Calavera mountainA Geological Study

Geology 103 Field assignment By Ty Colby

Calavera, California

• The word Calavera means skull, which comes from the shape of the mountain. (Lain, Gentet, N.D.)

• The mountain is actually a 22 million year-old volcanic plug. (Manna, N.D.)• You can see the volcano slowly

eroding away, leaving the plug, the solid mass of volcanic rock. (Manna, N.D.)

• The volcanic plug was created millions of years ago when a mass of volcanic rock turned solid within the mountain. (Manna, N.D.)

Calavera today • Calavera Preserve is a 2.4 mile trail that is used for hiking, biking and other outdoor sports. (Landis, N.D.)

• The preserve holds over 400 acres that houses a variety of wild life, including a reserve controlled by the departement of fish and game. ( Landis, N.D.)

• The area holds over 115 differernet plants, 49 birds, 10 mamals and 7 amphibias species. (Landis,N.D)

The Great Horned Owl!

• The Bubo VirgianusPacificus is native in north and south America.

• Owls belong to the pyhlogenetic class Aves. (Wiki)

• The great horned owl is a bard owl that belongs in the family Tyonidae, rather than the family Strigidae.

(Caplan, N.D.)

• Modern barn owls have evolved from giant owls that thrived in the carribian and Mediterranean around 30,000 years ago. (Caplan, N.D.)

• The owl has ear tufts that look like horns. These are feathers wehich help it to camoflaughe.

California Ground Squirrell• The

Otospermophilus beechei is a common animal in California. (Wiki)

• Tracked back to 50 million years, the rodent (Rodentia) in the Sciurus family, Sciurus Carolinensis. (Wong, 2008)

• There are over 365 different types of squirrels around the world, all divided

into seven families; three most common families are the ground squirrel, the flying squirrel and the tree squirrel. (Wong, 2008.)

• A group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the family Crotaloinae. (Wiki)

• Snakes orinated over 130 million years ago from lizards because of an early divergence of lineages. The North American rattlesanke evolved 23 million years ago during the age of snakes.(Brigham, 2000)

Southern California Rattlesnake

• The development of the rattle is said to have derived from a single scale on the snakes tail which, over years of growth became two large scales, and eventually turned into a rattling device created from the coincidence that some snake species vibrate their tails. (afarensis, 2007)

Igneous Granit!

• Most abundant rock type in the continental crust. (Frost, Pp. 2033-2048.)

• Granitoids can form from am melt of many rock types, crustal and mantle. (Frost, Pp. 2033-2048.)

• Granites csan be classified by the S-I-A-M system; chappell and white, s- type granites which occur in regional metamorphic terranes.

• I- type Granites occur in subduction zones.

• A- type Granitoids come from an Anorogenic origin.

• M- type Granitoids form as fractionated mantle melts. (Smith, Hall, Forward. N.D)

Limestone • Sedimetary rock composed

of shells and chemical properties. Containing a large amount of CaCO3. (Britannica, 2013)

• The rocks characteristics are light in color and very loosely put together, with a layered appereance. (Britannica, 2013)

• The rocks are also used in steel mills and in sugar refining. The use of limestone is unlimited; also used to make glass and paper. (Rice, N.D.)

• Limestone is used as a sources of energy, concrete and cement. (Rice, N.D)

• LimeStone is a product of the Devonian period where their was an abundance of coral seas, holding millions of moss forms. Mud formed in layers on top of the coral reefs, creating sections of mud that is now limestone. (Davis, 1964)

Milky Quartz

• Crystalline quartz that’s white and often translucent from numerous gas and fluid inclusions . (CEST, 2012)

• When inclusions interfere with crystal growth, the crystals are usually misshapen and contorted, like fingers at times. (CEST, 2012)

• Quartz is one of the most common gems, the main-

component being tetrahedral of silicon and oxygen.• It forms from instability during

the expansion of crystalline. (Ralph, N.D)

