The Other California: What to See When You've Run Out of Postcard Destinations (Reprise)

(published by Scope Enterprises, Inc)

My earliest blog project was an exploration of the geologically interesting places in California that don't always show up on the postcards (the earliest post is here). I've been working on this project off and on for a dozen years. If you've followed my blog at all, you know I have a type of Geologist Attention Deficit Disorder Syndrome (GADDS), that as soon as I start concentrating on one subject, something interesting pops up somewhere else, and I explore it for a few weeks, and then get distracted again.

Geologists divide California into eleven geomorphic provinces, areas that share unique geologic histories, rock types and topography that are distinct from the surrounding areas. I generally refer to the province when I am describing a particular feature or place. I am categorizing the posts that exist thus far in the same way:

THE INTRODUCTION

The Other California: The Things it is Not: the first post describing what I am up to with this series: most people know about Yosemite, Sequoia, Death Valley and other famous places, but California has so much more...things and places that don't appear on the postcards

The Other California: Now This is a Postcard!: A brief overview of the geology of the state as it is represented on geologic maps and and introduction to the idea of provinces.

Come to California and You Could Die a Fiery Death! : A short introduction to volcanism in California

THE STATE SYMBOLS

Although the original idea came with a post about California's prairie lands, I pretty much first started out by describing the geologic significance of some of our state symbols.

The Other California: Already Off on a Tangent: A review of the familiar symbols, the Golden Poppy, the California Quail, the California Grizzly Bear, and our state mineral, Gold!

The Other California: Geology and our Other State Symbols: A look at the state mineral, the state rock, and the state gemstone, the one hardly anyone has heard of.

The Other California: Geology and our State Symbols Part 1: a discussion of the evolutionary history of our state fish, the Golden Trout

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols II: the incredible journey of our two state trees, the Sequoia and Coast Redwood

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols III: a look at our state fossil, the saber-tooth cat Smilodon Californicus.

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols IV: California has some unique Gold Rush-era towns, but nothing is quite like Bodie, off in the high desert east of the Sierra Nevada.

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols V : The strange politics that led to the establishment of the official California Silver-Rush Ghost Town.
Say Hello to California's New State Dinosaur, Augustynolophus morrisi: The first dinosaur discovered in California was found in our county, Stanislaus.

THE GREAT VALLEY

A huge 400 mile long valley filled with thousands of feet of sediments deposited over 160 million years, and one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world

The Prairie Lands: California has its own version of savannahs, both present and past.

The Prairies of the Past: An exploration of the most important Pleistocene fossil quarry in central California, the Fairmead Landfill

The Prairie Lands and a Transforming Fault: A journey through Carrizo Plains National Monument and the best exposures of the San Andreas fault to be found anywhere

Back on the Prairielands: A springtime return to the prairies, now green and full of life

Mammoths and Sabertooths rise from the Prairies Again!: The Madera Fossil Discovery Center was almost complete and expected to open in June. Here is a preliminary look
Sharktooth Hill: That's about it...thousands and thousands of shark teeth and a great many other species. 

THE SIERRA NEVADA

The Sierra Nevada is the largest single mountain range in the United States, more than 400 miles long and averaging 50 miles wide. It also has the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Although composed mostly of granite, it also has large exposures of metamorphic and volcanic rocks that tell a remarkable story of traveling continents and terranes, as well as tales of violent eruptions.

A Gorge Deeper than the Grand Canyon: An exploration of little-known Pine Creek on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, and one of the most important mines in the country

The Other Yosemite at Hetch Hetchy: There was a counterpart to the Yosemite Valley, but we dammed it.

The Other Side of the Sierra, down the West Walker River: The West Walker River flows down the east side of the Sierra, and hosted the longest glaciers to be found on that side of the mountains.

An Enigmatic Gorge, the West Walker River Canyon: A strange entombed forest, and a deep gorge with a violent geologic temper.
The Day of the Fiddlenecks (A Trip Through the Mother Lode): A brief foray for wildflowers on Highway 132 in California's Mother Lode
There's an Endemic in those Red Hills! Life and evolution on one of California's unique environments, the serpentine soils. Exploring the Red Hills Area of Critical Environmental Concern
The California State Mineral Exhibit-This is art, darnit! One of the best ways to see the incredible mineral wealth of California is to explore the state mineral exhibit in Mariposa at the south end of the Mother Lode. Because of the morons in the state legislature, it is about to shutter its doors
It's a Real Grind...Chaw'se State Historical Park: A look at more grinding mortars than you'll ever see anywhere else, the Miwok culture, and some interesting metamorphic rocks
The Other California Goes Underground: Hella Hot Helictites at Black Chasm Cave: Never heard of helictites? That's because they are the first cave features to be destroyed. But we have a world class collection of them in the Sierra foothills
What do you do with a Used Forest?: The Sierra Nevada between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks is terra incognita for most Sierra travelers. The region has been logged, mined, and grazed...and is still spectacular. We take an excursion on the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway
Why Worry About Yellowstone? We've got our own "supervolcanoes" in California. Some are active. Some have been extinct for tens of millions of years. At the Minarets we can explore one from the inside out

THE CASCADE RANGE

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a place of geological violence: The crust underlying the Pacific Ocean is sinking beneath the western edge of the North American Continent, producing earthquakes, mountain-building, and volcanism. Two of California's most familiar volcanoes formed here, and the largest volcano in the state sits astride the boundary with the Modoc Plateau

Exploring California's Biggest Volcano: An introduction to the Medicine Lake Highland, one of California's most active volcanoes.

Geologists Who Live on Glass Mountains Shouldn't....: Looking at volcanic glass, obsidian and pumice, on the Medicine Lake Highland, with a view towards the Modoc Plateau, too.

A Land of Fire and Ice (but mostly ice): California's largest glaciers

Five For the Price of One: California's most prominent volcano is really five volcanoes, with a violent past.

A Monday Mystery: A river that comes out of nowhere, and a gratuitous picture of a deer family

A Mystery Solved, and One of California's Prettiest Little Waterfalls: McArthur Burney Falls is California's second oldest park, and is one unusual waterfall.

