total area at 2.1 square miles,99. 95% of it land and 0. 05% covered by water. Sonoma Creek, the river of the Sonoma Valley flows through Glen Ellen. The 2010 United States Census reported that Glen Ellen had a population of 784, the population density was 372.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Glen Ellen was 693 White,3 African American,9 Native American,16 Asian,3 Pacific Islander,18 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 67 persons. The Census reported that 98. 3% of the lived in households and 1. 7% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 23 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 6 same-sex married couples or partnerships,122 households were made up of individuals and 34 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12, there were 212 families, the average family size was 2.67. The median age was 51.4 years, for every 100 females there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males, there were 421 housing units at an average density of 200.2 per square mile, of which 60. 4% were owner-occupied and 39. 6% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1. 3%, the vacancy rate was 4. 0%. 60. 5% of the lived in owner-occupied housing units and 37. 9% lived in rental housing units. As of the census of 2000, there were 992 people,340 households, the population density was 473 people per square mile. There were 387 housing units at a density of 185/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 89. 4% White,1. 9% African American,1. 2% Native American,1. 2% Asian,0. 40% Pacific Islander,2. 7% from other races,8. 5% of the population were Hispanic. 25. 0% of all households consist of individuals and 3. 8% have someone living alone who is 65 or older, the average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.91
14.
El Verano, California
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El Verano is a census-designated place in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 4,123 as of the 2010 census, El Veranos name is Spanish and means The Summer. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 1.1 square miles. The 2010 United States Census reported that El Verano had a population of 4,123, the population density was 3,609.5 people per square mile. The racial makeup of El Verano was 3,054 White,22 African American,22 Native American,101 Asian,12 Pacific Islander,717 from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,559 persons. The Census reported that 99. 5% of the lived in households and 0. 5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 116 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 18 same-sex married couples or partnerships,334 households were made up of individuals and 104 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80, there were 994 families, the average family size was 3.33. The median age was 35.7 years, for every 100 females there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males. There were 1,581 housing units at a density of 1,384.1 per square mile. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1. 7%, the vacancy rate was 4. 1%. 48. 7% of the lived in owner-occupied housing units and 50. 8% lived in rental housing units. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,954 people,1,461 households, the population density was 3,465.4 people per square mile. There were 1,530 housing units at a density of 1,340.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 82. 83% White,0. 30% African American,0. 99% Native American,1. 37% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,8. 90% from other races, and 5. 54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23. 32% of the population,25. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the family size was 3.26
15.
Sonoma, California
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Sonoma is a city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the towns Mexican colonial past. Today, Sonoma is a center of the wine industry for the Sonoma Valley AVA Appellation. Sonomas population was 10,648 as of the 2010 census, the area around what is now the City of Sonoma, California was not empty when the first Europeans arrived. It is near the northeast corner of the territory claimed by the Coast Miwok, with Southern Pomo to the northwest, Wappo to the northeast, Suisunes, Mission San Francisco Solano was the predecessor of the Pueblo of Sonoma. The Mission, established in 1823 by Father José Altimira of the Franciscan Order was the 21st, last and northernmost mission built in Alta California and it was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from the Spanish Empire. In 1833 the Mexican Congress decided to all of the missions in Alta California. The Spanish missionaries were to be replaced by parish priests, the commander of the Company of the National Presidio at San Francisco, Lieutenant Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was appointed administrator to oversee the closing of Mission San Francisco Solano. Governor José Figueroas naming of Lieutenant Vallejo as the administrator to secularize the Mission was part of a larger plan, an immediate concern was the further eastward movement of the Russian America Company from their settlements at Fort Ross and Bodega Bay on the California coast. The Sonoma Barracks were built to house the soldiers, until the building was habitable, the troops were housed in the buildings of the old Mission. Yount, the first Euro-American permanent settler in the Napa Valley, was employed as a carpenter by General Vallejo, the Governor granted Lieutenant Vallejo the initial lands of Rancho Petaluma immediately west of Sonoma. Vallejo was also named Director or Colonization which meant that he could initiate land grants for other colonists, Vallejo had also been instructed by Governor Figueroa to establish a pueblo at the site of the old Mission. Although Sonoma had been founded as a pueblo in 1835, it remained under military control, in 1843, Lieutenant Colonel Vallejo wrote to the Governor recommending that a civil government be organized for Sonoma. A town council was established in 1844 and Jacob P. Leese was named first alcalde, before dawn on Sunday, June 14,1846, thirty-three Americans, already in rebellion against the Alta California government, arrived in Sonoma. Some of the group had traveled from the camp of U. S. Army Brevet Captain John C, Frémont who had entered California in late 1845 with his exploration and mapping expedition. Others had joined along the way, Mexican officials were concerned about the coming war with the United States coupled with the growing influx of American immigrants into California. The insurgents next determined to seize the weapons and materiel stored in the Sonoma Barracks, meeting no resistance, they approached Comandante Vallejos home and pounded on his door. After a few minutes Vallejo opened the door dressed in his Mexican Army uniform, Vallejo invited the filibusters leaders into his home to negotiate terms. However, when the agreement was presented to those outside they refused to endorse it, rather than releasing the Mexican officers under parole they insisted they be held as hostages
16.
Bald Mountain (California)
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Bald Mountain is a name given to over fifty summits in California. Located on the Sonoma-Napa County border just south of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, there is a Bald Mountain summit at 38°25′46″N 122°29′36″W, in Los Angeles County there is a Bald Mountain at 34°44′39″N 118°43′40″W that rises to an elevation of 4,528 ft. In Humboldt County there is a Bald Mountain at 40°52′56″N 123°51′56″W west of McKinleyville that rises to an elevation of 3,150 ft, in San Benito County there is a Bald Mountain at 36°34′14″N 121°05′24″W that rises to an elevation of 2,920 ft. In Santa Cruz County there is a Bald Mountain at 37°01′30″N 122°08′26″W that rises to an elevation of 1,309 ft, in Santa Clara County there is a Bald Mountain at 37°09′36″N 121°52′02″W that rises to an elevation of 2,382 ft. In San Joaquin County there is a Bald Mountain at 37°34′47″N 121°31′04″W that rises to an elevation of 2,844 ft, in Yolo County there is a Bald Mountain at 38°47′13″N 122°07′23″W that rises to an elevation of 1,811 ft. In El Dorado County there are two, a Bald Mountain at 38°54′15″N 120°42′19″W that rises to an elevation of 4,580 ft. a Bald Mountain at 38°46′01″N 120°13′20″W that rises to an elevation of 6,991 ft. In Lake County there is a Bald Mountain at 38°58′44″N 122°38′42″W that rises to an elevation of 2,165 ft, in Placer County there is a Bald Mountain at 39°17′49″N 120°10′58″W that rises to an elevation of 6,758 ft. In Lassen County there are two, a Bald Mountain at 40°20′19″N 120°27′28″W that rises to an elevation of 5,210 ft. a Bald Mountain at 40°55′02″N 121°05′36″W that rises to an elevation of 6,069 ft. In Riverside County there is a Bald Mountain at 33°40′29″N 116°32′36″W that rises to an elevation of 4,409 ft. In Santa Barbara County there are two, at 34°31′53″N 120°05′28″W that rises to an elevation of 2,612 ft. at 34°48′45″N 119°56′07″W that rises to an elevation of 3,966 ft. In Tulare County there are two, a Bald Mountain at 35°48′42″N 118°49′41″W that rises to an elevation of 2,382 ft. a Bald Mountain at 36°01′11″N 118°15′14″W that rises to an elevation of 9,383 ft. In Sierra County there are two, a Bald Mountain at 39°30′25″N 120°49′49″W that rises to an elevation of 5,791 ft. a Bald Mountain at 39°34′31″N 120°53′53″W that rises to an elevation of 5,515 ft. In Mono County there is a Bald Mountain at 37°47′02″N 118°54′04″W that rises to an elevation of 9,085 ft. In Nevada County there are two, a Bald Mountain at 39°20′04″N 121°00′48″W that rises to an elevation of 3,113 ft. a Bald Mountain at 39°07′06″N 121°10′40″W that rises to an elevation of 1,463 ft. In Monterey County there is a Bald Mountain at 35°51′48″N 121°07′27″W that rises to an elevation of 2,136 ft, in Mariposa County there is a Bald Mountain at 37°43′34″N 120°09′52″W that rises to an elevation of 3,173 ft. In Siskiyou County there are two, a Bald Mountain at 41°23′31″N 123°34′32″W that rises to an elevation of 4,419 ft. a Bald Mountain at 41°46′43″N 122°56′22″W that rises to an elevation of 5,387 ft. In Butte County there is a Bald Mountain at 39°57′10″N 121°28′57″W that rises to an elevation of 5,777 ft. List of summits of the San Francisco Bay Area Bald Mountain, other mountains with the name
17.
