This document summarizes photos from two field trips that show various geographic features of the area. The first trip photos show Mormon Rocks formed by the San Andreas fault, cinder cone volcano Cinder Hill, basaltic lava flows, fossilized waterfalls, Native American artifacts, and petroglyphs. The second trip photos depict Mt. Whitney, rain shadows, alluvial fans, earthquake-formed Diaz Lake, the Lone Pine fault, the Manzanar internment camp, Mono Lake islands, tufa towers, glacial valleys and moraines, and convict lake.

1. Geography 5
Photo Journal

2. Field
Trip
Number One

3. Mormon Rocks were created through the
shifting of the North American Plate and the
Pacific plate along the San Andreas Fault.

4. The granular structure of Mormon
Rocks is composed of sandstone.

5. This stream bed runs along the San Andreas
Rift Zone. The San Andreas Fault is known as a
strike-slip fault where two plate boundaries
move past each other such as the North
American and the Pacific plate.

6. Cinder Hill is a known as a cinder cone
volcano, it is built from lava that is ejected
through a single vent and rarely exceed 250
meters in height.

7. This is Basaltic Lava that flows
from Cinder Hill.

8. This is the stream bed of what
was the Owens River.

9. Fossil Falls was formed by lava that
flowed from Cinder Hill and then over
time carved out by the Owens River.

10. Metate Holes were formed by
rocks carving holes in the rock.

11. These Obsidian flakes were left by the Native
Americans who used to hunt and fish along
the banks of the Owens River.

12. The Paiute Indians created these
petroglyphs, they are used for ceremonial
and religious practices.

13. These house rings were the base
of the houses used by the Paiute
Indians in the Owens River Valley.

14. Field Trip
Number Two

15. Mt. Whitney
is 14,497 feet, it is the tallest mountain
contiguous United States.

16. The orographic effect occurs when an air mass
approaches a mountain range forcing the air upward
causing moisture to rapidly cool creating rain or in this
case snow. On the other side of the mountain range it
creates a rain shadow effect.

17. Inyo-White Mountains

18. Alluvial Fan
The alluvial fan is formed by
water carving out the
mountainside and depositing
material on the valley floor.

19. Diaz Lake
On Tuesday March 26, 1872 a massive earthquake took place along
the Lone Pine Fault causing the Owens Valley to drop around 20 feet.
A stream flowed into the depression created by the earthquake
creating Diaz Lake. The lake is named after the family which once
owned a ranch in the area.

20. Lone Pine Fault
The Lone Pine Fault is a defining feature of the Alabama Hills. In 1872
a massive earthquake took place along the fault killing 27 people
and injuring many more. The quake was felt throughout California
and parts of Nevada, it was magnitude 8.3 on the Richter scale.

21. Manzanar was one of ten Japanese internment camps. In
1942 the U.S. Government ordered those of Japanese decent
to be relocated to these camps. The camps were built
completely by the interns. They were held there throughout
the war. Today very little remains except for the guard shack.

22. Mono Lake has three islands, below are
depicted the little black volcanic island
of Negit and the large white island of
Paoha.

23. In 1941 during the start of WWII Mono Lake’s elevation was at 6,417
feet, this was also the same year they diverted water to the city of
L.A. Today the lake stands at 6,384 feet. The lake was almost drained
dry in 1982 when the lake fell to a record low of 6,372 feet. The white
line along the hillside represents the former shoreline.

24. Tufa Towers are created when calcium comes
in contact with carbonates in Mono Lake
resulting in a chemical reaction which creates
calcium carbonate-limestone.

25. Panum
Crater
The Lava Dome is
composed of
pumice and
obsidian.

26. Glaciated Valley was created by a glacier. The
Moraine is the material that was brought down the
mountain through the movement of the glacier. The
glaciers in California are the southern most glaciers in
the northern hemisphere. The evidence of the glacier
can be seen through the U shape in the mountainside.

27. Convict
Lake
The lake was
created by the
glacier that once
filled the area.

28. A lateral moraine is depression in the ground
made by the moving glacier. A terminal
moraine is the end of the glacier as depicted
in Convict Lake.

29. A moraine is the material that is
deposited by a glacier and is
often depicted by a U shape in
the mountainside.

30. These are the
Oldest Rock
Formations in
the Sierras,
dating back
more than
200 million
years.
Photo from U.S.D.A.

31. Grant Lake

32. Silver Lake

33. Toyo Miyatake was a well known photographer who
smuggled a camera lens into Manzanar and
photographed everyday events that took place in the
camp. Without the photos that he took this important
part of history would have been lost.
Toyo Miyatake
Photo: Ansel Adams,
Library of Congress

34. Owens Lake was the largest lake in California. In 1913
the city of Los Angeles diverted the water that fed the
Owens River and the Owens Lake. Dust from this Dry
Lake is toxic so sprinklers are spread out throughout the
lake bed to keep the dust down.