Lassen Peak, A Volcanic Afterthought: A well-known volcano that sits on the remains of a much older, much larger volcano, Mt. Tehama

Getting all excited about natural disasters: an eyewitness account of some of the events surrounding the 1914-15 eruption of Lassen Peak.

THE MODOC PLATEAU

The Modoc Plateau is a high flat region underlain by thick flows of basalt lavas in the remote northeast corner of the state. It is one of the least-known areas of California, but has some nice geological surprises.

California's Biggest Volcano: here is the first surprise; the biggest volcano is not named Shasta or Lassen!

Waiter, There's A'a in My Pahoehoe!: A comparison of basalt lava flows at Lava Beds National Monument

The Volcano Underground: the formation of lava tubes (via a short excursion in Hawaii) and Lava Beds National Monument

Exploring the Volcano Underground: Walking and crawling through the most extensive lava tube system in the continental United States

Whispers From the Past: Huge explosions from 270,000 years ago, and the largest petroglyph panel in the United States

Cries From the Past: A tale of rebellion, resilience and betrayal; the Modoc Indian War of 1872-73. And why armies should study geology before fighting wars.

THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS

In northwest California, a series of mountain ridges reveal stories of continental and oceanic fragments that were crushed into the western edge of North America. The rocks bear a close resemblence to the Sierra Nevada, although they are offset more than sixty miles.

Flotsam and Jetsam: An introduction to the Klamath Mountains as a series of accreted terranes, tracts of crust and old ocean floor that traveled hundreds or thousands of miles.

Havin' fun with Sasquatch: a discussion of the legendary and mythological creature that supposedly dwells in the Klamaths
I've seen these mountains before! The Big Ripoff: Viewed on a geologic map, the Klamath Mountains look like a continuation of the Sierra Nevada, but lie sixty miles farther west.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth (sort of): A review of the some of the rocks from the deep crust and mantle that are found in the terranes of the Klamath Mountains

Taking Stock of Castle Crags: One of the most imposing sights (besides Shasta) to be seen on a journey north on Interstate 5, the Castle Crags are towers and domes of granite, surrounded by more easily eroded metamorphic rocks

THE COAST RANGES

The series of mountain ranges that roughly parallel California's coastline are one of most diverse areas of the state from a geologic standpoint. There are thick sequences of sedimentary rocks including the Great Valley Group and elements of the Franciscan Complex, and there are plutonic and metamorphic rocks of the Salinian Block (and parts of the Franciscan). There are even volcanic rocks and potentially active volcanoes.

I Need This Like I Need a Hole in the Head: Scenic Bodega Head at Bodega Bay was the nearly the site of one of the most mind-bogglingly stupid energy developments ever conceived by the minds of engineers
Baymouth Bars - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere? Along the incredibly rugged north coast amid the violent surf there are long, perfectly straight sand bars that seem to defy explanation. They're explained here Humboldt Lagoons State Park
A Mystery Photo For a Saturday: A look at San Francisco from a unique angle, Monte del Diablo
The Thicket of the Devil (the mystery photo revealed): An introduction to a place with an incredible view, Mt. Diablo. How it got its name and why every landowner in Central California should care
Limekiln State Park Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3: Limekiln is a beautiful gem of a state park on the Big Sur Coastline. Unfortunately we have morons in the state legislature and this park is closing. See what is being taken from us (PS: It was eventually saved)

Catch it While You Can- The Devil's Slide: You can no longer drive over one of the most notorious rockslides on Highway One. But you can walk it! 

BASIN AND RANGE

The crust of the earth east of the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges is being torn apart by horizontal extensional forces that have produced an alien landscape of deep fault valleys (grabens) and high mountain fault blocks (horsts)

The West Walker River and the Antelope Valley: A deep fault valley becomes an important ranching and farming region

Dammed if we do Dam, Dammed if we don't Dam: An unusual reservoir without a dam, Topaz Lake stores Walker River water, but has great fishing too. Why is it there?

Damned if we do Dam, Damned if we don't Dam: A slightly modified name, and a much bigger issue - What are we going to do about Walker Lake? It's dying. It's also in Nevada, but it is a California river.

MOJAVE DESERT

Often ignored or tolerated by tourists on their way to Las Vegas, the Mojave Desert is one of the most geologically diverse regions of California

The Calico Mountains: An exploration of a unique mountain range, well beyond the confines of the tourist trap ghost town.

Prairies past and Some Great Folds: A closer look at a parking lot in a tourist trap

A Wandering Volcano and a Floral Outburst: The Antelope Valley has a springtime show of wildflowers that is simply audacious, and the underlying rocks include half of a volcano. The other half is nearly 200 miles away...

Caught in the Vise (the Western Mojave Desert): A discussion of complex fault relationships in the western Mojave and another chance to show some wildflower shots.

COLORADO DESERT

THE TRANSVERSE RANGES

A diverse series of mountain ranges that run against the grain, trending east-west instead of north-south. These include some of the highest mountains in southern California

The Other California: A Friday Fun Foto: A first glance at San Gorgonio Peak, the highest mountain in southern California, and the southwesternmost glaciated peak in the United States