St. Helena, California
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St. Helena is a city in Napa County, California. It is part of the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the population was 5,814 at the 2010 census. The citys American Viticultural Area includes 416 vineyards encompassing 6,800 acres of planted vineyards, St. Helena is also the location of The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and a campus of Napa Valley College. Ellen White, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, had a home called Elmshaven near St. Helena and she died there in 1915 and the site is now a National Historic Landmark. Both the Beringer Vineyards and the Charles Krug Winery are California Historical Landmarks, St. Helenas community center was built as a Carnegie library, it served as the city library from 1908 to 1978. St. Helena has an area of 5.03 sq mi. The National Weather Service has a weather station in St. Helena. Winters are cool and wet, while summers have hot days, average temperatures in December, the coldest month, range from 57 °F to 38 °F. Average temperatures in July and August, the warmest months, range from 89 °F to 55 °F, there are an average of 55.7 days with highs of 90 °F or higher and an average of 34.7 days with lows of 32 °F or lower. The record high temperature was 115 °F on July 13,1972, average annual precipitation is 36.64 inches. There are an average of 68 days with measurable precipitation, the wettest year was 1983 with 75.40 inches and the driest year was 1976 with 10.41 inches. The wettest month on record was February 1986 with 25.60 inches, the most rainfall in 24 hours was 6.83 inches on January 21,1967. Although snow rarely falls in St. Helena, there is an average snowfall of 0. 2-inch. The most snowfall in one month was 4.0 inches, recorded in January 1974, the most snowfall in 24 hours was 4.0 inches on March 2,1976. The 2010 United States Census reported that St. Helena had a population of 5,814, the population density was 1,156.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of St. Helena was 4,525 White,25 African American,35 Native American,98 Asian,9 Pacific Islander,978 from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,914 persons. The Census reported that 98. 3% of the lived in households and 1. 7% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 96 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 20 same-sex married couples or partnerships,805 households were made up of individuals and 411 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
18.
San Pablo Bay
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San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. San Pablo Bay was named after Rancho San Pablo, a Spanish land grant given to colonial Alta California settlers in 1815, the bay is approximately 10 mi across and has an area of approximately 90 sq mi. The bay is heavily silted from the contributions of the two rivers, which drain most of the Central Valley of California. All tributaries except for Sonoma Creek are commercially navigable and maintained by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, two peninsulas separate San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay. The eastern is in the City of Richmond and the western in the City of San Rafael, the bay is shared between Contra Costa county on the southern and eastern shore, and Solano, Sonoma and Marin counties on the northern and western shores. The county boundaries meet near the center of the bay, communities on the shores of San Pablo Bay include, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo in Contra Costa County, Vallejo in Solano County, along with Novato and San Rafael in Marin County. Because the Bay is close to major and local airports. Because of its size but shallow waters, San Pablo Bay frequently has difficult boating conditions. There are many undeveloped shore lands with salt marshes and mudflats, the Bay is a primary wintering stop for the canvasback duck population on the Pacific Flyway, as well as a migratory staging ground for numerous species of waterfowl. Much of the shore of the bay is protected as part of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Endangered species that are found in the bay include the California brown pelican, California clapper rail and this is a popular destination for recreation fishing, with Saltwater species including, striped bass, surfperch, sturgeon, starry flounder, leopard shark, topsmelt, and anchovy. In the 1880s there was a village, where some 500 Chinese people lived. The location is now part of China Camp State Park, San Pablo Bay is the setting of alternative rock band Primuss four-part song series Fishermans Chronicles, and is also referenced in The Toys Go Winding Down and Harold of the Rocks. It is also mentioned in The Minus 5 song John Barleycorn Must Live, provides a brief history of the marshes of San Pablo Bay
19.
Vallejo, California
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Vallejo is a waterfront port city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census and it is the tenth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the largest in Solano County. Vallejo sits on the shore of San Pablo Bay,30 miles north of San Francisco. Vallejo is home to the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom theme park, the now-defunct Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the colleges and universities in Vallejo are California Maritime Academy, the Vallejo Center campus of Solano Community College, and Touro University California. Ferry service runs from a terminal on Mare Island Strait to San Francisco, Vallejo has twice served as the capital of the state of California, once in 1852 and again in 1853, both periods being brief. The State Capitol building burned to the ground in the 1880s, as there were no bridges at that time, the Mare Island Fire Department had to be ferried across the Napa River, arriving to find only the foundation remaining. This was the first recorded mutual aid response in the state of California, some of the first Europeans drawn to the Vallejo area were attracted by the sulfur springs, in the year 1902 the area was named Blue Rock Springs. It was also known as White Sulfur Springs and that was the name of the leading to it from town. Vallejo is best known for the Zodiac Killer and being the hometown of Bay Area rappers E-40, according to United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.5 square miles. Land area is 30.7 square miles, and 18.9 square miles is water, the Napa River flows until it changes into the Mare Island Strait in Vallejo which then flows into the San Pablo Bay. Vallejo is located on the edge of Solano County, California in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. Vallejo is accessible by Interstate 80 between San Francisco and Sacramento, and is the location for the half of the Carquinez Bridge. It is also accessible by Interstate 780 from neighboring Benicia to the east, Route 29 begins in the city near the Carquinez Bridge and travels north through the heart of the city and beyond into Napa County, entering neighboring American Canyon and eventually Napa. Several faults have been mapped in the vicinity of Vallejo, the San Andreas Fault and Hayward Faults are the most active faults, although the San Andreas is at some distance. Locally, the Sulphur Springs Valley Thrust Fault and Southampton Fault are found, no quaternary seismic activity along these minor faults has been observed with the possible exception of a slight offset revealed by trenching. The Sulphur Mountain and Green Valley faults have been associated with the Concord Fault to the south, the Concord Fault is considered active. Historically there have been local cinnabar mines in the Vallejo area, the Hastings Mine and St. Johns Mine contribute ongoing water contamination for mercury, furthermore, mine shaft development has depleted much of this areas spring water. Both Rindler Creek and Blue Rock Springs Creek have been affected, the city of Vallejo is located 24 miles northeast of San Francisco,20 miles north of Oakland,56 miles north of San Jose and 52 miles south of Sacramento
20.
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
21.
Northern California
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Northern California, often abbreviated NorCal, is the northern portion of the U. S. state of California. The 48-county definition is not used for the Northern California Megaregion, the megaregions area is instead defined from Metropolitan Fresno north to Greater Sacramento, and from the Bay Area east across Nevada state line to encompass the entire Lake Tahoe-Reno area. The arrival of European explorers from the early 16th to the mid-18th centuries, in 1770, the Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coast—eventually extending as far north as Sonoma County. Northern California is not a geographic designation. Californias north-south midway division is around 37° latitude, near the level of San Francisco, popularly, though, Northern California usually refers to the states northernmost 48 counties. This definition coincides with the county lines at 35° 47′ 28″ north latitude, the term is also applied to the area north of Point Conception and the Tehachapi Mountains. Because of Californias large size and diverse geography, the state can be subdivided in other ways as well, the state is often considered as having an additional division north of the urban areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. The coastal area north of the Bay Area is referred to as the North Coast while the region north of Sacramento is referred by locals as the Northstate. Since the events of the California Gold Rush, Northern California has been a leader on the economic, scientific. In science, advances range from being the first to isolate and name fourteen transuranic chemical elements, other examples of innovation across diverse fields range from Genentech to CrossFit as a pioneer in extreme human fitness and training. It is also Home to one of the largest Air Force Bases on the West Coast, Northern Californias largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which includes the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and their many suburbs. In recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as Central Valley cities such as Sacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Turlock and Modesto. The 2010 U. S. Census showed that the Bay Area grew at a faster rate than the Greater Los Angeles Area while Greater Sacramento had the largest growth rate of any area in California. The states larger cities are considered part of Northern California in cases when the state is divided into two parts. The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for the Spanish Crown, in 1542, beginning in 1565, the Spanish Manila galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines, with silver and gemstones from Mexico. The Manila galleons returned across the northern Pacific, and reached North America usually off the coast of northern California, in 1579, northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of todays San Francisco and claimed the area for England. In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored Californias coast as far north as Monterey Bay, other Spanish explorers sailed along the coast of northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established. The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast, the mission at Monterey was first established in 1770, and at San Francisco in 1776
22.
