Rough-hewn land [electronic resource] : a geologic journey from California to the Rocky Mountains / Keith Heyer Meldahl.
2011
QE79 .M45 2011eb
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Title
Rough-hewn land [electronic resource] : a geologic journey from California to the Rocky Mountains / Keith Heyer Meldahl.
Author
Meldahl, Keith Heyer.
ISBN
9780520949942 (electronic bk.)
9780520259355
0520259351
9780520259355
0520259351
Publication Details
Berkeley : University of California Press, c2011.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xviii, 296 p.) : ill., maps.
Call Number
QE79 .M45 2011eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
557.9
Summary
"Rough-Hewn Land tells the geologic story of the American West--the story of its rocks, rivers, mountains, earthquakes, and mineral wealth, including gold. It tells it by taking you on a 1000-mile-long field trip across the rough side of the continent from the California coast to the Rocky Mountains. This book puts you on the outcrop, geologic hammer in hand, to explore the evidence for how the spectacular, rough-hewn lands of the West came to be. When North America broke free from Eurasia and Africa some 200 million years ago, it triggered a cascade of violent geologic events that shaped the West we see today. As the west-moving continent crunched across the seabed of the ancient Pacific, islands and assorted pieces of ocean floor collected against its prow to build California--and plant gold there too. Meanwhile, mountains squeezed upward from California to Colorado, and vast quantities of molten rock seeded the crust with precious metals while spewing volcanic fire across the land. Later, the land stretched like an accordion to form the washboard-like Basin and Range province and Great Basin within it, while California began to crackle along the San Andreas fault. Throughout the West today, a near-constant drumroll of earthquakes testifies to a world still reshaping itself in response to the ceaseless movements of the Earth's tectonic plates. Rough-Hewn Land weaves these stories into the human history of the West. As we follow the adventures of John C. Fremont, Mark Twain, the Donner party, and other historic characters, we see how geologic forces have shaped human experience, just as they direct the fate of the West today"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-279) and index.
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Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
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Rough-hewn land.
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Table of Contents
pt. 1. California. Golden Gate ; Mother lode ; Rivers of gold ; A traverse across the range of light ; Where is the edge of the North American plate?
pt. 2. The Basin and Range and the Great Basin. Where rivers die ; The growing pains of mountains ; Wealth and magma ; Water and salt ; Evolution's big bang
pt. 3. The Rocky Mountains. Range-roving rivers ; Up from the basement ; At the frontier
Appendix 1. Deep time : fathoming the rock record
Appendix 2. Seeing for yourself.
pt. 2. The Basin and Range and the Great Basin. Where rivers die ; The growing pains of mountains ; Wealth and magma ; Water and salt ; Evolution's big bang
pt. 3. The Rocky Mountains. Range-roving rivers ; Up from the basement ; At the frontier
Appendix 1. Deep time : fathoming the rock record
Appendix 2. Seeing for yourself.