Scarps to the Left of Me, Sag Ponds to the right, Here I am, Stuck in the Middle with You!: The San Andreas fault cuts across many of California's province. In this post we look at some fault features at the top of the Grapevine in the Transverse Ranges
A Monday Mystery Photo: A quick introduction to the Cajon Pass country where the San Andreas fault splits the San Gabriel Mountains from the San Bernardino Mountains
Cajon Pass and No Strange Sci-Fi Creatures: Cajon Pass, the major freeway access route into the Los Angeles basin, is filled with strange looking sedimentary rocks tilted this way and that. But it's not where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn...
The Mountains of My Youth: The eastern San Gabriel Mountains aren't all that familiar to people from outside the state, but they are spectacular and they were the mountains where I grew up. We explore an extraordinary gorge, San Antonio Canyon
Hemming and Hawing on the Hogback: The San Gabriel Mountains are the steepest mountains in the world. Often the only flat spots are on dangerous stream floodplains and on top of landslides. Several examples from San Antonio Canyon include the Hogback and Cow Canyon Saddle
A Canyon as Deep as the Grand, and a Road For No Reason: The Glendora Ridge Road offers some of the greatest panoramas of any road in southern California, and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it being there. I suspect I know what the reason is
The Forbidden Valley: An introduction to the San Dimas Experimental Forest
A Minor Challenge: A quiz to introduce the unusual geology of the Santa Clarita Valley
Dreams of Avarice and the First Gold Rush: You thought the gold rush started in the Sierra Mother Lode? There was a rush six years earlier, but the Mexican miners kept their secrets better (and there wasn't very much gold, either)
The Oldest Rocks (Well, maybe...): The San Gabriel Mountains have very old rocks, maybe the oldest in the state. But it depends on how you define "oldest". A short introduction to radiometric (isotopic) age dating

A Bit of the Rarest Ecosystem in SoCal at the North Etiwanda Preserve This is what happens when the schist hits the fan. Literally, there is schist, and there is a fan. Also, learn about the Riversidian Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub (RAFSS) ecosystem...
It's Not The The Tar Tar Pits, and Saving the Coast a Bit at a Time: The story of the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve and the "other" tar pits.

PENINSULAR RANGES

A granitic mountain block vaguely similar to the Sierra Nevada, but also very different. The "peninsula" refers to Baja California, which makes up the bulk of the province

The Other California: Another Friday Fun Foto: A brief introduction to San Jacinto Peak, the highest mountain in the Peninsular Ranges, and one of the most prominent mountains in the state, with a 10,000 foot slope in one area.
A Mystery Photo for the Day: A view of a rock that looks like it belongs somewhere in the Sierra Nevada, but that is not where it is...
When is a Peninsular Range Not a Peninsula? Baja California is a peninsula, but the rocks continue into Alta California. This post explores the village of Idylwild next to the highest part of the province at San Jacinto Peak.

The Deepest Pass in North America, and Finally Taking THE Tramway: Well, sure, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is on a lot of postcards, but how many of them tell you the geological story?

I clearly have lots of ground to cover, and will update this page as necessary.

A Look Back at Ten Years of Geotripping: The Strange Controversy over a Strange Rock

It's been ten years of posting in the geoblogosphere for Geotripper. This week I've been dredging the archives for some of my favorite posts. The summer of 2010 brought one of the stranger political controversies I've ever been involved in. A number of groups were attempting to "dethrone" California's state rock serpentine because of the association of serpentine with asbestos, and the diseases caused by exposure to the fibrous mineral (such as mesothelioma and lung cancer). Through a series of unlikely events, my hand (holding a piece of serpentine) became famous in papers across the country, and related stories even showed up in the New York Times, and overseas in places like New Zealand and the United Kingdom. I wrote a great many posts about serpentine that summer, but this one pulled together the most interesting facts about this strange mineral/rock and its origin in the Earth's mantle. How did things end up? Read through to the end!

Some of the links below are no longer functional. I'm trying to track down some of the sources.


Serpentine is not asbestos, exactly. Well, it is, but only sometimes. Serpentine is one of several minerals that includes an asbestiform crystal form, the finely spaced fibrous threads that turned out to be a great fire retardant. The thing is, of course, certain forms of asbestos cause mesothelioma and other diseases. But the most dangerous forms do not necessarily include chrysotile asbestos, the form derived from serpentine. The most dangerous stuff comes from the amphibole crocidolite. It is dangerous, but serpentine as a learning tool is something all together different.

I note this because there is a movement afoot to remove serpentine as the official state rock of California. While I understand the reasons certain organizations support this plan, I think a better approach is to use the state rock as a teaching and awareness tool. If you remove the state designation, you have a story about mesothelioma for a day. Keep the designation, you have an education tool more or less forever. Serpentine is a fascinating rock that is uniquely Californian. There are some really good reasons to maintain serpentine (actually serpentinite) as our state rock, enough that I have written a number of posts about it. If you agree, please consider writing to the principal people involved with this movement (see note at end of post):

From my earlier post in the Other California series:

At the same time that gold was selected as the state mineral, serpentine was designated the state rock. Serpentine (more properly called serpentinite) is a metamorphic rock derived primarily by the alteration of peridotite (a rock from deep in the earth's mantle composed of the gemstone peridot, also known as olivine). Chemically it is a magnesium silicate. It is a relatively common rock in California and relatively rare in most other places, and was picked for an ironic reason: it is a source of asbestos, which at the time was considered a valuable resource. The danger of asbestos in building construction was not generally realized at the time.

For different reasons, I think serpentine was an excellent choice for our state rock. The fact that the source of the rock is deep in the earth's mantle, beneath the 15-25 mile thick crust, is a revelation and acknowledgement of the incredible forces that have shaped the state. Imagine what it takes to bring masses of rock from such great depths! California has the incredible scenery that it does because of forces of movements along plate boundaries, whether the lateral movements along the San Andreas fault, the vertical churning that occurs along convergent boundaries, where ocean crust is driven underneath the edge of the continent, or the splitting that occurs at the divergent boundary in the far south of the state.

The rock is also quite pretty, to this geologist's eye. It ranges in color from black to intense jade-green. The journey from deep in the crust to the surface along fault zones usually leaves beautiful polished surfaces on the rock.

There is a second consideration: Serpentine based soils are a uniquely Californian biological environment. Again, from the Other California series:

Oh, that's right, it's epidemics we're supposed to worry about. An endemic refers to plant species found in specific limited locations. There are a number of these in the Red Hills "Area of Critical Environmental Concern", a rather high-falutin' name for an area that less than two decades ago was barely more than an open garbage dump scarred by numerous off-road vehicle trails. The rare and endemic species are there for a very geologic reason, the subject of this post.

