Stop 4: Burney Falls

Field Trip Assignment

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burney_Falls

Stop 4: Burney Falls

The water from the falls comes from

Begin: PCC

underground springs above and at the

Stop1: Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes

falls, which reach heights of 129. Burney

Stop 2:Mt. Whitney

Falls has a constant flow rate of 379

million litres per day, even during dry

Stop 3: Half Dome

months.

Stop 4:Burney Falls

The park's landscape, in which Burney

End: PCC

Falls is found, was formed by volcanic

activity and erosion from weather and
streams. Burney Falls stands here today
because of the layered porous basalt
which keeps rainwater and snow melt,
thus forming an underground reservoir.

-Burney Falls is the center piece of

McArthur Burney Memorial Park
-While not the tallest waterfall in the
state it is certainly one of the most scenic
water falls
- Burney Falls was named after pioneer
settler Samuel Burney who lived in the

Field Trip Assignment

Rae Rivera
GEOG 001
Professor Gorcik

Stop 3: Half Dome

Half Dome is located in Yosemite National Park
It is one of the most recognizable rock formations in
the park
The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m)
above the valley floor.
Half Dome, was formed from intrusions of magma

Source:
http://www.backpacker.com/trips/california/gu
adalupe-nipomo-dunes-national-wildlife-refugesanta-maria-rivermouth-to-musselrock/#bp=0/img1
Stop 1: Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes
The Guadalupe-Nipomo dunes cover an 18
mile stretch along the Central Coast of
California, and it extends from San Luis
Obispo County to Santa Barbara County.
The dunes were formed by a combination
of factors including beach sand which the
wind blew inland as well as the Santa
Maria River which provided sediment to
the coast.
Stop 2: Mt. Whitney
This Dune System has the highest dunes
on the entire west coast of the country.
The highest being, Mussel Rock Dune
which reaches 500ft. Another rare
geographic treasure is Oso Flaco Lake, a
freshwater lake located amid the Dunes

that hardened below the ground forming large

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Whitney

granite bodies. As overlying rock gradually eroded

the granite became exposed at the surface and

Stop 2: Mt. Whitney

uplifted itself in the mountain that formed the Sierra

Nevada.

Mt.Whitney serves as a boundary for the Inyo

and Tulare counties in California with an
elevation of 14,505 ft.
Its peak rises 10,778 feet, a little over two miles
above Lone Pine, a town 15 miles to the east, in
the Owens Valley. Mt.Whitneys peak rapidly
rises 10,000 feet above the Owens Valley floor.

Granite is a hard rock even when facing weathering

and erosion. Its weakest when its along the natural
crevices called joints. Weathering along these joints
in the Half Dome mass is what is most likely
responsible for the peaks appearance today. The
rounded crown of Half Dome could very well be
result of whole rock peeling off, a weathering
phenomenon called exfoliation that which is related

Mt. Whitneys eastern slope is considerably

steeper than its western counterpart due to the
entire Sierra Nevada is the result of a faultblock that is parallel to a cellar door. This rise is
the cause of the fault system which runs
parallel to the eastern base of the Sierra, below
Mount Whitney.

to the granite releasing pressure after the overlaying

rock layers were eroded.

Source: https://www.scenicwonders.com/blog/how-halfdome-formed/