Geology Field Assignment - Bassi Falls

1. Tracie Butler
GEL 103 J1 ML SU11

3. • Overview of field trip and details of identifying subjects
• Site location information
• Area geologic history
• Rock Types
• Wildlife types
• Flora types
• Rock Types
• Deciduous Tree types
• References

4. • Personal history of Bassi Falls
• All example photos contained in this report were taken by me. Most
were taken during my visit to Bassi Falls July 2011 or during a
previous trip. There are a few taken a couple of years ago (noted).
None other unless otherwise noted in the reference section
• Map Images were produced using Google Earth
• Rock Identification was done using USGS web search
• Flora identification was done using the United States Department of
Agriculture
• Tree identification was done using the Malheur Experiment Station,
Oregon State University.
• Wildlife identification was done using All About Birds website

5. • Our family has been coming to Bassi Falls for 3 years. I love
going to Bassi Falls because I enjoy being outdoors, hiking,
soaking up the sun and spending time with my family.
• We make the hike up to the falls at least three times a year
during the summer and fall months. In all the times we’ve visited
this place, I’ve never really seen what was all around me.
• I mean, I saw the awesome forces that water has on something
as hard as granite, how colorful and delicate the flowers are
that surround the flowing stream, tasted how sweet fresh water
can be and marveled at the beauty we centered ourselves
within. During this field trip, I discovered some truly amazing
natural occurances that are documented in the following. I hope
you enjoy seeing and learning about this place as much as I do

6. • Located near the Crystal Basin, Union Valley Resevoir, Bassi
Falls, CA North El Dorado County
• Off Hwy 50 to Ice House Road
• Elevation: ~5,600ft
• Precipitation Range: 20 to 80 inches, occurs mostly as snow
above 6,000ft
• Coordinates:
• Latitude: 38.890458
• Logitude: -120.325502

7. One look at this picture and you
can see how powerful the forces
of water can be. Over the course
of millions of years, the fall waters
have made its way through tiny
cracks in these boulders. During
the winter freeze, those cracks
expand and eventually break off
as seen in this picture.

8. • Bassi Falls is found in the El Dorado National forest, which is located
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Sierra Nevada Mountains is a
mountain range in California and Nevada, between the California
Central Valley and the Basin and Range Province. The Sierra Nevada
mountain range runs 350 miles north-to-south, and is approximately
70 miles across east-to-west. Notable Sierra Nevada features include
Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America; Mount Whitney
at 14,494 feet, the highest point in the contiguous United States; and
Yosemite Valley, sculpted by glaciers out of 100-million-year-old
granite. About 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic period,
granite formed deep underground. The range started to uplift four
million years ago, and erosion by glaciers exposed the granite and
formed the light-colored mountains and cliffs that make up the
range.

9. Bassi Falls is fed by snow
melt from Forni Lake,
elev. ~7900ft, (and
another smaller
unlabeled lake below
McConnell Peak) via
Bassi Fork and drains
into Union Valley
Reservoir. In this picture,
the arrow points to an
area against the stream
bed that shows evidence
of erosion as indicated
by round, smooth igneous
rocks as well as the
overburden on top of the
rocks from uphill erosion During the summer months Bassi Falls is a continuous
cascade over granite bedrock and boulders

10. Type: Granite with a Quartzite intrusion
• In this picture, the intrusion runs through a bed of granite.
The orange coloring indicate staining. Staining is caused
by felsic minerals (iron rich) oxidizing in the granite.

11. Type: Granite
• It is evident that one side of the rock has a different texture than the
other. During the time this rock was being formed, there is evidence
that one side cooled much faster indicated by the fine grain texture.
The course side cooled at a much slower rate as indicated by the
larger crystals. With that said, one side is a fine-grained granite
leaving the opposite side a course grained granite.

12. Type: Steller Blue Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to have a female
Steller Jay make her nest in the eaves of our porch. The
pictures you see on the left are of this Steller Jays, which we
named Stella, nest.
• Native to North America, the Steller jay was first
discovered on an Alaskan Island by naturalist Georg
Steller in 1741. The bird was officially named by a
scientist in 1788
• Nesting facts - incubation of 16 days for a clutch of
2-6 eggs. Their eggs are usually Bluish-green
spotted dark brown, purplish, or olive.
• Their diet consists of seeds, insects, berries, nuts,
small animals, eggs and nestlings
• Stellers are birds of coniferous and coniferous-
deciduous forests. They are typically found in
elevations between 3,000 and 10,000 feet.
• Todays birds are a group of theropoddinosaurs that
evolved during the Mesozoic era.

13. Spiraea splendens
Kingdom Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass Rosidae
Order Rosales
Family Rosaceae – Rose family
Genus Spiraea L. – spirea
Species Spiraea splendens Baumann ex K. Koch – rose meadowsweet
Variety Spiraea splendens Baumann ex K. Koch var. splendens –
rose meadowsweet Mountain Spiraea (Spiraea splendens). Also known as
Baumann ex K. Koch var. splendens Rose Meadowsweet. Photo taken at Bassi Falls
alongside the stream.

14. Pinus contorta
Common name: Lodgepole Pine
Family: Pine
Plant Type: Tree
Short Description: Medium length needles, thin bark, small cones. Leaves:
needles in 2's
Native: Yes

15. • Maps
• Google Earth/Google Maps: Bassi Falls, El Dorado County
• The Eldorado National Forest Interpretive Association. Ed. Mary Knowles. ENFIA, 14 July 2011. Web.
15 July 2011.
• Path: http://www.enfia.info/index.html.
• America's Volcanic Past - Sierra Nevadas. USGS, n.d. Web. 15 July 2011.
• Path: http://www.usgs.gov/.
• Mineral Resources Online Spatial Data . Ed. C W. Jennings, R G. Strand, and T H. Rogers. USGS, 1977.
Web. 15 July 2011.
• Path: http://tin.er.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=CAgrMZ3%3B0.
• Stellers Jay. Ed. Pete Dunne, D S. Dobkin, P R. Ehlrich, Erick Greene, and William Davison. Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center Longevity Reco, n.d. Web. 15 July 2011.
• Path: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/stellers_jay/lifehistory
• Natural Resource Conservation Source. US Dept of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 15 July 2011.
• Path: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SPSPS.
• Tree Plants by Scientific Name. Ed. Clinton C. Shock. Oregon State University, n.d. Web. 15 July 2011.
Path: http://www.malag.aes.oregonstate.edu/wildflowers/plantlist.php/restrict%5Bplanttype%5D-
Tree