This document contains photos and descriptions from Juan Vasquez of various geographic locations in California, including: - Rock formations in the Cajon Pass created by the San Andreas Fault. - Mormon Rocks showing layers of sandstone from periods of high and low rainfall. - A stream bed and evidence of past water flow. - Features around Mono Lake such as tufa towers, shorelines, and islands. - Lakes and glacial formations around Mammoth Lakes and June Lake. - The Japanese internment camp at Manzanar during WWII. - Various other sites showcasing volcanic activity, faults, plants, and infrastructure like aqueducts and radar towers.

1. Juan Vasquez

2. Mojave Desert
& Southern Owens Valley

3. This recognizable geographic landmark that is off the 15 freeway is
located in the Cajon Pass and was created by movements of the
San Andreas fault. The Pacific and North American plates collided
and these rock formations are the result: Tilted Fault Block
Mountains.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

4. Here is a close up shot of the Mormon Rocks; it shows the many
individual rocks of the sandstone and it’s layers. The big layers
are a result of a lot of rainfall, whereas the small layers indicate
low or normal rainfall.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

5. Shown in this photo is the Stream bed. There was water that
flowed in the form of a stream, and shown is flow and even
moist rock where the water travels down.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

6. The San Andreas Rift Zone is known as a strike-slip fault;
the movement of the blocks is horizontal, and those blocks
become displaced in placement relationship.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

7. Cinder Hill is a stratovolcano (extrusive) which is located in
the Coso Range of California and last erupted about 500
years ago.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

8. Shown here is basalt, the rock that forms from cooled
down lava post eruption.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

9. Here is the dried up stream bed located near Cinder
Hill and Fossil Falls.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

10. This interesting looking geographic formation was created
by both the basaltic volcanic activity and the melt water
from the glaciers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the
Tioga.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

11. An interesting feature of Fossil Falls are the metate holes.
These near perfect circular holes were created by debris
that would get lodged in the basalt, and over time as the
water kept flowing the debris continued to drill into the
basalt and that process is how the metate holes were
formed.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

12. A close up shot of an obsidian flake. This mineral was
used and shaped as arrowheads by the Native Americans
who once lived in the Coso Mountain range.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

13. Millions of pieces of obsidian are scattered all over the
ground, and if looked at closely, one can see the glimmer
and shine that the obsidian reflects; however, the photo
does not capture the true beauty of the sight, it is like a
starry night in the day.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

14. Here is a
petroglyph, made
by a Native
American that lived
in the Coso
Mountain region
many years ago. It
is perhaps a
depiction of a
hunter and the herd
of animals that the
hunter will hunt.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

15. In this photo, outlined is a house ring. It is essentially a
foundation for a house used by the Native Americans for
shelter and to craft obsidian for arrowheads.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

16. Northern Owens Valley
& Eastern Sierra

17. In this photo, at the base of the Alabama Hills is the the Lone
Pine Fault. In 1872, one of the strongest earthquakes in
California history was caused from vertical and right lateral
displacement on the fault itself. Also, the vegetation dictates that
this is a different biome; i.e. no Joshua Trees rather Sagebrush.
Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

18. Diaz Lake is located in the Owens Valley between the Inyo White
Mountains and the Lone Pine Fault, and was actually created by
the earthquake on the fault. It is a sag pond, and when the
earthquake hit the spring opened and filled the area which is now
the lake.
Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

19. Photo showing Mt. Whitney, from the Mt. Whitney Interagency
Visitor Center. At mountain height of 14,505 feet, it is the highest
elevation in the United States. Mt. Whitney is situated in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains, and this mountain range is closer to the
coast.
Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

20. Here is a V-shaped alluvial fan. It is shaped this way because of
the melted water of the glaciers from Sierra Nevada Mountains
located just across the way, which have U-shaped alluvial fans
because of the glaciers. The Inyo White mountains are also in the
rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

21. Here is a photo of the Keough Hot Spring (just one of
the many hot springs in the area) located between the
small town of Big Pine and the city of Bishop. The
water is heated from underground volcanic activity.
Vasquez 4/5/13 Afternoon

22. This photo was taken in the Mammoth area just north of Bishop
and south of Mono Lake. There is a bit of a problem here; there
are many Bark Beetles that eat up the forest. Due to climate
change, the winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the beetles
that feed on the trees, and so the trees become very dried out and
are thus susceptible to fires in the summer.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning

23. Mono Lake is a massive, ancient lake that once was at the same time in
the states of Nevada, Utah, and of course California. However to this
day the lake is now only situated in California. The lake is two times
saltier than the sea because of the sodium chloride and sodium
bicarbonate that washed into the lake by streams springs. It is inhabited
by little wildlife such as the trillions of Brine Shrimp that live off the algae
in the lake and the Alkali Flies which are interestingly born underwater
and surface and live around the lake when they are matured. Mono
Lake is also the breeding ground for the California Seagulls.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

