geography 5 photo journal - by: juan vasquez

Juan Vasquez

Mojave Desert

& Southern Owens Valley

This recognizable geographic landmark that is off the 15 freeway is

located in the Cajon Pass and was created by movements of the

San Andreas fault. The Pacific and North American plates collided

and these rock formations are the result: Tilted Fault Block

Mountains.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

Here is a close up shot of the Mormon Rocks; it shows the many

individual rocks of the sandstone and it’s layers. The big layers

are a result of a lot of rainfall, whereas the small layers indicate

low or normal rainfall.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

Shown in this photo is the Stream bed. There was water that

flowed in the form of a stream, and shown is flow and even

moist rock where the water travels down.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

The San Andreas Rift Zone is known as a strike-slip fault;

the movement of the blocks is horizontal, and those blocks

become displaced in placement relationship.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

Cinder Hill is a stratovolcano (extrusive) which is located in

the Coso Range of California and last erupted about 500

years ago.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Shown here is basalt, the rock that forms from cooled

down lava post eruption.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Here is the dried up stream bed located near Cinder

Hill and Fossil Falls.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

This interesting looking geographic formation was created

by both the basaltic volcanic activity and the melt water

from the glaciers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the

Tioga.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

An interesting feature of Fossil Falls are the metate holes.

These near perfect circular holes were created by debris

that would get lodged in the basalt, and over time as the

water kept flowing the debris continued to drill into the

basalt and that process is how the metate holes were

formed.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

A close up shot of an obsidian flake. This mineral was

used and shaped as arrowheads by the Native Americans

who once lived in the Coso Mountain range.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Millions of pieces of obsidian are scattered all over the

ground, and if looked at closely, one can see the glimmer

and shine that the obsidian reflects; however, the photo

does not capture the true beauty of the sight, it is like a

starry night in the day.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Here is a

petroglyph, made

by a Native

American that lived

in the Coso

Mountain region

many years ago. It

is perhaps a

depiction of a

hunter and the herd

of animals that the

hunter will hunt.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

In this photo, outlined is a house ring. It is essentially a

foundation for a house used by the Native Americans for

shelter and to craft obsidian for arrowheads.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Northern Owens Valley

& Eastern Sierra

In this photo, at the base of the Alabama Hills is the the Lone

Pine Fault. In 1872, one of the strongest earthquakes in

California history was caused from vertical and right lateral

displacement on the fault itself. Also, the vegetation dictates that

this is a different biome; i.e. no Joshua Trees rather Sagebrush.

Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

Diaz Lake is located in the Owens Valley between the Inyo White

Mountains and the Lone Pine Fault, and was actually created by

the earthquake on the fault. It is a sag pond, and when the

earthquake hit the spring opened and filled the area which is now

the lake.

Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

Photo showing Mt. Whitney, from the Mt. Whitney Interagency

Visitor Center. At mountain height of 14,505 feet, it is the highest

elevation in the United States. Mt. Whitney is situated in the

Sierra Nevada Mountains, and this mountain range is closer to the

coast.

Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

Here is a V-shaped alluvial fan. It is shaped this way because of

the melted water of the glaciers from Sierra Nevada Mountains

located just across the way, which have U-shaped alluvial fans

because of the glaciers. The Inyo White mountains are also in the

rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

Here is a photo of the Keough Hot Spring (just one of

the many hot springs in the area) located between the

small town of Big Pine and the city of Bishop. The

water is heated from underground volcanic activity.

Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

This photo was taken in the Mammoth area just north of Bishop

and south of Mono Lake. There is a bit of a problem here; there

are many Bark Beetles that eat up the forest. Due to climate

change, the winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the beetles

that feed on the trees, and so the trees become very dried out and

are thus susceptible to fires in the summer.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning

Mono Lake is a massive, ancient lake that once was at the same time in

the states of Nevada, Utah, and of course California. However to this

day the lake is now only situated in California. The lake is two times

saltier than the sea because of the sodium chloride and sodium

bicarbonate that washed into the lake by streams springs. It is inhabited

by little wildlife such as the trillions of Brine Shrimp that live off the algae

in the lake and the Alkali Flies which are interestingly born underwater

and surface and live around the lake when they are matured. Mono

Lake is also the breeding ground for the California Seagulls.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Another shot of Mono Lake that is closer to the shore.

The coordinates dictated by the GPS are as follows:

Elevation: 6386ft.

