Geological Excursions in the Sonora Pass Region now available at Sunbelt!

Our field guide to the geology of the Sonora Pass region and the eastern Sierra Nevada region is now available for sale at Sunbelt Publishing for $24.95 (here is the link)! This was the roadguide for our recent meeting of the Far Western Section of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. There are quite a few geological road guides out there for the eastern Sierra Nevada, especially around the Mono Lake area, but there have been fewer guides for the area to the north. It is a fascinating region, with widespread Miocene volcanism, faulting and Pleistocene glaciations (the largest glaciers of the eastern Sierra Nevada traversed the West Walker River gorge).

One of California's most intriguing ghost towns can be found at Bodie (above), and one can also find a strange "fluvial forest" in the West Walker River, a group of long-dead Ponderosa pines that provide evidence of a century-long mega drought only a thousand years ago (below).

The western slope of the Sierra along the Stanislaus River hides some geological treasures as well, including the Columns of the Giants and the Natural Bridges in the cave country north of Columbia State Park (below).

Here is the table of contents...

A Geographical Sketch of the Central Sierra Nevada
A Brief Overview of the Basement Rocks of the Central Sierra Nevada
Trip 1: The Sierra Crest Graben: A Miocene Walker Lane Pull-Apart in the Ancestral
Cascades Arc at Sonora Pass by Cathy Busby, Alice Koerner, Jeanette Hagan, and Graham Andrews at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Trip 2: A Guide to the Geology of the Eastern Sierra Nevada between Sonora Pass
and June Lake, California by Garry Hayes, Modesto Junior College
Trip 3: Geology and Climatology of the Saddlebag Lake Region near
Tioga Pass, CA by Laura and Ryan Hollister
Trip 4: Sword Lake Debris Flow by Jeff Tolhurst, Columbia College
Trip 5: Unique Geology along the Stanislaus River, Western Central Sierra Nevada by Noah Hughes, Modesto Junior College
 Appendix A: The Flora of Central California: Central Valley to the Great Basin by Mary Cook

A reminder: Sales of this guide will fund the scholarship program of the Far Western Section of the NAGT, which supports geology majors throughout California, Nevada and Hawaii. The book can also be purchased directly from the Far Western Section at this link. Check it out!