...I've been following a regional theme, traveling through the northernmost provinces, but the Other California has a temporal pattern as well, and late March is the perfect time to talk about the Red Hills, located in the Sierra Nevada Mother Lode near the Gold Rush town of Chinese Camp (I talked about the area around La Grange a few days ago for the same reason).

Much of lowland California is currently covered with a green carpet of grass (mostly of exotic and invasive origin) along with the occasional oak tree, but as you can see in the pictures above, there are a few places where the grass and oak trees are missing, and a profusion of flowers and scattered pines thrive instead. Why are the oaks and grass missing?

The Mother Lode is famous as the source of the ores during the Gold Rush in 1848-53, and many people know of the association of quartz veins with the gold. What is perhaps less known is that the Mother Lode consists mostly of metamorphic rocks like slate, greenstone, and marble, not the granite that is found in the higher parts of the Sierra Nevada. These metamorphic rocks are the twisted and baked remains of sea floor muds and silts, lime from tropical reefs and shelves, and volcanic rock from the oceanic crust. These collections of crustal rocks (called "exotic terranes") were transported across the Pacific Ocean and slammed (in the geologic sense; they moved at maybe 2 inches a year) into the western edge of the North American continent, mostly in the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras (the Mesozoic, from around 251 to 65 million years ago, is best known as the "age of the dinosaurs"). The different terranes are separated from one another by major fault systems.

At times the crustal terranes also include rocks from beneath the crust. This rock hails from the underworld of the earth's mantle, and includes dunite and peridotite, composed primarily of the mineral olivine (known to most people as the gemstone peridot). The rock readily alters to serpentine, California's state rock. These rocks are also collectively called ultramafic rocks, for their high content of magnesium and iron (fe, the 'fi' part). They also contain small, but significant amounts of nickel and chrome.

When ultramafic rocks are brought to the surface, they are far out of chemical equilibrium with the ambient conditions, which means they are easily attacked by oxygen, water and organic acids. Clay is a common product of this process, as well as red or yellow iron oxides (from which the Red Hills take their name). The surface layer resulting from this weathering process is of course soil. We tend to think of soil as a rich surface layer that supports plant life, but some soils lack the necessary nutrients for most kinds of plant growth. This is definitely the case for soils developed on ultramafic rocks, which lack nitrates, phosphorus, and potassium. To make things worse, chrome and nickel are actually toxins. Hence, only specialized species can thrive on these rocks.

The shrubby Ceanothus, or Buckbrush (above) and Gray Pine (below) are two plants that are more or less indifferent to the odd soil conditions. They grow elsewhere, but compete very well in ultramafic soils. A large number of flower species are also indifferent to the soils, but the only grasses found in the region are native species. The European and Asian grass species that have overwhelmed most of the prairies in the Central Valley, Coast Ranges and Sierra foothills cannot grow on the serpentine soils.

There are a number of endemic species that grow on these soils, and at least one is found nowhere else in the world (California verbena, Verbena californica). Other rare endemics include Rawhide Hill onion (Allium tuolumnense), Layne's butterweed (Senecio layneae), Congdon's lomatium (Lomatium congdonii) and the Red Hills soaproot (Chlorogalum grandiflorum). A fairly common serpentine endemic is the Milkwort Jewelflower (Streptanthus polygaloides). Alas, I arrived very late in the afternoon and had no time to search them out (and to be truthful, I am better at identifying rocks and minerals).

Though closely associated with the rocks of the Mother Lode, the serpentine and dunite were remarkably free of gold, and so the Red Hills were mostly ignored by the miners. Farmers couldn't grow much in the soils, and grazing conditions were not favorable, so the when the federal government came into possession of these lands in 1848, they couldn't even give them away! So this swath of land, about 7,000 acres worth, was administered, somewhat indifferently, by the Bureau of Land Management. The landscape suffered the abuses of modern civilization, with trash heaps, motorcycle trails, and unrestrained target shooting. The recognition that the area was a unique geologic and biologic treasure led to the restriction of shooting and off-road vehicle use in 1991. Private groups assisted in cleaning up the trash heaps and a trail network was established, so today the Red Hills are a delightful place to visit, especially in the spring when the wildflowers are at their stunning best. And I could be wrong, but I don't think I've seen any postcards with pictures of the area.

If you want to learn more, or pay a visit, information about the Red Hills can be found on this BLM website , and the nature trail brochure PDF can be found here

Serpentine in California is part of a journey of the mind that can take us towards the deepest interior places of our planet. Again, from the Other California:

How many of you tried to dig a tunnel to China in the backyard when you were a kid? Given the soil conditions in the yard I grew up in, I'm probably lucky to be alive. I dug tunnels looking for buried treasures, gemstones, fossils and sometimes I was just curious what was down there. Geologists, I've found, are the kids who tried to find all those things, and never really grew up.

So how far do these overgrown kids get? It turns out that the deepest tunnels that humans have ever been able to dig reach depths of about 12,800 feet, a little over 2-1/2 miles. That might seem like a lot from our point of view, but the depth to the center of the Earth is around 4,000 miles. We've barely scratched the surface, yet the temperatures of the rock at these depths is well over 100 degrees, and the rocks are under so much pressure that explosions of rocks from the walls are a constant danger to the miners. Kids, there's got to be a better way to see what lies deep below. And there is, in the Other California, one of those places not found on the postcards. The adventure lies in the Klamath Mountains, and the most dangerous thing you have to face is slipping on a slick river rock, because geological processes have brought the rocks many miles up from the depths. You need only explore the rivers flowing off the mountains to see what the deep interior of the earth looks like.

The Klamath Mountains are a collection of bits and pieces of the earth's crust that have been carried great distances from their point of origin and slammed (at geologic speeds of inches per year) into the western edge of the North American continent. A huge variety of igneous and metamorphic rocks are found around the province, and some of the most interesting are those that once resided deep in the Earth's mantle, a layer that extends from just below the crust, from maybe 15 or 20 miles beneath our feet, to a depth of about 1,800 miles. Here are a couple of bits of the Earth's deep hidden places that I found on a short trip to the Eastern Klamath Terrane in the vicinity of Gazelle.