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
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Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is a state park in Northern California, U. S. A. Located in the Mayacamas Mountains north of Kenwood, the park straddles the boundary between Sonoma and Napa counties, the park contains the 2,729 feet Bald Mountain and the headwaters of Sonoma Creek including a 25-foot tall seasonal waterfall. The park is home to the volunteer-run Robert Ferguson Observatory. Camping, picnicking, horseback riding, mountain biking, stargazing, fishing and hiking are common attractions of Sugarloaf, the park boasts 25 miles of trails with trails ranging from less than a mile to 8.8 miles, and elevation gains reaching 2,500 feet. The ridge has two peaks, the western one being 1,939 feet above sea level and eastern one being 2,265 feet. The East peak contains a microwave antenna. This site was featured in articles of the Napa Valley Sentinel. Sugarloaf Ridge was one of the first parks to close under the California State Parks plan to close up to 70 of its 278 parks due to budget cuts. The closures were deemed necessary to achieve an $11 million reduction in the fiscal year 2011/12. The park was reopened by Team Sugarloaf in June 2012 to restore access to camping and hiking trails, the parks official address is 2605 Adobe Canyon Road, Kenwood, CA95452. The Wappo Indians were the first known inhabitants of the region and they relied on various resources of the region especially acorns and berries, and are known for their farming and basketry abilities. Spaniards attempted to takeover the area in 1823, failing, later, the cholera epidemic dwindled the numbers of the Wappos, who were ultimately relocated to Indian reservations by the American government. In the 1870s farming increased in the Sugarloaf region, business owners in town began hiring “gentlemen farmers” to manage their ranches along the Sugarloaf Ridge while the business owners remained in the town. Some even made livings off burning trees of the Sugarloaf region to make, by 1920, the California government had dammed the creek for public water use while the region attracted campers, picnickers, and Boy Scout troops. Land owners began leasing land for grazing in 1942. Finally in 1964, the state of California admitted Sugarloaf as a California State Park, poison oak and stinging nettles are found along the Sonoma Creek and can be a threat to hikers. Shrubs of the chaparral include manzanita, chamise, California lilac, coyote bush, toyon, golden fairy lantern, zigadene, and fritillarias are in certain regions of the enclosure as well. Summer boasts the blossoming of even more flowers including clarkias, scarlet larkspurs, farewell-to-springs, Mariposa lilies, monkey flowers, at least 400 plants species are found in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
23.
San Francisco Bay
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San Francisco Bay is a shallow estuary in the U. S. state of California. It is surrounded by a region known as the San Francisco Bay Area, dominated by the large cities San Francisco, Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from approximately 40 percent of California and it then connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Golden Gate strait. However, this group of interconnected bays is often called the San Francisco Bay. The bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on February 2,2013, the bay covers somewhere between 400 and 1,600 square miles, depending on which sub-bays, estuaries, wetlands, and so on are included in the measurement. The main part of the bay measures 3 to 12 miles wide east-to-west and it is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas. Later, wetlands and inlets were filled in, reducing the Bays size since the mid-19th century by as much as one third. Recently, large areas of wetlands have been restored, further confusing the issue of the Bays size, despite its value as a waterway and harbor, many thousands of acres of marshy wetlands at the edges of the bay were, for many years, considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or dredged from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands, from the mid-19th century through the late 20th century, more than a third of the original bay was filled and often built on. The idea was, and remains, controversial, there are five large islands in San Francisco Bay. Alameda, the largest island, was created when a shipping lane was cut in 1901 and it is now predominantly a bedroom community. Angel Island was known as Ellis Island West because it served as the point for immigrants from East Asia. It is now a park accessible by ferry. Mountainous Yerba Buena Island is pierced by a tunnel linking the east and west spans of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, attached to the north is the artificial and flat Treasure Island, site of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. From the Second World War until the 1990s, both served as military bases and are now being redeveloped. Isolated in the center of the Bay is Alcatraz, the site of the federal penitentiary. The federal prison on Alcatraz Island no longer functions, but the complex is a popular tourist site, despite its name, Mare Island in the northern part of the bay is a peninsula rather than an island. During the last ice age, the now filled by the bay was a large linear valley with small hills
24.
Wine Country (California)
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The Wine Country is an area of Northern California in the United States known worldwide as a premium wine-growing region. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the mid-19th century, Wine grapes are also grown at higher elevations, such as Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder AVAs. The region is defined not only by its viticulture, but also its ecology, geology, architecture, cuisine, the majority of the grape harvest, by both area and value, derives from Sonoma County. Helena and Calistoga in Napa County, and Hopland and Ukiah in Mendocino County, Wine Country is generally regarded as the combined counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake. In Lake County, Clear Lake, Guenoc Valley, High Valley, the six-county North Coast AVA overlaps with the Wine Country as defined here. In addition, the names of the counties themselves are legal for use as appellation names, the earliest prehistory of the Wine Country involves habitation by several Native American tribes from approximately 8000 BC. During the Mexican Colonial period and after, European settlers brought in more intensive agriculture to the Wine Country, including growing grapes, some of the historical events that led to the establishment of California as a state transpired in the Wine Country. In particular, the town of Sonoma, is known as the birthplace of American California, agoston Haraszthy is credited with being one of the forefathers of the California wine industry in Sonoma by his planting of grapes in the lower Arroyo Seco Creek watershed of Sonoma County. A diversity of aquatic and terrestrial organisms populate the Wine Country, winter-run Chinook salmon, Delta smelt and steelhead are the most prominent fishes. A variety of salamanders, snakes and frogs are present in the Wine Country. The federally listed as threatened California red-legged frog is present in the northern reach draining the slopes of Annadel State Park. Several endangered species present include Ridgways rail, California black rail, California brown pelican, California freshwater shrimp, salt marsh harvest mouse, Suisun shrew, the above are endangered species with the exception of the splittail, steelhead and black rail, which are federally designated as threatened. Upland ecosystems drained include mixed California oak woodland, chaparral and savannah woodland, in these upland reaches one finds plentiful black-tailed deer, coyote, skunk, raccoon, opossum, wild turkey, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk and occasionally bobcat and mountain lion. Prominent higher elevation trees include, Coast live oak, Garry oak, Pacific madrone, California buckeye, Douglas fir, the Wine Country has undergone a boom in tourism. In 1975 there were only 25 Napa Valley wineries, today there are well over 400 wineries in Napa and Sonoma Counties. Tourists come to the not only for wine tasting, but also for hiking, bicycling, hot air ballooning. Numerous notable chefs and restaurateurs are present in the Wine Country, including Thomas Keller, John Ash, the Napa Valley is also experiencing pressures for increased urbanization and roadway upgrading. Central Coast AVA Lake County wine Mendocino County wine Napa County wine Sonoma County wine Wine Country at DMOZ
25.
