Transforming California

Landforms of the
San Andreas Fault

Images & text by Thomas McGuire,
Cave Creek Digital, Cave Creek, AZ
cavecreekdigital@msn.com

If we intend to live on this planet
we truly need to understand how it works.
Exploring ways to find fault
3
The author at Parkfield CA, site of USGS seismic experiment. Be here when it happens!
4










Fault Issues
1. Fault Scarps & Alignments
2. Sag Ponds
3. Offset Drainages
4. Distortion of Human-Made Structures
5. Infrastructure Vulnerability
5
Basic
California
Geography
Imperial
Valley
Los Angeles
Mojave Desert
San
Joaquin
Valley
San Francisco
San
Andreas
Fault
Death Valley
6
San Andreas Lakes viewed from the south near San Jose
7
The San Andreas fault
is part of the boundary
between the North
American and Pacific
tectonic plates. It is
classified as a right
lateral transform fault.

(To a person facing the fault,
the far side shifts to the right.)
Our Dynamic Earth, Robert Tilling, USGS, 1996
8
The Sea of Cortez.. (Known to Gringos as The Gulf of California.)
9
The US-Mexican Border (fence line) is as impervious to plate processes as it is to immigration.
10
The All-American Canal brings Colorado River water to the Imperial Valley of California.
11
Wind Farm north of Palm Springs near San Gorgonio Pass.
12
The main trace of the fault runs NE of Los Angeles, but numerous splay faults affect the LA Basin.. (So does smog.)
13
California Aqueduct at Palmdale, north of Los Angeles.
14
Gates along the California Aqueduct at Palmdale
15
San Andreas Fault road cut, CA 14 at Palmdale,
16
Detail of CA 14 road cut at Palmdale
17
Intersection of the San Andreas & Garlock Faults east of Tejon Pass.
18
John Marquis, USC
The
San
Andreas
and
Garlock
Faults
19
Remains of Manzanar Japanese American internment Camp (WWII) and the steep eastern front of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
20
Columnar jointing in basalt
at Devils Postpile near
Mammoth Lakes, CA
21
Top of jointed
basalt columns,
Devils Postpile,
CA
22
Dantes View, Death Valley, CA. Badwater, at -282 Ft, the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere, is at the bottom right.
23
24
San Andreas Fault, Carrizo Plain just north of CA 166.
25
Fence (see last slide)
crosses San Andreas
Fault near CA 166.
26
San Andreas Fault ridge, Elkhorn Scarp along the base of the Tremblor Range, Carrizo Plain, CA
27
Fault trace, Carrizo Plain, CA
28
San Andreas Fault, Carrizo Plain, CA
29
Stream offset along the San Andreas Fault, Carrizo Plain, CA
30
Soda Lake, Carrizo Plain,. A closed drainage (sag pond) feature.
31
Wallace Creek, USGS aerial view, about 1990
USGS Photo
32
Wallace Creek fault investigation area on the Carrizo Plain. Numbers show signed posted nature trail features. Next image at #1..
33
Tom at Wallace Creek fault offset .
34
Stream offset along the San Andreas Fault near Wallace Creek, CA
35
Stream offset north of the Carrizo Plain, on Bitterwater Road.
36
Sag pond, San Andreas Fault along CA 25.
37
San Andreas cable crossing & sag pond, CA Route 25.
38
Sheared
tree limbs
along CA,
Route 25
; )
39
San Andreas Fault trace, CA Route 25.
40
California Route 25 along the San Andreas Fault.
41
Pressure Ridge, California Route 25.
42
San Andreas fault scarp & sag pond just east of California Route 25.
43
Slump structure near the San Andreas Fault, California Route 25.
44
Parkfield, CA. USGS seismic experiment center.
45
Laser triangulation and GPS site, Parkfield, CA
46
Bridge across San Andreas Fault at Parkfield
47
San Andreas Fault
right lateral offset
at Parkfield Bridge
48
San Andreas Fault Movement, DeRose Winery, Hollister, CA Note the new building at the top left.
49
28 years of offset at the Cienga Winery,
USGS Photo
TMcG
50
New construction & fault trace, June 2003, DeRose Cienga Winery. The offset ditch runs barely out of sight on the right.
51
San Andreas
fault creep
damage
De Rose Cienga
Winery, south of
Hollister CA
52
Town of Hollister, California viewed from the Calaveras fault scarp. The San Andreas fault runs sub-parallel l,.5 miles west.
53
Wall on 6th Street distorted by Calaveras Fault creep (June 2003)
54
Rotational
Translation
on 6th Street
55
Offset curb,
6th Street
Hollister
56
Offset curb
on,7th Street
57
Roof damage, Hollister High School
58
Discrepant
Event,
Hollister
; )
59
5th Street, Hollister.
60
5th Street
Detail #1
61
5th Street
Detail #2
62
5th Street Detail #3
63
4th Street front steps..
64
Displaced sidewalk, 359 Locust Avenue, Hollister
65
Retaining wall, 359 Locust Avenue, Hollister.
66
Locust
Avenue
Garage
& power
pole.
Garage
built in
1929
67
Locust
Avenue
Curb &
utilities
68
USGS, Menlo Park (Bay Area) Research Center
69
The San
Andreas Fault
passes a few
kilometers west
(left) of the
Golden Gate
Bridge.
San Francisco Tourism Photo
70
Bye bye to the fault! (Point Reyes)
71
Seismology & economics converge
72
Th
e
En
d.
USGS map
California
Transformed