The oceanic crust is usually described as being made of basalt, but a few miles down in the crust the basaltic magma cools slowly to form a coarse-grained basaltic rock called gabbro. Sometimes, as can be seen above, the crystals that form are huge, with black hornblende and white feldspar crystals several inches long. Igneous rocks with such large crystals are called pegmatites.

Going even "deeper" into the interior, we pass the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, the dividing line between the crust and mantle. The upper part of the mantle is composed of olivine-rich rocks like dunite or peridotite. Olivine is best known to most people as the green gemstone peridot. That's right, much of the Earth's interior is made up of gems! The rock in the picture above is dunite, in part slightly altered to serpentine.

In many parts of the Klamath Mountains, the mantle rocks are completely altered to serpentine, the state rock of California. These ultramafic rocks are fairly rich in a number of unusual metal ores, including platinum, nickel, magnesium and mercury. One of the most important ores is chromite, which is the only significant source we have for chromium, the metal that puts the "stainless" in stainless steel. We import most of the chromium that we need from foreign sources, but in wartime (especially the two World Wars), the ores were mined domestically, and a number of operations were present in the Klamaths. The black semi-metallic crystals in the picture above are chromite, with green serpentine across the top.

UPDATE:
How did it all end?

The bill was introduced by Sen. Gloria Romero, a Los Angeles Democrat, and the California Assembly Natural Resources Committee approved the legislation, stripping serpentine of its official designation, and sent the bill to the Assembly floor for consideration. An earlier version of Romero’s bill previously passed the California Senate. After a few months of controversy, the bill never received a final vote before the end of the session and thus died.

A Look Back at Ten Years of Geotripping: The Other California

This is a week-long commemoration of ten years of geoblogging at Geotripper. I've been dredging up some of the archives...

In my second year of geoblogging, I had finished the "Time Beyond Imagining" blog series, and had realized I could actually finish a project. I then started another project that to this day remains unfinished. In actuality, it may never be finished, because California is one of the diverse landscapes on planet Earth. It was called "The Other California: What to see when you've run out of postcard destinations", and it was just about that: places of geologic wonder that often get missed because visitors to the state are spending all their time at Yosemite, San Francisco, or Disneyland. I covered quite a bit of ground in California's different provinces, but there is plenty more. 

The series was one of my "break-through" blogs, in that had more than 22,000 hits (at the time, normal was 100-200 hits per post). Part of the fun of this blog series was dealing with the state symbols, some of which have some very interesting stories (check out the state fish, the state tree(s), and the political battles over the state ghost town(s).

If you haven't had a chance to explore some of California's "different" places, you might find some ideas here!

(published by Scope Enterprises, Inc)

From December 8, 2009:

My latest project is an exploration of the geologically interesting places in California that don't always show up on the postcards. I'm probably going to be on this for awhile, and I'm needing a page where I can keep track of what I've done so far. If you've followed my blog at all, you know I have a type of Geologist Attention Deficit Disorder Syndrome (GADDS), that as soon as I start concentrating on one subject, something interesting pops up somewhere else, and I explore it for a few weeks, and then get distracted again.

Geologists divide California into eleven geomorphic provinces, areas that share unique geologic histories, rock types and topography that are distinct from the surrounding areas. I generally refer to the province when I am describing a particular feature or place. I am categorizing the posts that exist thus far in the same way:

THE INTRODUCTION

The Other California: The Things it is Not: the first post describing what I am up to with this series: most people know about Yosemite, Sequoia, Death Valley and other famous places, but California has so much more...things and places that don't appear on the postcards

The Other California: Now This is a Postcard!: A brief overview of the geology of the state as it is represented on geologic maps and and introduction to the idea of provinces.

Come to California and You Could Die a Fiery Death! : A short introduction to volcanism in California

THE STATE SYMBOLS

Although the original idea came with a post about California's prairie lands, I pretty much first started out by describing the geologic significance of some of our state symbols.

The Other California: Already Off on a Tangent: A review of the familiar symbols, the Golden Poppy, the California Quail, the California Grizzly Bear, and our state mineral, Gold!

The Other California: Geology and our Other State Symbols: A look at the state mineral, the state rock, and the state gemstone, the one hardly anyone has heard of.

The Other California: Geology and our State Symbols Part 1: a discussion of the evolutionary history of our state fish, the Golden Trout

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols II: the incredible journey of our two state trees, the Sequoia and Coast Redwood

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols III: a look at our state fossil, the saber-tooth cat Smilodon Californicus.

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols IV: California has some unique Gold Rush-era towns, but nothing is quite like Bodie, off in the high desert east of the Sierra Nevada.

The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols V : The strange politics that led to the establishment of the official California Silver-Rush Ghost Town.
Say Hello to California's New State Dinosaur: Augustynolophus morrisi: The first dinosaur discovered in California was found in our county, Stanislaus

THE GREAT VALLEY

A huge 400 mile long valley filled with thousands of feet of sediments deposited over 160 million years, and one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world

The Prairie Lands: California has its own version of savannahs, both present and past.

The Prairies of the Past: An exploration of the most important Pleistocene fossil quarry in central California, the Fairmead Landfill

The Prairie Lands and a Transforming Fault: A journey through Carrizo Plains National Monument and the best exposures of the San Andreas fault to be found anywhere

Back on the Prairielands: A springtime return to the prairies, now green and full of life

Mammoths and Sabertooths rise from the Prairies Again!: The Madera Fossil Discovery Center was almost complete and expected to open in June. Here is a preliminary look
Sharktooth Hill: That's about it...thousands and thousands of shark teeth and a great many other species. 

THE SIERRA NEVADA

The Sierra Nevada is the largest single mountain range in the United States, more than 400 miles long and averaging 50 miles wide. It also has the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Although composed mostly of granite, it also has large exposures of metamorphic and volcanic rocks that tell a remarkable story of traveling continents and terranes, as well as tales of violent eruptions.