Sonoma Valley
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Sonoma Valley is located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, the wines are protected by the US Federal Governments Sonoma Valley. Sonoma Valley offers a range of year-round festivals and events. Points of interest include the Quarryhill Botanic Garden, Mission San Francisco Solano, Jack London State Historic Park, Sonoma State Historic Park, the valley is located in southeastern Sonoma County between the Mayacamas Mountains and Sonoma Mountains. It stretches from San Pablo Bay in the south to the city of Santa Rosa in the north, Sonoma Creek flows down the valley to the bay. Established in 1823 and named to honor St. Francis Solanus, within two generations of the Spaniards arrival, however, the indigenous societies of the region were dispossessed of their land and decimated by diseases to which Europeans were resistant. Also known as Valley of the Seven Moons The raising of the first California Bear Flag, fremont was the initial act that founded the Bear Flag Republic. Vallejo later transferred his allegiance with US statehood, and with his land holdings guided the development of the town. Californias first wineries were established here, including Buena Vista Winery, Boyes Hot Springs and Agua Caliente were popular health retreats for tourists from San Francisco and points beyond until the middle of the 20th century. Today the Sonoma Mission Inn in Boyes Hot Springs remains as a destination resort, and the wineries, the historic sites. The phrase Valley of the Moon was first recorded in an 1850 report by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo to the California Legislature, according to Jack London, who had a ranch there, the Native American word Sonoma means valley of the moon. He used it for his book of the same name, but there are several other possible translations for Sonoma. According to the Miwok tribes that lived in the valley, white settlers may have accidentally translated the words many moons into valley of moons. Miwok legends say that the moon seemingly rose from this valley, or was nestled in the valley, in the native languages there is also a constantly recurring ending tso-noma, from tso, the earth, and noma, village, hence tsonoma, earth village. Other sources say Sonoma comes from the Patwin tribes west of the Sacramento River, per California Place Names, the name is doubtless derived from a Patwin word for nose, which Padre Arroyo gives as sonom. Spaniards may have found an Indian chief with a prominent protuberance and applied the nickname of Chief Nose to the village, the name may have applied originally to a nose-shaped geographic feature. The Sonoma Valley is part of the Coast Range Physiographic provence, the Cretaceous Great Valley Sequence overlies and contacts the Franciscan Complex along the Coast Range Thrust. The Jurassic-Cretaceous Franciscan Complex includes crumpled, uplifted terranes that have resulted from the subduction of the former oceanic Farallon Plate under the North American continent, during late Miocene-Pliocene time the area was attended by volcanism which are interbedded with the late Miocene-Pliocene Petaluma Formation
26.
Drainage basin
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A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or other body of water. Drainage basins connect into other drainage basins at elevations in a hierarchical pattern, with smaller sub-drainage basins. Other terms used to describe drainage basins are catchment, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin and water basin. In closed drainage basins the water converges to a point inside the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake. The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all the water within the covered by the basin. Each drainage basin is separated topographically from adjacent basins by a perimeter, drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks, in a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. Drainage basins of the oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the oceans, the following is a list of the major ocean basins, About 48. 7% of the worlds land drains to the Atlantic Ocean. The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic, The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U. S. The Mediterranean Sea basin includes much of North Africa, east-central Africa, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the areas of Israel, Lebanon. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Oceans drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earths land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Burma, antarctica comprises approximately eight percent of the Earths land. The five largest river basins, from largest to smallest, are the basins of the Amazon, the Río de la Plata, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi. The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganga, endorheic drainage basins are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic lakes or seas or sinks, the largest of these consists of much of the interior of Asia, which drains into the Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous smaller lakes. Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, in endorheic bodies of standing water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this is the Dead Sea, drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important
27.
Napa River
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The Napa River, approximately 55 miles long, is a river in the U. S. state of California. It drains a famous wine-growing region, called the Napa Valley, milliken Creek and Mt. Veeder watersheds are a few of its many tributaries. The mouth is at Vallejo where the inter-tidal zone of fresh, the Napa River rises in northwestern Napa County just south of the summit of Mt. St. Helena in the Mayacamas Mountains of the California Coast Ranges. The source begins as seasonal Kimball Canyon Creek in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park at an elevation of 3,745 feet which descends the slope of Mt. St. Helena to Kimball Canyon Dam. It flows south for 4 miles, entering the head of the slender Napa Valley north of Calistoga, in the valley, it flows southeast past Calistoga, St Helena, Rutherford, Oakville and through Napa, its head of navigation. Downstream from Napa, it forms an estuary, entering Mare Island Strait. It discharges into San Pablo Bay through the Napa Sonoma Marsh, the Napa River watershed encompasses approximately 426 square miles. Larger tributaries, such as Dry, Conn, and Soda creeks, several large dams were built between 1924 and 1959 on major eastside tributaries and the northern headwaters of the Napa River. In addition, many smaller dams can be throughout the watershed. These numerous dams are barriers to salmon and steelhead seeking their historic spawning grounds. The river also supports a diversity of fishes and recovering salmonid populations, especially chinook salmon. In 2003 the Napa County Resource Conservation District began an ongoing monitoring program. The Chinook run begins in late October through January, the Napa River basin is estimated to have historically supported a spawning run of 6, 000–8,000 steelhead, and as many as 2, 000–4,000 coho salmon. By the late 1960s, coho salmon were extirpated from the watershed, flow reductions in key rearing streams have reduced food availability for juvenile steelhead, causing reduced growth and survival. Recently, a salmon was caught in the river. In addition, a fourth species, sockeye salmon, was also identified in the Napa River. Because of this diversity the Napa River has been prioritized for special protection, white sturgeon and many other native and non-native fishes currently utilize the Napa River watershed. The California golden beaver was historically extant, recently beaver have recolonized the Napa River and have been documented in Napa as well as near Rutherford and Oak Knoll
28.
Petaluma River
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The Petaluma River is a river in the California counties of Sonoma and Marin that becomes a tidal slough for the majority of its length. The headwaters are in the area southwest of Cotati, the word Petaluma may derive from the Miwok words pe’ta, flat, and luma, back. The Miwok people lived in Sonoma County for more than 2500 years, Petaluma was the name of a village on a low hill east of Petaluma creek and north east of the present day town of Petaluma. The first recorded exploration of the Petaluma River was by Captain Fernando Quiros in October,1776, located in southern Sonoma County, California, and a portion of northeastern Marin, the Petaluma River Watershed drains 146 square miles. The watershed is approximately 19 miles long and 13 miles wide with the City of Petaluma near its center, the lower 12 miles of the Petaluma River flow through the Petaluma Marsh, the largest remaining salt marsh in San Pablo Bay. The marsh covers 5,000 acres and is surrounded by approximately 7,000 acres of reclaimed wetlands, in the marshes west of Lakeville, the river is joined by San Antonio Creek, at which point it becomes the boundary between Marin County and Sonoma County. The river flows under State Route 37 at Green Point and enters northwest San Pablo Bay just north of Petaluma Point, while the rivers source lies over 300 ft above sea level, it descends to 50 ft within about 0.4 mi. The river is fully tidal 11 mi from its mouth, indicating its slight gradient through the marshes below Petaluma, the United States Army Corps of Engineers dredges this section to keep it navigable by gravel barges and pleasure craft. The Petaluma River Watershed hosts several federally endangered animals including the salt marsh harvest mouse, endangered flora include soft bird’s-beak, Baker’s stickyseed, Burke’s goldfields, showy Indian clover, and Sebastopol meadowfoam. Steelhead that spawn and rear in the Petaluma River watershed are wild, not hatchery, Chinook salmon are seen in the main stem of the Petaluma River and The United Anglers of Casa Grande High School have seen chinook at the turning basin, near the Lynch Creek confluence. The high school constructed a salmonid hatchery in 1993 and in 200274 Chinook salmon returned to spawn in the Adobe Creek tributary. The marshes provide an important wildlife habitat and fish hatchery, however, since the onset of intensive immigration in the mid-1850s, the water quality has diminished, partly due to overgrazing and other agricultural uses. Pollutants present in the river include nitrates, phosphates, petroleum hydrocarbons, pesticides, urban runoff, particularly from the City of Petaluma, adds heavy metals and hydrocarbons to the river. Starting about 1990, material steps were taken to mitigate the pollution, because the Petaluma River is relatively well-protected, most of the pollution comes from nearby storm drains. It is up to the people of Petaluma to keep the river clean, because most of the length of the waterway is tidal and urban/suburban, there is a significant collection of tidally deposited debris along the banks. Despite the poor aesthetics including turbidity, the quality is not particularly poor. It has been alleged that the greatest threat to the Petaluma River is the planned Dutra asphalt plant, the reported concerns involve the loud noises it will create that will scare away the birds and throw off the entire ecosystem. The longest highway span, the 4-lane Route 37 bridge, is 2,183 ft long and was built in 1958, the oldest public bridge, built in 1925, is a 114 ft concrete triple span carrying two lanes of Petaluma Boulevard North
29.
Tolay Creek
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Tolay Creek is a 12. 5-mile-long southward-flowing stream in southern Sonoma County, California, United States, which flows through Tolay Lake and ends in north San Pablo Bay. The Alaguali were a Coast Miwok community of northern San Pablo Bay in the Tolay Creek region, Alaguali lands bordered the north edge of San Pablo Bay and the southern one third of their area was low tidal marshland at the mouth of Sonoma Creek and Napa Slough. In 1814 the Spanish authorities began to split up the Alaguali amongst different missions, padre José Altimira, the founder of Mission San Francisco Solano, wrote in his diary on June 27,1823, Tolay Lake so called for the Chief of the Indians. Tolay Creek was named for the lake, the Tolay Creek watershed lies between those of Sonoma Creek and the Petaluma River. It originates near Stage Gulch Road about 2 mi north of Lakeville and it feeds Tolay Lake, then descends to flow under State Route 121 north of the Infineon Raceway. South of State Route 37, Tolay Creek marks part of the boundary of the Sonoma Valley AVA. List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area Miwok Tolay Creek Watershed
30.
