Between ranges EarthCache
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At this spot you are standing in a valley at one of the narrowest places between Transverse Ranges and Peninsula Ranges.
Looking south you see the Peninsula Ranges. These mountains run NW/SE, parallel to the pacific coast, like allmost all mountains do on the north american pacific coast. Rocks in the ranges are dominated by Mesozoic granitic rocks, derived from the same massive batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. They are part of a geologic province known as the Salinian Block which broke off the North American Plate as the San Andreas Fault and Gulf of California came into being.
Looking north you see the Transverse Ranges which represent a complex of tectonic forces stemming from the interaction of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate along the San Andreas Fault system. Their orientation along an east-west axis as opposed to the general southeast-northwest trend of most California ranges results from a pronounced bend in the San Andreas Fault, the cause of which is a subject of intensive ongoing study. Their elevation is somewhat better understood as a consequence of this bend. The crust atop the Pacific Plate south of the ranges does not easily make the turn westward as the entire plate moves northwestward, forcing pieces of the crust to compress and lift.
Try looking at a map with elevation shading. It is very obvious that the Transverse Ranges run not parallel to, but across the other ranges along the pacific coast line.
In between ranges (where you are), is a big flat valley floor. This is formed by material washed away from mountains that have settled on the valley floor. Over time the bigger pieces will hold back smaller and smaller pieces, and a uniform floor like the one you are standing on will be created. A side effect of such a valley floor, is that it acts as a natural water filtration system, so clean water can be pumped from deep ground.
To log this cache do the following:
1. Send answer to question via my profile: What would happen to the elevation of the valley floor if it was left untouched by man.
2. Take a photo of yourself with gps, with either Peninsula Ranges or Transverse Ranges in background and log with picture.
Directions: Leave Hwy10 and park just south of bridge, on turnout where Railroad ave. meet Haugen Lehman way.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Jung unccrarq hagvy abj ?
Treasures
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