24. Another shot of Mono Lake that is closer to the shore.
The coordinates dictated by the GPS are as follows:
Elevation: 6386ft.
N 37º 56º 6.27’
W 119º 01.647”
Mono Lake
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

25. Here is a photo of Mono Lake with the two islands that are inside
seen in the distance: the big white island is Pahoa Island, and in
the distance is the small black island Negit Island. Pahoa Island is
actually a volcano and its volcanic activity continues.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

26. Here are some of the many Tufa towers that make Mono Lake
more interesting. These tufa towers are formed when the calcium
from the springs under the lake bonds to the carbonate of the lake.
When those two elements come together they create a kind of
limestone called calcium carbonate. The newly formed material
continually builds on itself and over time results into the vertical
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

27. Shown in this photo are the various shorelines of Mono Lake
before diversions in the 1940’s as well as the shoreline as it is
today. The city of Los Angeles decided to extend the aqueduct into
the Mono Basin which diverted water from 4 of the 6 mountain
streams that feed into the lake. As a result, the lake rapidly lost a
dramatic amount of water and that is why the Tufa Towers can be
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

28. Thankfully Mono Lake is protected by the efforts of the Mono Lake
Committee, and the lake is slowly but surely coming back to an elevation
of 6392 feet. The photo here displays the wooden boards placed from
near the current shoreline and to the desired shoreline; the goal is to get
the shoreline to the end of the boards at the bottom of the photo here.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

29. Labeled in the distance are the North American
mountains that are situated near Mono Lake. They
are significant because they happen to be the
youngest and newest mountain range, aging at just
40,000 years old.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

30. Here is Bloody Mary Canyon, seen before
approaching the June Lake Loop. This is an example
of a lateral moraine and a glacial valley.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

31. The first lake of the June Lake Loop, Grant Lake and
another lateral moraine. Grant Lake is actually a man
made lake, an artificial lake, and is part of the Los
Angeles water.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

32. Displayed in this photo is the beautiful Silver Lake, the
second lake stop of the June Lake Loop.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

33. Here is a shot of the frozen waterfall of Silver Lake
shown close up.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

34. Here is Convict Lake, a lake created by a glacier and
situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is named after
the convicts who escaped from prison in Carson City. The
convicts were captured and hung here.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

35. Here at Convict Lake, the
oldest rock formations of
the Sierra Nevada
Mountains can be seen in
the distance. Also shown
are both lateral and
terminal moraines, which
were formed by the same
glacier that created the
lake.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Afternoon

36. At the Eastern California Museum, here is one thing
that was displayed in the outside area that is
particularly interesting looking. It is called a Threshing
Machine and was used for the agricultural purposes of
separating the grain from husks and stalks.
Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning

37. This was
actually the
location of the
Japanese
Camp/Housing
of Japanese
American
people after
Pearl Harbor for
fear of domestic
terrorism.
Before it was a
camp, it was an
apple
grove, hence
the name
Manzanar
derived from the
Spanish word
for
Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning
Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning

38. After the Native
Americans who once
lived in the area were
kicked out for the
construction of
Manzanar, it was built by
the very same Japanese
people who would soon
live there. In the top
photo, one of the people
who lived here wrote
their name in the
cement. In the bottom
photo the guard house
can be seen. Though it
is barren now, the same
wood used to build
Manzanar was actually
used to make the
buildings in Lone Pine.
Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning
Vasquez 4/7/13 Morning

39. Various photos from both
field trips

40. Here at Mormon Rocks is an example of an
orographic effect.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

41. Photographed here is a Joshua Tree, taken in the van near
the Cajon Summit while driving north on Highway 395
toward the Coso Range.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

42. While in transit, a quick photo of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
This aqueduct brings in water to California from Colorado.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Morning

43. The Solar Power Plant that is just a short distance
from Kramer Junction.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

44. A photo of a Doppler Radar Tower not too far from Kramer
Junction and the Solar Power Plant. These towers are
used to help predict weather conditions.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

45. Here is the Garlock Fault seen going north on
Highway 395. It is situated near the Mojave Desert.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

46. A photo at Cinder Hill of one of the only wildlife
encountered on the trip. This is the tail of a Chuckwalla
lizard residing between some rocks.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Afternoon

47. Although a little difficult to see in this photo, here are
the mine tailings ( debris and remains from the mines )
located near Red Mountain. Photo was taken in
transit returning to Rancho Cucamonga.
Vasquez 3/9/13 Late Afternoon

48. Here is a photograph of Owens Dry Lake taken on the
way up to Lone Pine. The lake was once filled with
water until it was drained by the Los Angeles
Aqueduct.
Vasquez 4/5/13 Morning

49. Here is a photo of a SETI Tower taken on the way to Mono
Lake. These are placed in the desert to search for extra
terrestrial signals.
Vasquez 4/6/13 Morning