River
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A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water, small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the term river as applied to geographic features. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location, examples are run in parts of the United States, burn in Scotland and northeast England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always, Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Potamology is the study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general. Extraterrestrial rivers of liquid hydrocarbons have recently found on Titan. Channels may indicate past rivers on other planets, specifically outflow channels on Mars and rivers are theorised to exist on planets, a river begins at a source, follows a path called a course, and ends at a mouth or mouths. The water in a river is confined to a channel. In larger rivers there is also a wider floodplain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel. Floodplains may be wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and floodplain can be blurred, especially in areas where the floodplain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing. Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys or along plains, the term upriver refers to the direction towards the source of the river, i. e. against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term describes the direction towards the mouth of the river. The term left bank refers to the bank in the direction of flow. The river channel typically contains a stream of water, but some rivers flow as several interconnecting streams of water. Extensive braided rivers are now found in only a few regions worldwide and they also occur on peneplains and some of the larger river deltas. Anastamosing rivers are similar to braided rivers and are quite rare
31.
Mayacamas Mountains
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The Mayacamas Mountains are located in northwestern California in the United States. The mountain range is part of the Northern Inner Coast Ranges, the Mayacamas Mountains are located south of the Mendocino Range, west of Clear Lake, and east of Ukiah in Mendocino and Lake Counties, and extend south into Napa and Sonoma Counties. The range stretches for 52 mi in a northwest-southeasterly direction, the ranges highest point is Cobb Mountain, at 4,724 ft in elevation, located in the central section. There are several peaks over 2,500 ft, including Mount Saint Helena. These peaks are high to retain some snow cover in winter. Several streams rise in the Mayacamas Mountains including Mark West Creek, Sonoma Creek, Calabazas Creek, Arroyo Seco Creek, Putah Creek, Natural history In prehistoric times, around ten million years ago, the mountains are thought to have been densely forested in Mendocino Cypress. The Mayacamas Mountains currently support California mixed evergreen forest and California interior chaparral, according to Barrett, there was a Yukian Wappo village, Maiyakma, one mile south of present day Calistoga. Serro de los Mallacomes is shown on a diseño of the Rancho Caymus grant. Later the name appears in the title and on the diseños of the Rancho Mallacomes y Plano de Agua Caliente or Moristul land grant, dated September 3,1841, the present spelling is used in the Statutes of 1850. Although this version was used by the Whitney Survey, confusion persists to the present day. The Geographic Board decided for Miyakma, but in 1941 it reversed this decision in favor of Mayacmas, the stream is still called Maacama Creek. The spelling Mayacamas is listed as a name by the Board of Geographic Names. Located in the Mayacamas mountain range is The Geysers, the worlds largest and most developed geothermal field and it consists of more than 22 power plants scattered across an area of about 30 square miles. The Geysers spans the Lake, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties in California, the electrical energy is generated when dry steam is pumped from geothermal reservoirs through turbines. Mark West Springs Mayacamas Vineyards Snell Valley Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Allan, Stuart
32.
Trione-Annadel State Park
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Trione-Annadel State Park is a state park of California in the United States. It is situated at the edge of Sonoma Valley and is adjacent to Spring Lake Regional Park in Santa Rosa. It offers many activities within its 5, 092-acre property. These lands were occupied by the Wappo and Pomo people in times, who would have primarily inhabited the riparian zones. Annadel includes what some consider the best example of undisturbed northern oak woodlands in existence. Visitors can enjoy the parks wildlife and scenery during any time of the year but are perhaps most rewarded from April through June when most wildflowers are in bloom. Plant communities include California oak woodland, riparian woodland, Douglas fir forest, chaparral, grassland, the dominant plant community is the oak woodland, which has a canopy of coast live oak, Garry oak, black oak, Pacific madrone, bigleaf maple, and California laurel. Canyon live oak occurs in swales and creeks, in the oak woodlands, the dominant understory plants are native bunchgrasses, toyon, wild blackberry, coyote brush, and western poison-oak. The latter covers nearly one quarter of the understory in the park, Douglas fir occurs in some of the steeper, cooler riparian zones and on north-facing slopes. Common animals in Annadel include black-tailed deer, western gray squirrel, raccoon, skunk, bobcat and mountain lion are occasionally observed. There are many species, including the California scrub jay, Stellers jay, acorn woodpecker, black phoebe. In moist areas, amphibians such as the rough-skinned newt can be found, the southern reaches of Annadel are drained by Yulupa Creek and other tributaries of Sonoma Creek, while the northern flanks are part of the Santa Rosa Creek watershed. Eastern slopes are drained by Yulupa and Sonoma Creeks, while the slopes are part of the Spring Creek watershed. Many of Annadels streams are dry in the summer, because rainfall is highly seasonal, Ledson Marsh, which drains into Yulupa Creek, retains some smaller pools of water throughout most of the year. The highest elevation in the park is the top of Bennett Mountain,1,887 feet. The entirety of Annadel was below the floor as recently as twelve million years ago, around which time massive uplift. Elevations in Annadel range from about 360 to 1,880 feet above sea level, slopes within Annadel commonly range from 15 to 30 percent, but it is not uncommon to encounter slopes up to 70 percent on steep slopes above drainages which are covered in douglas fir forest. Typical soil depths are 35 to 50 centimetres, much of the soil type in the Yulupa Creek riparian zone consists of Laniger loam, with rhyolite outcrops, another relic of the igneous history
33.
Sonoma Mountains
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The Sonoma Mountains are a northwest-southeast trending mountain range of the Inner Coast Ranges in the California Coast Ranges System, located in Sonoma County, Northern California. The Sonoma Mountains range is approximately fourteen miles long and it separates the Sonoma Creek watershed from the Petaluma River and Tolay Creek watersheds. The highest point of range is Sonoma Mountain, elevation 2,287 ft. Jack London State Historic Park, Crane Creek Regional Park. A number of threatened and endangered species are found in the Sonoma Mountains including the Fragrant Fritillary, many creeks rise in the Sonoma Mountains. From the northwestern slopes, Copeland Creek and Hinebaugh Creek flow to the Laguna de Santa Rosa, eventually entering the Pacific Ocean just south of Jenner, matanzas Creek and Spring Creek flow north into Santa Rosa Creek, another tributary of the Laguna. Tributaries of Sonoma Creek rise on the eastern exposures of the Sonoma Mountains, Yulupa Creek, Carriger Creek, Graham Creek, Felder Creek and these eventually enter San Pablo Bay south of Sonoma, California. The southwestern slopes drain to San Pablo Bay by other routes, either Tolay Creek or else some tributary of the Petaluma River such as Lichau Creek, Lynch Creek, bennett Mountain Pomo people Taylor Mountain
34.
Vineyard
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A vineyard /ˈvɪnjərd/ is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of production is known as viticulture. The earliest evidence of production dates from between 6000 and 5000 BC. Wine making technology improved considerably with the ancient Greeks but it wasnt until the end of the Roman Empire that cultivation techniques as we know them were common throughout Europe. In medieval Europe the Church was a supporter of wine. They owned and tended the best vineyards in Europe and vinum theologium was considered superior to all others, European vineyards were planted with a wide variety of the Vitis vinifera grape. However, in the late 19th century, the species was nearly destroyed by the plant louse phylloxera accidentally introduced to Europe from North America. Native American grapevines include varieties such as Vitis labrusca, which is resistant to the bug, the quest for vineyard efficiency has produced a bewildering range of systems and techniques in recent years. Due to the much more fertile New World growing conditions. Innovation in palissage and pruning and thinning methods have replaced more general, traditional concepts like yield per unit area in favor of maximizing yield of desired quality. Many of these new techniques have since adopted in place of traditional practice in the more progressive of the so-called Old World vineyards. Other recent practices include spraying water on vines to protect them from sub-zero temperatures, new grafting techniques, soil slotting, such techniques have made possible the development of wine industries in New World countries such as Canada. Today there is increasing interest in developing organic, ecologically sensitive, biodynamics has become increasingly popular in viticulture. The use of irrigation in recent years has expanded vineyards into areas which were previously unplantable. The research includes developing improved grape varieties and investigating pest control, the International Grape Genome Program is a multi-national effort to discover a genetic means to improving quality, increasing yield and providing a natural resistance to pests. The implementation of mechanical harvesting is often stimulated by changes in laws, labor shortages. It can be expensive to hire labor for periods of time. Numbers of New World vineyard plantings have been increasing almost as fast as European vineyards are being uprooted, the size of individual vineyards in the New World is significant
35.