• Temperature and pressure changes during the rocks creation, forming good conditions for Quartz crystals to grow. Any instability in the heat or the pressure will cause a milky look. (Ralph, N.D)

Volcanic Rock

• Lava rock is in fact an igneous rock! The name Lava is strange being that lava is a liquid form reaching temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees. (Edge, 2003)

• Volcanic rocks are the most common rock types, mostly in the oceans. On land they are common around plate boundaries.(Wiki)

• Lava is made from crystals, bubbles and volcanic glass. When magma gets closer to the surface of the earth from pressure, the magma, which is now lava begins to cool, eventually becoming solid. (LeMaitre, 1976)

• The type of lava rock occurs from the specific type of volcano; Basalt rocks form near the earths surface, Andesite which is lighter in color, and Rhyolite which is even lighter because of the amount of silica (70 %) (Waikato, 2010)

Mica

• Common mineral that occurs as flasks or scales in many metamorphic or igneous rocks, as well as coastal plain lands. (Minerals Education Coalition, 2013)

• Pegmatite's usually have larger crystals because they hold rarer minerals which cool more slowly after creation. (Minerals Education Coalition, 2013)

Taken from www. Geology.enr

• Made aluminum, silicate, alkalis and hydroxyl.

• The rock tears like paper into

small pieces of translucent threads. (Dietrich, 2013) • Mica has dielectric strenght,

making it useful for electrical industry, stores electricity easily. (Dietrich, 2013)

• There are two forms of Mica; muscovite and phlogopite. They are valued for their ability to tolerate high temperatures. (Hale, 2010)

• Mica is also very shiny and somewhat smoky. It also absorbs water easily, and is very reflective. (Hale, 2010)

References • Background information: History of Rusty and Iris.

(n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.internationalowlcenter.org/ourowls/rustyandiris/backgroundinformation?gclid=CjkKEQjw_ZmdBRD1qNKXhomX_sEBEiQAc9XNUBWKHfTgeB-7YiG

• Brigham, C. (2000). The biogeography of the Mojave rattlesnake.

• Retrievedfromhttp://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Fall00Projects/rsnake.htm

• Calavera nature preserve. Retrieved from http://www.calaverahills.info/ch-preserve.htm

• Manna, S. (n.d.). The history of valley springs. Retrieved from http://westcalaverashistory.org/node/43

• Milky quartz. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mindat.org/min-6129.html

• Rice, J. History of the limestone quarry. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.portagequarry.com/history.htm

• S-I-A-M Classification. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nsm.buffalo.edu/courses/gly206/L08B_SIAMClassy.pdf

• Smith, A., Hall, B., & Forward, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~sainieid/pet/projects/Smith-Hall-Forward-Antarctic-cobbles.pdf

• The great horned owl. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_horned_owl

• Natural Lava Rock. (2003, January 1). What is Lava Rock. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://reddome.com/lava-rock.html

• LeMaitre, R. (1976, January 1). What is lava made of? | Volcano World. What is lava made of? | Volcano World. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/what-lava-made

• Dietrich, R. (2010, October 25). Origin and occurrence. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved September 22, 2014, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379747/mica/80071/Origin-and-occurrence

• History: Squirrel place. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.squirrels.org/history.html

• Gems and minerals: Milky quartz. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://geology.answers.com/gems-and-minerals/gems-and-minerals-milky-quartz

• Wong, K. (2008). Lord of the burrows: The incredible edible ground squirrel. Retrieved from http://baynature.org/articles/lord-of-the-burrows/

• Lain, E. &Gentet, R. (n.d.). The case for the Calaveras skull. Retrieved from http://www.creationhistory.com/calaverasskull.shtml

• Darwin explains the rattlesnake’s rattle. (2007). Retrieved from http://afarensis99.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/darwin_explains_the_rattlesnak/

• What is natural selection? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://thegreathornedowlresource.weebly.com/evolution.html