A Gorge Deeper than the Grand Canyon: An exploration of little-known Pine Creek on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, and one of the most important mines in the country

The Other Yosemite at Hetch Hetchy: There was a counterpart to the Yosemite Valley, but we dammed it.

The Other Side of the Sierra, down the West Walker River: The West Walker River flows down the east side of the Sierra, and hosted the longest glaciers to be found on that side of the mountains.

An Enigmatic Gorge, the West Walker River Canyon: A strange entombed forest, and a deep gorge with a violent geologic temper.
The Day of the Fiddlenecks (A Trip Through the Mother Lode): A brief foray for wildflowers on Highway 132 in California's Mother Lode
There's an Endemic in those Red Hills! Life and evolution on one of California's unique environments, the serpentine soils. Exploring the Red Hills Area of Critical Environmental Concern
The California State Mineral Exhibit-This is art, darnit! One of the best ways to see the incredible mineral wealth of California is to explore the state mineral exhibit in Mariposa at the south end of the Mother Lode. Because of the morons in the state legislature, it is about to shutter its doors
It's a Real Grind...Chaw'se State Historical Park: A look at more grinding mortars than you'll ever see anywhere else, the Miwok culture, and some interesting metamorphic rocks
The Other California Goes Underground: Hella Hot Helictites at Black Chasm Cave: Never heard of helictites? That's because they are the first cave features to be destroyed. But we have a world class collection of them in the Sierra foothills
What do you do with a Used Forest?: The Sierra Nevada between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks is terra incognita for most Sierra travelers. The region has been logged, mined, and grazed...and is still spectacular. We take an excursion on the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway
Why Worry About Yellowstone? We've got our own "supervolcanoes" in California. Some are active. Some have been extinct for tens of millions of years. At the Minarets we can explore one from the inside out

THE CASCADE RANGE

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a place of geological violence: The crust underlying the Pacific Ocean is sinking beneath the western edge of the North American Continent, producing earthquakes, mountain-building, and volcanism. Two of California's most familiar volcanoes formed here, and the largest volcano in the state sits astride the boundary with the Modoc Plateau

Exploring California's Biggest Volcano: An introduction to the Medicine Lake Highland, one of California's most active volcanoes.

Geologists Who Live on Glass Mountains Shouldn't....: Looking at volcanic glass, obsidian and pumice, on the Medicine Lake Highland, with a view towards the Modoc Plateau, too.

A Land of Fire and Ice (but mostly ice): California's largest glaciers

Five For the Price of One: California's most prominent volcano is really five volcanoes, with a violent past.

A Monday Mystery: A river that comes out of nowhere, and a gratuitous picture of a deer family

A Mystery Solved, and One of California's Prettiest Little Waterfalls: McArthur Burney Falls is California's second oldest park, and is one unusual waterfall.

Lassen Peak, A Volcanic Afterthought: A well-known volcano that sits on the remains of a much older, much larger volcano, Mt. Tehama

Getting all excited about natural disasters: an eyewitness account of some of the events surrounding the 1914-15 eruption of Lassen Peak.

THE MODOC PLATEAU

The Modoc Plateau is a high flat region underlain by thick flows of basalt lavas in the remote northeast corner of the state. It is one of the least-known areas of California, but has some nice geological surprises.

California's Biggest Volcano: here is the first surprise; the biggest volcano is not named Shasta or Lassen!

Waiter, There's A'a in My Pahoehoe!: A comparison of basalt lava flows at Lava Beds National Monument

The Volcano Underground: the formation of lava tubes (via a short excursion in Hawaii) and Lava Beds National Monument

Exploring the Volcano Underground: Walking and crawling through the most extensive lava tube system in the continental United States

Whispers From the Past: Huge explosions from 270,000 years ago, and the largest petroglyph panel in the United States

Cries From the Past: A tale of rebellion, resilience and betrayal; the Modoc Indian War of 1872-73. And why armies should study geology before fighting wars.

THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS

In northwest California, a series of mountain ridges reveal stories of continental and oceanic fragments that were crushed into the western edge of North America. The rocks bear a close resemblence to the Sierra Nevada, although they are offset more than sixty miles.

Flotsam and Jetsam: An introduction to the Klamath Mountains as a series of accreted terranes, tracts of crust and old ocean floor that traveled hundreds or thousands of miles.

Havin' fun with Sasquatch: a discussion of the legendary and mythological creature that supposedly dwells in the Klamaths
I've seen these mountains before! The Big Ripoff: Viewed on a geologic map, the Klamath Mountains look like a continuation of the Sierra Nevada, but lie sixty miles farther west.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth (sort of): A review of the some of the rocks from the deep crust and mantle that are found in the terranes of the Klamath Mountains

Taking Stock of Castle Crags: One of the most imposing sights (besides Shasta) to be seen on a journey north on Interstate 5, the Castle Crags are towers and domes of granite, surrounded by more easily eroded metamorphic rocks

THE COAST RANGES

The series of mountain ranges that roughly parallel California's coastline are one of most diverse areas of the state from a geologic standpoint. There are thick sequences of sedimentary rocks including the Great Valley Group and elements of the Franciscan Complex, and there are plutonic and metamorphic rocks of the Salinian Block (and parts of the Franciscan). There are even volcanic rocks and potentially active volcanoes.

I Need This Like I Need a Hole in the Head: Scenic Bodega Head at Bodega Bay was the nearly the site of one of the most mind-bogglingly stupid energy developments ever conceived by the minds of engineers
Baymouth Bars - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere? Along the incredibly rugged north coast amid the violent surf there are long, perfectly straight sand bars that seem to defy explanation. They're explained here Humboldt Lagoons State Park
A Mystery Photo For a Saturday: A look at San Francisco from a unique angle, Monte del Diablo
The Thicket of the Devil (the mystery photo revealed): An introduction to a place with an incredible view, Mt. Diablo. How it got its name and why every landowner in Central California should care
Limekiln State Park Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3: Limekiln is a beautiful gem of a state park on the Big Sur Coastline. Unfortunately we have morons in the state legislature and this park is closing. See what is being taken from us

BASIN AND RANGE

The crust of the earth east of the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges is being torn apart by horizontal extensional forces that have produced an alien landscape of deep fault valleys (grabens) and high mountain fault blocks (horsts)

The West Walker River and the Antelope Valley: A deep fault valley becomes an important ranching and farming region

Dammed if we do Dam, Dammed if we don't Dam: An unusual reservoir without a dam, Topaz Lake stores Walker River water, but has great fishing too. Why is it there?

