Landslides and Mass Movement in California Once again, California has awoken from a multi-year drought of increasing intensity to an inordinately wet and stormy winter. It may be an early and truncated rainy season, but the return of incessant precipitation and the sound of downpours and gusting south winds is an old familiar friend to … More Landslides and Mass Movement in California
Non-Native Tree Storm Hazards in Coastal Communities The native coastal habitats of California have evolved to withstand winter storms. Within the ecological and geomorphological zones of the Coast Ranges, marine terraces, dune systems, estuaries, riparian zones, coastal ravines and valleys, and nearshore environments, plant species and communities such as Coastal Scrub types, Coastal Prairie, wetland, … More Non-Native Tree Storm Hazards in Coastal Communities
Dr. Tanya Atwater Who has heard of Dr. Tanya Atwater in their geology class, or plate tectonics theory class, or on the news every time there is an earthquake in California? Not me. That’s mostly due to the ongoing legacy of sexism in science, and partly because the Geological Society of America is controlling most … More Community Profile – Dr. Tanya Atwater
The San Andreas Fault System, Bay Area Fault Complex, and the Mount Tamalpais Blind Thrust The San Andreas Fault is not only in constant motion it is also constantly evolving, expanding, and adjusting its course. With monumental reverberations of give and take, the greater San Andreas Fault system produces an ever-shifting network of compressional and … More The San Andreas Fault System, Bay Area Fault Complex, and the Mount Tamalpais Blind Thrust
The Chaparral Mosaic in California If one ecosystem typifies California, it is chaparral. Enduring, somber, vast – often mythologized – chaparral is emblematic of our wild west. The quintessence of a rugged and calamitous geography; a resilient and seemingly impenetrable mosaic of diversity and endemism; chaparral is California. Yes, it’s that important. The chaparral community … More The Chaparral Mosaic in California
California’s Geologic Building Blocks, and the Accretionary Wedge I have been looking forward to researching and writing about accretionary wedge formation and theory for a while – it’s an exciting geologic phenomenon of tectonics which underlies much of western California. But I soon realized that this one element of our subduction complex geomorphology could not … More California’s Geologic Building Blocks, and the Accretionary Wedge
The Coastal Scrub Mosaic in California (Don’t Call It Soft Chaparral) Coastal Scrub Mosaic A mosaic of Coastal Scrub vegetation assemblages and habitat types once inhabited most of the coastal regions of the California floristic provinces, from northern Baja to southern Oregon. Often mistakenly identified as “soft chaparral” communities, this scrub mosaic flows in a … More The Coastal Scrub Mosaic in California (Don’t Call It Soft Chaparral)
Physiographic California: Thoughts on California’s Geomorphic and Tectonic Evolution Throughout California’s coastal provinces we see the geomorphological evidence of landforms shaped by tectonics, volcanism, wind, water, biogenic processes, and coastal forces. More so than any other, tectonics was, is, and will be the dominant designer and architect of California’s landscapes. The geological building blocks of … More Physiographic California: Thoughts on California’s Geomorphic and Tectonic Evolution
An Overview of California’s Mediterranean Climate System California is one of only five Mediterranean climate regions found in a narrow band around the world between 30° to 40° north and south latitude, on the coastal west sides of continents. Characterized by long dry summers and short wet winters these bioregions are flanked by cold oceanic … More An Overview of California’s Mediterranean Climate System