N 37º 56º 6.27’

W 119º 01.647”

Mono Lake

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Here is a photo of Mono Lake with the two islands that are inside

seen in the distance: the big white island is Pahoa Island, and in

the distance is the small black island Negit Island. Pahoa Island is

actually a volcano and its volcanic activity continues.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Here are some of the many Tufa towers that make Mono Lake

more interesting. These tufa towers are formed when the calcium

from the springs under the lake bonds to the carbonate of the lake.

When those two elements come together they create a kind of

limestone called calcium carbonate. The newly formed material

continually builds on itself and over time results into the vertical

towers.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Shown in this photo are the various shorelines of Mono Lake

before diversions in the 1940’s as well as the shoreline as it is

today. The city of Los Angeles decided to extend the aqueduct into

the Mono Basin which diverted water from 4 of the 6 mountain

streams that feed into the lake. As a result, the lake rapidly lost a

dramatic amount of water and that is why the Tufa Towers can be

seen today.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Thankfully Mono Lake is protected by the efforts of the Mono Lake

Committee, and the lake is slowly but surely coming back to an elevation

of 6392 feet. The photo here displays the wooden boards placed from

near the current shoreline and to the desired shoreline; the goal is to get

the shoreline to the end of the boards at the bottom of the photo here.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Labeled in the distance are the North American

mountains that are situated near Mono Lake. They

are significant because they happen to be the

youngest and newest mountain range, aging at just

40,000 years old.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Here is Bloody Mary Canyon, seen before

approaching the June Lake Loop. This is an example

of a lateral moraine and a glacial valley.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

The first lake of the June Lake Loop, Grant Lake and

another lateral moraine. Grant Lake is actually a man

made lake, an artificial lake, and is part of the Los

Angeles water.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Displayed in this photo is the beautiful Silver Lake, the

second lake stop of the June Lake Loop.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Here is a shot of the frozen waterfall of Silver Lake

shown close up.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Here is Convict Lake, a lake created by a glacier and

situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is named after

the convicts who escaped from prison in Carson City. The

convicts were captured and hung here.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

Here at Convict Lake, the

oldest rock formations of

the Sierra Nevada

Mountains can be seen in

the distance. Also shown

are both lateral and

terminal moraines, which

were formed by the same

glacier that created the

lake.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

At the Eastern California Museum, here is one thing

that was displayed in the outside area that is

particularly interesting looking. It is called a Threshing

Machine and was used for the agricultural purposes of

separating the grain from husks and stalks.

Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning

This was

actually the

location of the

Japanese

Camp/Housing

of Japanese

American

people after

Pearl Harbor for

fear of domestic

terrorism.

Before it was a

camp, it was an

apple

grove, hence

the name

Manzanar

derived from the

Spanish word

for

apple, manzana

Vasquez 4/7/13 MorningVasquez 4/7/13 Morning

After the Native

Americans who once

lived in the area were

kicked out for the

construction of

Manzanar, it was built by

the very same Japanese

people who would soon

live there. In the top

photo, one of the people

who lived here wrote

their name in the

cement. In the bottom

photo the guard house

can be seen. Though it

is barren now, the same

wood used to build

Manzanar was actually

used to make the

buildings in Lone Pine.

Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning

Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning

Various photos from both

field trips

Here at Mormon Rocks is an example of an

orographic effect.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

Photographed here is a Joshua Tree, taken in the van near

the Cajon Summit while driving north on Highway 395

toward the Coso Range.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

While in transit, a quick photo of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

This aqueduct brings in water to California from Colorado.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

The Solar Power Plant that is just a short distance

from Kramer Junction.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

A photo of a Doppler Radar Tower not too far from Kramer

Junction and the Solar Power Plant. These towers are

used to help predict weather conditions.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Here is the Garlock Fault seen going north on

Highway 395. It is situated near the Mojave Desert.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

A photo at Cinder Hill of one of the only wildlife

encountered on the trip. This is the tail of a Chuckwalla

lizard residing between some rocks.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

Although a little difficult to see in this photo, here are

the mine tailings ( debris and remains from the mines )

located near Red Mountain. Photo was taken in

transit returning to Rancho Cucamonga.

Vasquez 3/9/13 Late Afternoon

Here is a photograph of Owens Dry Lake taken on the

way up to Lone Pine. The lake was once filled with

water until it was drained by the Los Angeles

Aqueduct.

Vasquez 4/5/13 Morning

Here is a photo of a SETI Tower taken on the way to Mono

Lake. These are placed in the desert to search for extra

terrestrial signals.

Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning