Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley [Paperback]

Robert P. Sharp (Author)

Book Description

Series: Yes, Geology Underfoot | Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Eastern California boasts the greatest dryland relief in the contiguous United States, between 14,499-foot Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada and minus-282-foot Badwater Basin in Death Valley. That relief offers a rich variety of environments--and spectacular geology. Through driving and walking tours, Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley provides an on-the-ground look at the processes sculpting the terrain in this land of extremes. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and diagrams, each geological vignette weaves the tale of a particular scene, feature, or relationship in the landscape. Some sketches ponder questions that have puzzled geologists: what formed the turtlebacks in the Black Mountains and how do stones mysteriously slide on desolate Racetrack Playa? Others spotlight the role of volcanoes and earthquakes as landscape artists: the superb lava columns of Devil's Postpile, the massive steam explosion at Ubehebe Crater, and fault scarps that shape a golf course's greens. Still others focus on less obvious but equally powerful geologic processes: boulders shattered by salt crystals and rocks blasted by windblown sand. Together, these snapshots introduce readers to eastern California's rich, dynamic geology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Robert Sharp and Allen Glazner are to geology what Carl Sagan was to astronomy." --Eclectic Book Reviews

About the Author

Robert P. Sharp first visited Death Valley and Owens Valley as a child around 1920, and he continues to lead geology field trips to the are. Sharp is a professor emeritus at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and received the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America. He and Allen Glazner cowrote Geology Underfoot in Southern California. Allen F. Glazner holds a Ph.D. in geology from the University of California at Los Angeles and is currently a professor of geology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A native Californian, he has done geological research in the Sierra Nevada and the Mojave Desert since his undergraduate days at Pomona College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing Company; 1st edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878423621
• ISBN-13: 978-0878423620
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Travel > United States > States > California
  • #18 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Earth Sciences > Geology > Physical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating read, January 10, 2002

By 

Andrew Oppel "Andy Oppel" (Alameda, CA (author, instructor, database designer, Oracle DBA)) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley (Paperback)

I've always had an interest in geology, but have had only a little formal education in the subject. I've also been to Death Valley and Owens Valley a few dozen times. The accuracy and attention to detail in this book along with the vivid descriptions often made me feel like I was back there as I read. On more than one occasion, I could replay what I had seen when I was out there as I read (in some cases picturing things that I had hardly taken notice of when physically there). The many photographs and diagrams also helped immensely. The occasional touchs of humor made reading fun, and it being a series of vignettes, it's easy to cover a chapter in a short time and not worry about setting it down until later. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in geology and how the area got to be what it is today, and you don't have to be an expert to enjoy the book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Ticket to Adventure, January 17, 2002

By 

Elderbear (Loma Linda, Aztlan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley (Paperback)

Most years we vacation in Mammoth. This book describes a number of convenient and interesting side trips to take with the family. We wander around, sometimes visiting the same features, sometimes visiting a new site. Always appreciating more & more of the world around us. My children have a much better feel for geological processes and their impact on the landscape than do their peers.

The book starts with a five page description of Eastern California's geological history, then jumps into 30 sites of interest, nearly evenly distributed between Death Valley & vicinity and the Eastern Sierra & vicinity. A glossary, "Sources of Supplementary Information," and an index round out the book.

Each site receives its own chapter, replete with photographs, maps, geological diagrams, and even driving directions, as needed. I'm not a serious geologist, but landscape features fascinate me. The explanations that the authors give work well for me: I can understand them well enough to explain them to children.

If you're interested in how the land has been shaped, if you're willing to turn off the tube & make contact with the natural world, then this book is for you. One of the best "field guides" to geology I own. One of my favorites, too. (The companion volume, GEOLOGY UNDERFOOT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, is also an excellent book).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an eye for detail, January 18, 2000

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[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley (Paperback)

If you have visited these regions before and wondered how the land came to be shaped as it is, then this book gives you many of the answers. Written for the informed amateur the book's clear text, informative black and white photos, and route information combine to give the reader more insight into the form of the land and how it came to be that way over geological time. My own experience of the desert is that slow erosion takes place continually but is punctuated by minor and major catastrophes; once passable roads become washed out, rivers change course, and gravel beds change by feet of depth in the space of a single storm. The account of wind/ice/mud-moved rocks at Racetrack in Death Valley National Park is the best essay in this collection but all of the chapters have fascinating content. Your appreciation of landscape will change for the better if you take this book with you on your next desert adventure.