Canyon
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A canyon or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from the erosive activity of a river over geologic timescales. A canyon may also refer to a rift between two peaks, such as those in ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps. Usually a river or stream and erosion carve out such splits between mountains, examples of mountain-type canyons are Provo Canyon in Utah or Yosemite National Park in Californias Sierra Nevada. Canyons within mountains, or gorges that have an opening on one side are called box canyons. Slot canyons are very narrow canyons, often with smooth walls, steep-sided valleys in the seabed of the continental slope underwater are referred to as submarine canyons. Unlike canyons on land, submarine canyons are thought to be formed by turbidity currents, the word canyon is Spanish in origin, with the same meaning. The word canyon is used in North America while the words gorge and ravine are used in Europe and Oceania, though gorge. In the United States, place names generally use canyon in the southwest and gorge in the northeast, in Canada, a gorge is usually narrow while a ravine is more open and often wooded. The military-derived word defile is occasionally used in the United Kingdom, most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau or table-land level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion, Canyons are much more common in arid than in wet areas because physical weathering has a more localized effect in arid zones. The wind and water from the combine to erode and cut away less resistant materials such as shales. The freezing and expansion of water also serves to help form canyons, water seeps into cracks between the rocks and freezes, pushing the rocks apart and eventually causing large chunks to break off the canyon walls, in a process known as frost wedging. Canyon walls are formed of resistant sandstones or granite. Sometimes large rivers run through canyons as the result of geological uplift. These are called entrenched rivers, because they are unable to alter their course. In the United States, the Colorado River in the Southwest, Canyons often form in areas of limestone rock. As limestone is soluble to an extent, cave systems form in the rock. When these collapse, a canyon is left, as in the Mendip Hills in Somerset and Yorkshire Dales in Yorkshire, England
36.
Jack London State Historic Park
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The property is both a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. The Jack London home, called the Wolf House, is a stone structure. The sloping terrain of the park has an occurrence of Goulding clay loam soils. Jack London State Historic Park was occupied by a winery called Kohler & Frohling, Jack London purchased the property when it was abandoned in 1905 with hopes of becoming a rancher. While London was there, he expanded the cottage to 3,000 square feet. Between 1909 and 1911, London bought more land to expand his ranch, in 1910, he began work on his mansion on his ranch called the Wolf House. Jack and Charmian spent more than $80,000 in pre-World War I money on the house and it was to be 15,000 square feet, have custom made furniture and decorations, and feature a reflection pool stocked with mountain bass. On August 22,1913, while the Londons were away from their ranch, by the time they got there the building was completely overtaken by the fire, and it was too late to save the house. London was devastated after the fire burnt down the house that he never got to live in and this put London in debt and forced him to literally work to death, as he tried to earn enough money to run his ranch and have a good lifestyle. On November 22,1916, London died of a cause that is disputed today. He wished to be cremated and have his ashes interred on the property and he also stated that he wanted to be buried near the pioneer children on a hill underneath a rock from the Wolf House, which was just down the road. After London died, his wife Charmian inherited the property, during that time she built a house on the land called the House of Happy Walls, which is a smaller version of the Wolf House. Charmian lived there until her death in 1955, in her will, she wanted the house she built to become a museum in honor of her husband. This became the start of the Jack London State Historic Park, the Winery Cottage was the main living quarters throughout Londons time on the ranch, and the location where many of his visitors stayed. London bought it in 1911 and expanded it later that year, London further expanded by adding a west wing to the cottage, which served as a study where he wrote many of his stories. London died in this cottage, on the sunporch, on November 22,1916, Charmian London constructed The House of Happy Walls in 1919, in memory of Jack. It is a smaller and a formal version of the Wolf House. Charmian lived in The House of Happy Walls until her death in 1955, today it serves as the visitor center and a museum for Jack London State Historic Park
37.
Wolf House
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Wolf House was a 26-room mansion in Glen Ellen, California, built by novelist Jack London and his wife Charmian London. The house burned on August 22,1913, shortly before the Londons were planning to move in, stone ruins of the never-occupied home still stand, and are part of Jack London State Historic Park, which has been a National Historic Landmark since 1963. In an essay called The House Beautiful, written in 1906 and published in his 1909 book Revolution and Other Essays and he wrote that Utility and beauty must be indissolubly wedded and said the house must be honest in construction, material and appearance. He described modern bathrooms, spacious and well-appointed servants quarters, easy cleaning and maintenance, good ventilation and he predicted that he would build his dream house in seven to ten years. London had purchased a 130-acre farm in the Sonoma Valley in about 1905 and he later purchased several adjoining parcels, increasing the size of the farm to approximately 1,200 acres. About one third was cultivated, and two thirds was wooded hillsides and he called the property Wonder Ranch. London hired San Francisco architect Albert L. Farr to design the home, Farr was a leading exponent of Arts and Crafts architecture in California. The design was described as rustic and individualistic, and featured a library measuring 19 by 40 feet, mindful of the severe damage caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, London and Farr incorporated great strength and durability into the design of the structure. The house was 15,000 square feet, with 26 rooms, construction began late in 1910 as stones were blasted and trees cut. London hired Italian stonemason Natale Forni as foreman for the project and he also hired his older sister Eliza London Shepard as his ranch superintendent, and she was involved in the day-to-day management of the construction. Construction of Wolf House was almost complete and the Londons were planning to move in when a fire late on the night of August 22,1913. The fire spread rapidly and gutted the interior of the house, the red tile roof collapsed into the interior. Although arson was suspected, no evidence was ever discovered. The fire had an effect on those most involved in the project. Jacks sister Eliza wept that night, Charmian London later wrote that Eliza was scarred to her soul and that the foreman Forni was like a father who had lost his child, and in danger of losing his reason. His wife also wrote that the razing of his house killed something in Jack, financial losses were estimated at $35,000 to $40,000. London had several insurance policies on the home, and collected $10,000 in claims, the National Union Fire Insurance Company later featured a thank you letter written by London in an advertising campaign. Jack London pledged to rebuild the house, and his workers began to cut fresh redwood logs, however, Londons health declined, and he died three years and three months after the fire, on November 22,1916
38.
Napa Sonoma Marsh
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The Napa Sonoma Marsh is a wetland at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay, which is a northern arm of the San Francisco Bay in California, United States. This marsh has an area of 48,000 acres, of which 13,000 acres are abandoned salt evaporation ponds, the United States Government has designated 13,000 acres in the Napa Sonoma Marsh as the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The marsh is fed by Sonoma Creek, Tolay Creek, although the marsh extends north as far as State Route 12, as a practical matter, most of the marsh is only accessible by boat. Because of its rich avafaunal content, the Napa Sonoma Marsh is one of only seven marshes selected for study by the Point Reyes Bird Observatory. Around 1860, the Napa Sonoma Marsh was one of the most productive wetlands of the Pacific Coast, by the mid-1980s, the San Francisco Bay perimeter had lost over 91 percent of its wetlands. The Napa Sonoma Marsh represents one of the few sizeable expanses where restoration is feasible, an extensive research literature base exists for the Napa Sonoma Marsh. Hydrography of the San Francisco Bay Area Salt marsh harvest mouse Sears Point Suisun shrew Official website
39.
