Overview of Physical Geography in Southern California.

The beautiful landscape of Southern California is extremely varied, with high mountains, huge deserts, sandy and rocky beaches, brushy hills, and broad river valleys that are all relatively very close to each other. Southern California is even more intriguing than its beautiful beaches and lush mountains, and dry deserts. 

The oldest rocks in the region exceed 1.5 billion years in age, and have been affected by many cycles of metamorphism and deformation. Other places in Southern California, recent volcanic activity has produced lots and lots of fresh basalt so young that it has barely begun to weather. The sedimentary rocks of southern California are extremely varied and include materials that originally collected in deep oceans, shallow seas, riverbeds, lakes, beaches, sand dunes, and alluvial fans. 

Sedimentary Rock found in Southern California http://www.google.com/imgres?q=sedimentary+rock&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa

The mountains in southern California are actually very young and have formed through normal faulting under tension in the Basin and Range, folding and reverse faulting generated by compression in the Transverse Range, and through faulting related to stress in several places along the San Andreas fault zone. Also in Southern California great quantities of alluvium have been deposited across the floor of the San Joaquin Valley by rivers draining the close highlands. This alluvium, derived from the weathering of granitic rocks in the Sierra Nevada, it is responsible for the fertile soils of the valley. The natural fertility of the San Joaquin soils in parts reflects the mineral nutrients released during chemical weathering. The San Joaquin soil has been designated the official California State Soil. 

The interesting physical geography is a result of the beautiful oceans and mountains and other vast areas of Southern California. Through this course I have learned so much about many beautiful area’s why they are there what are results of things forming and moving and for how they look like the way they are. I never realized how much fun Physical Geography could be!

The next 100 years in Southern California

                  In the next 100 years the sea is bound to rise in Southern California. For at least the past 20,000 years, sea level has been rising as an ongoing episode of global warming and related glacial and icecap melting and retreat. During the last several decades, from the small set of California tide gages, the sea around Southern California are rising about 20 cm per century, very similar to the estimated for the global average sea level. The combination of predicted astronomical tides with projected weather forcing, El Nino related variability and given sea level projections from 2005-2100 are showing evidence of the sea level rising. As well as the gradual sea level rise worsens the impacts of high tides and the surge and waves associated with storms and s well as the fresh water floods from Sierra and costal mountain catchments. This rise in sea level in California can affect beach properties, many famous landmarks, homes, people and slowly a lot of built architecture. California in our time will not be breaking off but the sea level rising is real and will start to be affected during our lifetime.

http://www.water.ca.gov/floodmgmt/dsmo/sab/drmsp/docs/SeaLevel_ClimaticChange-Cayan_etal.pdf

http://cengagesites.com/academic/assets/sites/4004/DeCourten_1424067871_LowRes.pdf

Oceanside where the Grandparent's live!

El Nino in Southern California

El Nino happens when an increase in the ocean surface temperatures in both the central pacific ocean and eastern ocean. The warm events happen randomly but usually ranging from 6 months to 7 from the last one. Even though it is only present in the tropical Pacific it can affect different parts of the world as well with unusual precipitation patterns.

This is what "normal" condition's for weather and temperature without El Nino

This is the difference with El Nino.

El Nino is the extreme warm phase. 

Because of these changes Southern California receives much more rainfall than usual during these times. In general, the effect of El Niño on California is increased rainfall with accompanying floods, landslides, and coastal erosion. The effects are variable across the state and are more predictable in Southern California. This can be detrimental and dangerous for the state causing things from houses being damaged to people dying. 

This is typically the expectation of rain for a stronger El Nino

And the picture below would be expectations for a weaker El Nino

Basically, the warmer the currents, the more moisture in the air adding to much more rainfall than usual. This is something Southern California is used to dealing with but still is preventable. Little things can be done for rainfall proactive planning but other than that when the rain comes the rain comes!

http://ggweather.com/enso/calenso.htm

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/dynamic/session4/sess4_hydroatmo3.htm

Mass Wasting

Oceanside, California is one of many places in Southern California that experience mass wasting. Mass Wasting is the movement of earth's materials, because of gravity, pulling downslope. These mass wasting events can be very sudden, often slow and can move into larger movements of landslides. There are three types of mass wasting. Creep, a slow continuing movement. Slides, sudden downhill movement of masses of rocks and sediment and Debris flow which is dense, fluid mixtures of rock, sand, mud and water. Water is a big factor of mass wasting. Water affects the stability of the soil. Usually such events are triggered or hastened by heavy rainfall, or lots of rainfall overtime.