Damned if we do Dam, Damned if we don't Dam: A slightly modified name, and a much bigger issue - What are we going to do about Walker Lake? It's dying. It's also in Nevada, but it is a California river.

MOJAVE DESERT

Often ignored or tolerated by tourists on their way to Las Vegas, the Mojave Desert is one of the most geologically diverse regions of California

The Calico Mountains: An exploration of a unique mountain range, well beyond the confines of the tourist trap ghost town.

Prairies past and Some Great Folds: A closer look at a parking lot in a tourist trap

A Wandering Volcano and a Floral Outburst: The Antelope Valley has a springtime show of wildflowers that is simply audacious, and the underlying rocks include half of a volcano. The other half is nearly 200 miles away...

Caught in the Vise (the Western Mojave Desert): A discussion of complex fault relationships in the western Mojave and another chance to show some wildflower shots.

COLORADO DESERT

THE TRANSVERSE RANGES

A diverse series of mountain ranges that run against the grain, trending east-west instead of north-south. These include some of the highest mountains in southern California

The Other California: A Friday Fun Foto: A first glance at San Gorgonio Peak, the highest mountain in southern California, and the southwesternmost glaciated peak in the United States

Scarps to the Left of Me, Sag Ponds to the right, Here I am, Stuck in the Middle with You!: The San Andreas fault cuts across many of California's province. In this post we look at some fault features at the top of the Grapevine in the Transverse Ranges
A Monday Mystery Photo: A quick introduction to the Cajon Pass country where the San Andreas fault splits the San Gabriel Mountains from the San Bernardino Mountains
Cajon Pass and No Strange Sci-Fi Creatures: Cajon Pass, the major freeway access route into the Los Angeles basin, is filled with strange looking sedimentary rocks tilted this way and that. But it's not where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn...
The Mountains of My Youth: The eastern San Gabriel Mountains aren't all that familiar to people from outside the state, but they are spectacular and they were the mountains where I grew up. We explore an extraordinary gorge, San Antonio Canyon
Hemming and Hawing on the Hogback: The San Gabriel Mountains are the steepest mountains in the world. Often the only flat spots are on dangerous stream floodplains and on top of landslides. Several examples from San Antonio Canyon include the Hogback and Cow Canyon Saddle
A Canyon as Deep as the Grand, and a Road For No Reason: The Glendora Ridge Road offers some of the greatest panoramas of any road in southern California, and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it being there. I suspect I know what the reason is
The Forbidden Valley: An introduction to the San Dimas Experimental Forest
A Minor Challenge: A quiz to introduce the unusual geology of the Santa Clarita Valley
Dreams of Avarice and the First Gold Rush: You thought the gold rush started in the Sierra Mother Lode? There was a rush six years earlier, but the Mexican miners kept their secrets better (and there wasn't very much gold, either)
The Oldest Rocks (Well, maybe...): The San Gabriel Mountains have very old rocks, maybe the oldest in the state. But it depends on how you define "oldest". A short introduction to radiometric (isotopic) age dating

PENINSULAR RANGES

A granitic mountain block vaguely similar to the Sierra Nevada, but also very different. The "peninsula" refers to Baja California, which makes up the bulk of the province

The Other California: Another Friday Fun Foto: A brief introduction to San Jacinto Peak, the highest mountain in the Peninsular Ranges, and one of the most prominent mountains in the state, with a 10,000 foot slope in one area.
A Mystery Photo for the Day: A view of a rock that looks like it belongs somewhere in the Sierra Nevada, but that is not where it is...
When is a Peninsular Range Not a Peninsula? Baja California is a peninsula, but the rocks continue into Alta California. This post explores the village of Idylwild next to the highest part of the province at San Jacinto Peak

I clearly have lots of ground to cover, and will update this page as necessary.

Fighting For California's State Rock: What's Right With Serpentine?

California's state flower, the Golden Poppy, grows on serpentine soils at Hells Hollow on Highway 49 in California's Mother Lode. Few plants can tolerate the chemical conditions in these soils, so many endemic plants grow there and nowhere else (the poppy is an obvious exception; it is classed as serpentine-tolerant plant, but grows in many environments). This brings us to the other side of the coin. In seeking to remove serpentine as the state rock of California, supporters of the move condemn the rock as somehow evil because it contains a form of chrysotile asbestos at times. In my last post, I outlined the factual errors and inaccuracies that the bill would codify into law. If you have followed Geotripper for any length of time, you know that I prefer to talk about the wonders of geology, and I wish to do so now. There are many good reasons for keeping serpentine (or more properly serpentinite) as the state rock of California. I've gathered these items into a single fact sheet that could help legislators better understand the concerns of not only geologists, but also teachers, biologists, botanists, environmental scientists, mineral enthusiasts, and others who feel that Senate Bill 624 is a bad idea. Pop me a note if you want the word.doc.

Let the California State Assembly know this week if you want to keep our state rock. They may vote as soon as August 2. Calls are great. Letters on paper carry more weight than e-mails. Be cordial, we want to educate people who may not know a great deal about geology and biology!

• Serpentine, or more properly serpentinite, is a rock made up of as many as 20 different minerals. It is found in at least 42 of California’s 58 counties, and makes up a significant part of the Sierra Nevada Mother Lode, the Klamath Mountains, and the California Coast Ranges. It is a relatively common rock in California and rare in most other parts of the country.

• The rock is variable in color, ranging from deep jade-green to black or blue. It often displays polished surfaces due to its mode of emplacement along fault zones. The minerals making up serpentine are complex magnesium iron silicates with varying amounts of heavy metals such as chromium, mercury, nickel, and cobalt.

