Rough-hewn land [[electronic resource] ] : a geologic journey from California to the Rocky Mountains / / Keith Heyer Meldahl

• Autore: Meldahl Keith Heyer
• Pubblicazione: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2011
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (317 p.)
• Disciplina: 557.9
• Soggetto topico: Geology - West (U.S.)
• Soggetto geografico: West (U.S.) History
• Soggetto genere / forma: Electronic books.
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-279) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Preface -- 1. Golden Gate -- 2. Mother Lode -- 3. Rivers of Gold -- 4. A Traverse across the Range of Light -- 5. Where Is the Edge of the North American Plate? -- 6. Where Rivers Die -- 7. The Growing Pains of Mountains -- 8. Wealth and Magma -- 9. Water and Salt -- 10. Evolution's Big Bang -- 11. Range-Roving Rivers -- 12. Up from the Basement -- 13. At the Frontier -- Appendix I: Deep Time: Fathoming the Rock Record -- Appendix II: Seeing for Yourself -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Figure Sources and Credits -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: "Unfold a map of North America," Keith Heyer Meldahl writes, "and the first thing to grab your eye is the bold shift between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains." In this absorbing book, Meldahl takes readers on a 1000-mile-long field trip back through more than 100 million years of deep time to explore America's most spectacular and scientifically intriguing landscapes. He places us on the outcrops, rock hammer in hand, to examine the evidence for how these rough-hewn lands came to be. We see California and its gold assembled from pieces of old ocean floor and the relentless movements of the Earth's tectonic plates. We witness the birth of the Rockies. And we investigate the violent earthquakes that continue to shape the region today. Into the West's geologic story, Meldahl also weaves its human history. As we follow the adventures of John C. Frémont, Mark Twain, the Donner party, and other historic characters, we learn how geologic forces have shaped human experience in the past and how they direct the fate of the West today.
• Titolo autorizzato: Rough-hewn land
• ISBN: 1-280-09953-4; 9786613520517; 0-520-94994-3
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910462068103321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II