Geology of the Sierra Nevada

About this book

New edition of the guide first published in 1975.

From the publisher's announcement:

Writing with verve and clarity, Mary Hill tells the story of the magnificent Sierra Nevada--the longest, highest, and most spectacular mountain range in the contiguous United States. Hill takes us from the time before the land which would be California even existed, through the days of roaring volcanoes, violent earthquakes, and chilling ice sheets, to the more recent history of the Sierra's early explorers and the generations of adventuresome souls who followed.

The author introduces the rocks of the Sierra Nevada, which tell the mountains' tale, and explains how nature's forces, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, faulting, erosion, and glaciation formed the range's world-renowned scenery and mineral wealth, including gold.

For thirty years, the first edition of Geology of the Sierra Nevada has been the definitive guide to the Sierra Nevada's geological history for nature lovers, travelers, hikers, campers, and armchair explorers. This new edition offers new chapters and sidebars and incorporates the concept of plate tectonics throughout the text.

Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: The Ever-Changing Sierra Special Section: Geological Features and Where to See Them A Do-It-Yourself Rock Key Tables of Geological Features Maps of Geological Sights Chapter 1: Geology: Of Time and Rocks Chapter 2: The Range Today Chapter 3: Being First Chapter 4: Plate Tectonics Puts the Sierra Nevada in Its Place Chapter 5: Seas of Long Ago Chapter 6: Great Is Granite Chapter 7: Treasures from the Earth Chapter 8: Landscapes of Yesteryear Chapter 9: Days of Fire Chapter 10: Days of Ice Chapter 11: Mono Lake: The "Dead Sea" of the West Chapter 12: The Yosemite "Problem" Chapter 13: The Mountains Tremble Coda Glossary Suggestions for Further Reading Sources of Figure Graphics Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Geologist Mary Hill is the author of Gold: The California Story (California, 2002) and California Landscape: Origin and Evolution (California, 1984). She is coauthor of Volcanic Eruptions of 1980 at Mount St. Helens: The First 100 Days (1982). Longtime editor of the magazine California Geology, she was later Western Region Information Officer for the U.S. Geological Survey and Adjunct Professor of Geosciences at San Francisco State University.