Mount Hood (California)
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Mount Hood, also known as Hood Mountain is a mountain near the southeastern edge of Santa Rosa, California at the northeast of the Sonoma Valley and attains a height of 2,733 feet. The original name was Mount Wilikos, an Indian name meaning willows, most of the drainage from Mount Hood contributes to the headwaters of Sonoma Creek. A prominent feature is the rock face visible on the upper half of the mountain as viewed from State Route 12. The habitats on the mountain include mixed oak forest, pygmy forest, chaparral, in prehistoric times the slopes of Mount Hood were inhabited by a division of the Yuki tribe. Most of Mount Hood is within the Hood Mountain Regional Park maintained by Sonoma County, Mount Hood is part of the inner coast Mayacamas Range, and lies mostly within Sonoma County, with a part of the mountain geographically within Napa County. Mount Hood affords overlooks of the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco Bay, Mount Hood is most easily accessed via State Route 12, which runs along the bottomland of the Sonoma Valley and connects the town of Sonoma to the city of Santa Rosa. Mount Hood is also visible from the floor of the Napa Valley as well as eastern slopes above that valley, from the summit there are expansive views westerly to Annadel State Park and beyond to Sonoma Mountain. On clear days there are distant views westerly to the Pacific Ocean, the base of Mount Hood consists of soils of the Goulding-Toomes-Guenoc association, which are well-drained gently to very steep loams and clay-loams situated upon upland formations. The upper reaches consist of the Kidd-Forward-Cohasset association, which ranges from well-drained to excessively drained moderate to very steep gravelly. Considering the steepness of much of the terrain there is a lack of erosion, primarily because human access has been historically low. Hood Creek and Graywood Creek, draining portions of Mount Hood, are tributaries that feed Sonoma Creek. Precipitation amounts to approximately 30 inches per annum on Mount Hood, the mixed oak woodland habitat dominates the lower elevations with coast live oak, Douglas fir, California buckeye and bigleaf maple forming the majority of the canopy. The understory is sparse, particularly of the deep ravine areas such as Hood Creek riparian zones, some toyon, poison oak and hollyleaf cherry are found beneath the canopy. At mid-level elevations there are considerable numbers of tanbark oak. Chaparral areas are dominated by several varieties of manzanita, including notably Arctostaphylos manzanita Mount Hood, there is also a considerable abundance of poison oak and coyote brush present in these exposed rocky thin soil habitats. Fire risk is naturally greatest in this ecosystem, and some evidence of fires are seen at an age of twenty years past. There are sizable pygmy forest areas on the west facing slopes, here the predominant species are Sargent cypress, various Arctostaphylos species and coyote brush. The Sargent cypress were formerly misidentified as Mendocino cypress, which would be far out of their native range here
40.
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
41.
Trail
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A trail is usually a path, track or unpaved lane or road, though the term is also applied, in North America, to routes along rivers, and sometimes to highways. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland path or footpath is the term for a walking trail. There are also unpaved trails used by dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles, in some places, like the Alps, trails are used for moving cattle and other livestock. In the US, the term was used for a route into or through wild territory used by emigrants. In Australia, the track can be used interchangeably with trail. Walkway is used similarly in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, in the United Kingdom, the term trail is in common usage. Longer distance walking routes, and government-promoted long distance paths, collectively known as National Trails, are frequently called ways, as in the Pennine Way. Generally the term footpath is preferred for pedestrian routes, including long distance trails, track is used for wider paths, often used for hiking. The terms bridleway, byway, restricted byway are all recognised legal terms, the increased popularity of mountain biking has led to a proliferation of mountain bike trails in many countries. Often these will be grouped to form complexes, known as trail centers. A particularly unusual use of the term is in the Canadian province of Alberta, Shared use may be achieved by sharing a trail easement, but within it maintaining segregated and sometimes also separated trail treads. This is common in rail trails, Shared use may also refer to alternate day arrangements, whereby two uses are segregated by being permitted on alternate days. The Trans Canada Trail can be used by hikers, walkers, cyclists, horseback riders, the network makes use of towpaths on river banks and disused railway or vicinal tramway lines. Old railway lines have been leased by the Walloon Government for 99 years using emphyteutic lease contracts, where necessary, new paths are created to link parts of the network. Thus the right to cycle exists even though it may be difficult to exercise on occasion, Cyclists using a bridleway are obliged to give way to other users on foot or horseback. The seawall in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada is popular for walking, running, cycling, there are two paths, one for skaters and cyclists and the other for pedestrians. The lane for cyclists and skaters goes one-way in a counterclockwise loop, foreshoreway is a term used in Australia for a type of greenway that provides a public right-of-way along the edge of the sea open to both walkers and cyclists. A forest road is a type of access road, built mainly for the forest industry
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Umbellularia
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Umbellularia californica is a large hardwood tree native to coastal forests of California and slightly extended into the state of Oregon. It is endemic to the California Floristic Province and it is the sole species in the genus Umbellularia. The tree was known as Oreodaphne californica. In Oregon, this tree is known as Oregon myrtle, while in California it is called California bay laurel and it has also been called pepperwood, spicebush, cinnamon bush, peppernut tree, headache tree, mountain laurel, and balm of heaven. The trees pungent leaves have a flavor to bay leaves, though stronger. The dry wood has a range from blonde to brown. It is considered a world-class tonewood and is sought after by luthiers and woodworkers, the tree is a host of the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. This tree mostly inhabits redwood forests, California mixed woods, yellow pine forest, bays occur in oak woodlands only close to the coast, or in extreme northern California where moisture is sufficient. During the Miocene, oak-laurel forests were found in Central and Southern California, typical tree species included oaks ancestral to present-day California oaks, and an assemblage of trees from the laurel family, including Nectandra, Ocotea, Persea, and Umbellularia. Only one native species from the family, Umbellularia californica. In the north, it reaches its distributional limit through southwest Oregon to Newport, Lincoln County, Oregon, on the coast and it is also found in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It occurs at altitudes from sea level up to 1600 m, an isolated, more northern occurrence of the species can be found in Tacoma, Washington, around Snake Lake near the Tacoma Nature Center. It is a tree growing to 30 m tall with a trunk up to 80 cm thick. The largest recorded tree is in Mendocino County, California, the fragrant leaves are smooth-edged and lance-shaped, 3–10 cm long and 1. 5–3 cm broad, similar to the related bay laurel, though usually narrower, and without the crinkled margin of that species. The flowers are small, yellow or yellowish-green, produced in small umbels, the fruit, also known as California bay nut, is a round and green berry 2–2.5 cm long and 2 cm broad, lightly spotted with yellow, maturing purple. Under the thin, leathery skin, it consists of an oily, fleshy covering over a hard, thin-shelled pit. Umbellularia is in fact related to the avocados genus Persea. The fruit ripens around October–November in the native range, Umbellularia has long been valued for its many uses by Native Americans throughout the trees range, including the Cahuilla, Chumash, Pomo, Miwok, Yuki, Coos, and Salinan people
43.
