Respond to haylie with 200 words
1-Describe the sedimentary rock formations that occur in southern California’s transverse ranges.
Sedimentary rocks are preserved in the Mojave Desert, and the Death Valley. Sedimentary rock formed by the accumulation of mineral or organic particles at the Earth’s surface. Sedimentary rocks are also formed by the pre-existing rocks or once living organism. Sedimentary rock forms mostly consist of limestone and dolomite. Sedimentary rocks mostly form in water because the water carries forms of sediment. Many of the sedimentary rocks have formed from the Paleozoic period. According to the Geologic History of California “ shows a nearly 10,000 feet thick section exposed along Titus Canyon in Death Valley National Park” . This shows that these rocks have been forming for millions of years. Another common form of sedimentary rock that is along Southern California is Halite, and sandstone. Many sedimentary rocks can be formed in the various mountain ranges that are located in California and these rocks have been and are still forming for years.
https://geologycafe.com/geologic_history/index.html (Links to an external site.)
6-How does the El Nino/La Nina phenomenon affect California’s weather patterns?
El Nino, and La Nina are both weather phenomena. El Nino is the warm phase. This is associated with warm ocean water that forms in the central, and east central in the Pacific. An easier way to describe El Nino is the unusual warming in water surfaces. La Nina is a weather pattern that occurs in the Pacific ocean. When La Nina occurs it when strong winds push warm water at the ocean’s surface. El Nino affects California’s weather by causing increased rainfall which can cause landslides, flooding, and possibly eriosions. El Nino can cause many disasters but are mostly the most devastating in Southern California. La Nina causes warm, and dry winters. La Nina means very minimal rainfall which can be very devastating in California by causing droughts or even wildfires due to it being so dry. As stated by USC News “ La Niña (Links to an external site.) with a seasonal gift of warm, dry conditions. Federal weather forecasters say there’s greater than a 90% chance (Links to an external site.) such conditions will prevail across much of California and the Southwest this winter.” This means that La Nina causes our snowfall to melt quicker meaning we wont get as much of a water supply, this is why California is in a drought.
https://news.usc.edu/179341/california-winter-forecast-dry-warm-la-nina-usc-experts/ (Links to an external site.)
5-From your reading, where do you think California would experience its next earthquake? This is just your opinion substantiated by the reading material, so there are no wrong answers, just unsubstantiated ones. Please be specific.
I think California would experience it’s next earthquake along the San Andrea’s fault. The San Andrea’s fault is a continental fault that extends roughly throughout California. This fault consists of the Pacific plate and the North American plate. This fault is very dangerous because of an earthquake in 2019 in Ridge-crest California, this has caused more stress on the plate meaning it would be more likely to rupture. The San Andrea’s fault is the most dangerous fault in the world as the length of it is 1,200 km, which is 750 miles. Scientists say that California is way overdue for a massive earthquake because of how big the stress on the tectonic plates in the San Andrea’s fault is. This is what makes me think this is where the next earthquake will be in California because it is the biggest and most dangerous fault in the world. Scientists have also said that if the San Andrea’s fault does rupture that there will be a devastating amount of deaths due to the amount of damage and destruction it will cause, it is also said that it may cause a tsunami in Los Angeles which has not happened in a couple of years.
4-Landslides, a type of mass wasting, especially affect the California coast. Explain where specifically these problems occur and why they do.
Landslides are when massive rocks, earth, and debris fall down a slope. Landslides occur because the amount of force from gravity is greater than friction causing all of these things to fall. According to USGS, science for changing world they state “Landslides are a type of “mass wasting,” which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity.” Mass wasting is the same thing as landslides, mass wasting is when rocks, and debris fall from a slope. Landslides are most common in Southern California along the bay area of San Francisco, it also can occur in the Sierra Nevada. Landslides are mostly caused by an intense amount of rainfall which causes the ground to lose friction from the sediment making gravity stronger than friction. Landslides can be very dangerous as they can destroy up to 40 structures, they can occur up to every 10 to 13 years. The last devastating landslide that occurred in California happened on January 9th, 2018 near Santa Barbara. This landslide was on the side of Hwy 1 which actually took a whole chunk out of the highway due to all the massive rocks falling on it.
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-a-landslide-and-what-causes-one?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products (Links to an external site.)
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