An area in Southern California destroyed due to Mass Wasting. 

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/earth-and-theenvironment.html

Specifically in Southern California the steep slopes, the frequency of earthquakes, with patterns of wildfire and rainfall are huge factors to their mass wasting. California receives very sporadic changes in the rainfall that cause dry seasons that create the forest fires which is not good for the outcomes of Mass Wasting.

http://blank005.tripod.com/geology/masswasting.html




 *Video of the affects of a landslide in San Diemos, California.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCMMwQmUjHI&feature=related

Mass Wasting can be detrimental to people living in the area, it can cause devastation to houses, natural resources and other structures built on the area around it. Depending the size of the landslide outcomes can become very serious. Mass wasting can also can cause the acceleration of erosion through the construction causing reducing of the  amount of sand on the beaches. Actions can be done to prevent Mass Wasting such as: picking vegetation areas with stable slopes, stabilizing structures, regrading of slopes to lessen the steepness, and installing of drainage and runoff to decrease the moisture on the slope sides.

Work Sited:

http://people.hofstra.edu/j_b_bennington/33notes/mass_wasting.html
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g112/mass_wasting.html
http://cengagesites.com/academic/assets/sites/4004/DeCourten_1424067871_LowRes.pdf

Earthquakes

           Oceanside, California consists of many active, geological events. The most predominate geologic event is earthquakes. California itself receives over 500 active earthquakes a year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixVVuN-mF1M

            California consists of two tectonic plates, known as the North American plate and the Pacific plate. The two plates together form the Andreas fault, a transformation fault, which is a very large strike, slip fault. This fault goes all the way up California but the last time the San Andres released energy was many years ago. Although, Southern California itself includes over 300 smaller faults that brings earthquakes that are more often occurring but also not as large seismic waves that the San Andres might bring. Every earthquake creates three kinds of waves. P, primary waves and S, Secondary travel downward into the earth, and L, the last waves that travel along the top of the crust.

http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/3D4Dmapping/index.htm

            Because of the high volume of earthquakes, plate boundaries moving and pressure being released that causes the earth to shake, Southern California is more likely to receive damage to buildings, ruins to concrete grounds, fires, mass wasting and even tsunamis. This can be very detrimental and concerning to people that live in California. Tragedy can strike at anytime. In the last ten days California has received over 14 earthquakes, all of them with a smaller magnitude doing barely anything to the people, most probably not even large enough for people to really notice. What the people need to be concerned with are the larger magnitude earthquakes, which are thankfully not as occurring as the smaller earthquakes out of the San Diego area. People are educated on how to react during a small earthquake and many homes in Southern California come with insures for any earthquake damage. Homes and buildings today are even designed differently in hope that an earthquake would not do as much damaged.  Living in California people need to be educated on the risk and hope for the best. The aftermath of the earthquakes is what usually does most harm, the failing of buildings, fires formed and the mast wasting.

(Damage from a Los Angeles earth quake) 

http://pinoytutorial.com/lifebytes/earthquake-awakens-los-angeles-today/

Websites: http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/localgeology/

http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/lessons/indiv/davis/inprogress/QuakesEng3.html\

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/10m.html

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqscanv/Quakes/quakes_big.html

Introduction.

Hi, I'm Kendall Kniffin. California girl moved to Colorado and wouldn't have change anything for the world. Love the outdoors, and the Colorado people but as well love and miss the beach. Growing up in areas of Dana Point and Fallbrook, my grandparents owned and still own a beach house in a small community of St. Malo in Oceanside, California. This is where I choose to be my place.

I chose this place not only for my love of the beach, the beauty or my strong attachment but I have also chose this place to save the small, family beach cottage in Oceanside from being sold. I'm hoping from this project I can get some good bargaining information on the beautiful area to not sell the place! But also I would be very interested about finding out more about the area I spend so much time in scientific perspective, a different side of things to the knowledge I already know.