Sequoia sempervirens
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Sequoia sempervirens /sᵻˈkɔɪ. ə sɛmpərˈvaɪrənz/ is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood and it is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1, 200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and these trees are also among the oldest living things on Earth. The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron, here, the term redwood on its own refers to the species covered in this article, and not to the other two species. Scottish botanist David Don described the redwood as the evergreen taxodium in his colleague Aylmer Bourke Lamberts 1824 work A description of the genus Pinus, austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher erected the genus Sequoia in his 1847 work Synopsis coniferarum, giving the redwood its current binomial name of Sequoia sempervirens. The redwood is one of three living species, each in its own genus, in the subfamily Sequoioideae, molecular studies have shown the three to be each others closest relatives, generally with the redwood and giant sequoia as each others closest relatives. However, Yang and colleagues in 2010 queried the polyploid state of the redwood, further analysis strongly supported the hypothesis that Sequoia was the result of a hybridization event involving Metasequoia and Sequoiadendron. Thus, Yang and colleagues hypothesize that the inconsistent relationships among Metasequoia, Sequoia, the coast redwood can reach 115 m tall with a trunk diameter of 9 m. It has a crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark can be thick, up to 1-foot, and quite soft and fibrous, with a bright red-brown color when freshly exposed. The root system is composed of shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots, the leaves are variable, being 15–25 mm long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees. On the other hand, they are scale-like, 5–10 mm long on shoots in full sun in the crown of older trees. They are dark green above and have two blue-white stomatal bands below, leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture. The species is monoecious, with pollen and seed cones on the same plant, the seed cones are ovoid, 15–32 millimetres long, with 15–25 spirally arranged scales, pollination is in late winter with maturation about 8–9 months after. Each cone scale bears three to seven seeds, each seed 3–4 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres broad, the seeds are released when the cone scales dry out and open at maturity. The pollen cones are ovular and 4–6 millimetres long and its genetic makeup is unusual among conifers, being a hexaploid and possibly allopolyploid. Both the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of the redwood are paternally inherited, the prevailing elevation range is 98–2,460 ft above sea level, occasionally down to 0 and up to 3,000 ft. They usually grow in the mountains where precipitation from the incoming moisture off the ocean is greater, the tallest and oldest trees are found in deep valleys and gullies, where year-round streams can flow, and fog drip is regular
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Douglas fir
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Pseudotsuga menziesii, commonly known as Douglas fir or Douglas-fir, is an evergreen conifer species native to western North America. The common name honors David Douglas, a Scottish botanist and collector who first reported the extraordinary nature, the common name is misleading since it is not a true fir, i. e. not a member of the genus Abies. For this reason the name is written as Douglas-fir. The specific epithet, menziesii, is after Archibald Menzies, a Scottish physician, Menzies first documented the tree on Vancouver Island in 1791. Colloquially, the species is known simply as Doug-fir or as Douglas pine. One Coast Salish name for the tree, used in the Halkomelem language, is lá, one variety, coast Douglas fir, grows in the coastal regions, from west-central British Columbia southward to central California. In Oregon and Washington, its range is continuous from the edge of the Cascades west to the Pacific Coast Ranges. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Range, in the Sierra Nevada, it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from sea level along the coast to 1,800 m above sea level in the mountains of California. Further inland, coast Douglas fir is replaced by another variety, mexican Douglas fir, which ranges as far south as Oaxaca, is often considered a variety of P. menziesii. Coast Douglas fir is currently the second-tallest conifer in the world. Extant coast Douglas fir trees 60–75 m or more in height and 1. 5–2 m in diameter are common in old growth stands, Douglas firs commonly live more than 500 years and occasionally more than 1,000 years. The bark on trees is thin, smooth, and gray. On mature trees, it is thick and corky, the shoots are brown to olive-green, turning gray-brown with age, smooth, though not as smooth as fir shoots, and finely pubescent with short, dark hairs. The buds are a distinctive, narrow, conic shape, 4–8 mm long. Unlike the Rocky Mountain Douglas fir, coast Douglas fir foliage has a noticeable sweet fruity-resinous scent, the mature female seed cones are pendulous, 5–8 cm long, 2–3 cm wide when closed, opening to a 4 cm width. They are produced in spring, green at first, maturing orange-brown in the autumn 6–7 months later, the seeds are 5–6 mm long and 3–4 mm wide, with a 12–15-mm wing. The male cones are 2–3 cm long, dispersing yellow pollen in spring, in forest conditions, old individuals typically have a narrow, cylindric crown beginning 20–40 m above a branch-free trunk
45.
Acer macrophyllum
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Acer macrophyllum, the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus Acer. It can grow up to 48.89 metres tall, and it is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are found inland in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California. It has the largest leaves of any maple, typically 15–30 cm across, with five deeply incised palmate lobes, in the fall, the leaves turn to gold and yellow, often to spectacular effect against the backdrop of evergreen conifers. The flowers are produced in spring in pendulous racemes 10–15 cm long, the fruit is a paired winged samara, each seed 1–1.5 centimetres in diameter with a 4–5-centimetre wing. In the more parts of its range, as in the Olympic National Park, its bark is covered with epiphytic moss. It is very rare north of Vancouver Island though cultivated in Prince Rupert, near Ketchikan, bigleaf maple has been used for creating syrup but it is not common. This is because Sugar Maple has a sugar content. Bigleaf maple is the commercially important maple of the Pacific Coast region. The wood is used for applications as diverse as furniture, piano frames, highly figured wood is not uncommon and is used for veneer, stringed instruments, guitar bodies, and gun stocks. Lakwungen First Nations people of Vancouver Island call it the tree and used it to make paddles. In California, land managers do not highly value bigleaf maple, Maple syrup has been made from the sap of bigleaf maple trees. While the sugar concentration is about the same as in Acer saccharum, interest in commercially producing syrup from bigleaf maple sap has been limited. Although not traditionally used for production, it takes about 40 volumes of sap to produce 1 volume of maple syrup. It is used as browse by black-tailed deer, mule deer, a western Oregon study found that 60 percent of bigleaf maple seedlings over 10 inches tall had been browsed by deer, most several times. The current national champion bigleaf maple is located in Lane County and it has a circumference of 38.6 feet —or an average diameter at breast height of about 12.3 feet —and is 119 feet tall with a crown spread of 91 feet
46.
Frangula californica
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Frangula californica is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family native to western North America. It is commonly known as California coffeeberry and California buckthorn and it is native to California, the Southwestern United States, and Baja California state in Mexico. It is a species in Hawaii. The plant occurs in oak woodland and chaparral habitats, numerous others in its range, individual plants can live an estimated 100 to 200 years. Frangula californica is a shrub 3–12 feet tall and it is variable in form across subspecies. In favorable conditions the plant can develop into a tree over 12 feet tall. More commonly it is a shrub between 3–6 feet tall, the branches may have a reddish tinge and the new twigs are often red in color. The alternately arranged leaves are dark green above and paler on the undersides. The leaves have thin blades in moist habitat, and smaller, thicker blades in dry areas, the 1/8 greenish flowers occur in clusters in the leaf axils, have 5 sepals, and 5 shorter petals. It blooms in May and June, the fruit is a juicy drupe which may be green, red, or black. It is just under a long and contains two seeds that resemble coffee beans. Subspecies of Frangula californica include, Frangula californica subsp, californica — California coffeeberry, widespread in western California. Fruit with two seeds, twigs red, leaves with conspicuous veins, crassifolia — serpentine hoary coffeeberry, endemic to the Inner North California Coast Ranges, on serpentine soils. Cuspidata — Sierra hoary coffeeberry, Southern Sierras, Transverse Ranges, occidentalis — Western California coffeeberry, on serpentine soils in northern California and southwestern Oregon, in the Klamath Mountains and North California Coast Ranges. Fruit with three seeds, twigs brown, leaves with inconspicuous veins, ursina — desert hoary coffeeberry, endemic to the San Bernardino Mountains and Mojave Desert sky islands. This shrub is a member of plant communities and grows in many types of habitat, including California chaparral and woodlands, coastal sage scrub. It grows in forest types such as foggy coastal oak woodlands, Coast redwood forests, California mixed evergreen forests and it can be found alongside chaparral whitethorn, toyon, skunkbush, redberry, and western poison oak. In brushy mountain habitat it grows among many species of manzanita, the plant reproduces sexually by seed and vegetatively by sprouting
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Notholithocarpus
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It can reach 40 m tall in the California Coast Ranges, and can have a trunk diameter of 60–190 cm. Tanbark-oak was recently moved into a new genus, Notholithocarpus, based on lines of evidence. The Notholithocarpus densiflorus leaves are alternate, 7–15 cm, with toothed margins and a hard, leathery texture, and persist for three to four years. At first they are covered in dense orange-brown scurfy hairs on both sides, but those on the surface soon wear off, those on the under surface persisting longer. The seed is a acorn 2–3 cm long and 2 cm in diameter, very similar to an oak acorn, the nut sits in a cup during its 18-month maturation, the outside surface of the cup is rough with short spines. The nuts are produced in clusters of a few together on a single stem, the nut kernel is very bitter, and is inedible for people without extensive leaching, although squirrels eat them. Tanoak is one of the species most seriously affected by sudden oak death, with high mortality reported over much of the species range, the variety intergrades with the type in northwest California and southwest Oregon. Tanoak does grow on serpentine soils as a shrub, some California Native Americans prefer this nut to those of many Quercus acorns because it stores well due to the comparatively high tannin content. The Concow tribe call the nut hä’-hä, the Hupa people use the acorns to make meal, from which they would make mush, bread, biscuits, pancakes, and cakes. They also roast the acorns and eat them, roasted, the seeds can be used as a coffee substitute. The name tanoak refers to its bark, a type of tanbark. By 1907 the use of tanoak for tannin was subsiding due to the scarcity of large tanoak trees, there werent enough trees around for a worthwhile economic return. By the early 1960s there were only a few natural tannin operations left in California, the industry was beginning to switch to a synthetic alternative. A mulch made from the leaves of the plant can repel grubs, tanoak tannin has been used as an astringent. Tanoak is sometimes used as lumber, but isnt currently harvested commercially, currently the largest known tanoak specimen is on private timberland near the town of Ophir, Oregon. It has a circumference of 26 feet, is about 8.25 feet in diameter at breast height, and is 121 feet tall with an average crown spread of 56 feet