• Serpentinite is derived from the metamorphism (alteration by addition of heat and water) of peridotite and other ultramafic rocks from the Earth’s mantle. As such, serpentinite provides researchers a window into the deep crustal and mantle processes of the planet.

• Serpentinite is often brought to the Earth’s surface by forces related to subduction zones. Subduction occurs when oceanic crust containing ultramafic rock is driven beneath oceanic or continental crust where it is partially melted to form volcanic rock, like that seen in the Cascades volcanoes like Mt. Shasta; or plutonic rock like the granite seen in the Sierra Nevada, the Peninsular Ranges, or the Mojave Desert.

• Serpentinite and related ultramafic rocks have served as an ore for numerous valuable minerals, including chromite, mercury, magnesite, platinum, nickel, and cobalt. Many of these minerals are exceedingly rare, and most must be imported from foreign sources.

• Serpentine is used as a colorful ornamental stone, in sculpture, in carved jewelry, and in buildings. Jade is sometimes found in association with serpentine, and the world’s only source of California’s state gemstone benitoite is a serpentine deposit in the California Coast Ranges.

• Soils developed on serpentine are rich in heavy metals like chromium, nickel, and cobalt, and depleted in essential nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. As a result, plants growing in these soils are highly adapted, and about 10% of California’s endemic species are found in serpentine areas, even though the rock covers only about 1% of the land area of the state.

• Serpentines and related rocks are increasingly viewed as a possible repository for sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2), because these rocks can chemically combine to fix the CO2 in the solid mineral magnesite (magnesium carbonate). Serpentine may thus play an important role in global efforts to control greenhouse emissions and climate change.

• Serpentine was chosen as the state rock of in part to promote a growing asbestos mining industry and to promote serpentine’s use as ornamental stone, but the law itself does not mention these things, and asbestos has not been mined in the state since 2002. The original promoters of serpentine had little knowledge of the educational value of the rock they chose as a state symbol.

For more information about California’s state rock, check out:
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/CGS/information/publications/cgs_notes/note_14/note_14.pdf

http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/information/publications/cgs_notes/note_14/Pages/Index.aspx

Contact Garry Hayes (Geotripper) at hayesg (at) mjc.edu

Fighting For California's State Rock: What's Wrong With Senate Bill 624?

An analysis of factual errors in Senate Bill 624. Legislators in the Assembly need to hear this in the coming week!

Summary: Senate Bill 624 seeks to remove serpentine as the state rock of California. The language of the bill includes statements about serpentine that are inaccurate. Some argue that if enacted into law these statements could be legally actionable. This bill has not received the appropriate and necessary scrutiny that is needed to produce scientifically accurate and binding statements of law. Unless there is a transparent and complete investigation of the implications of the language of the bill, the legislature should consider tabling or voting down Senate Bill 624.

The current state rock, serpentine, is not the cause of mesothelioma in the state of California or anywhere else. Serpentine is an interesting and valuable rock that has an important role in education about California history, geology, biology, and environmental science. Chrysotile asbestos is sometimes found in serpentine. It is human use and abuse of asbestos in its many forms that has exposed people to the dangers of the material.

Statements from the bill are shown in bolded text below.

SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(b) Serpentine contains the deadly mineral chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen, exposure to which increases the risk of the cancer mesothelioma.

This statement makes an improper connection between serpentine and mesothelioma. Exposure to serpentine does not cause mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to any of the six forms of asbestos, and the vast majority of cases are related to workplace environments, not natural ones. Chrysotile asbestos is sometimes found in serpentine, but serpentine is not asbestos, and as such, should not be branded a known carcinogen in legislation. The use of the word “deadly” in the legislation is inflammatory.

(c) California has the highest rate of mesothelioma deaths in the nation.

This statement is factually and scientifically incorrect. The rate of mesothelioma deaths in California is 11.0 per million residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control (1999-2005). This number is slightly below the national average of 11.7 per million. In states like Maine, Wyoming, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington, the death rate exceeds 20 per million residents. California has the greatest number of deaths, but that is a simple function of having the greatest population of any state.

(d) California should not designate a rock known to be toxic to the health of its residents as the state's official rock.

This statement is factually wrong. Serpentine is not toxic. A mineral that is found in the rock, chrysotile, in its asbestos form, has been shown to be dangerous when improperly utilized. Almost any rock contains ores that can be dangerous, including the ores that produce gold, our state mineral. It is the role of state and national regulatory agencies to identify areas that might contain dangerous minerals, and practices that might expose people to hazards, and regulate those activities. Numerous laws already exist that regulate the exposure of citizens to asbestos materials.

There is an appropriate place for discussing the dangers of asbestos, and how the state can best protect its citizens from dangerous exposure levels. A bill to remove the designation of serpentine as the state rock is not the appropriate venue, and is instead a detriment to proper education about asbestos.

The entire text of SB624 can be found here: http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0601-0650/sb_624_bill_20100623_amended_asm_v96.html

The history, Assembly floor analysis, and current status of SB624 can be found here: http://totalcapitol.com/?bill_id=200920100SB624

The Centers for Disease Control cancer statistics site can be found here: http://wonder.cdc.gov/cancer-v2002.HTML

Today's picture: a yellow flower growing on serpentine soils in Del Puerto Canyon. Someone help me identify it! I'm a geologist, not a botanist!

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes: Eldridge Moores and California's State Rock

Many thanks to Sheril Kirshenbaum at Discover Blogs (the Intersection) for posting this important development in the effort to maintain serpentine as the state rock of California. Eldridge Moores is the past president of the Geological Society of America and one of the most respected researchers on California's tectonic history, including the ophiolite sequences in which serpentine is often formed. His story was a central part of John McPhee's Assembling California, one of the more influential books written about the state's geology. It was also his research that was cited in the State Assembly analysis for Senate Bill 624, so it is important to know that he opposes the effort to remove serpentine as the state rock. He offers some salient points about why serpentine is both an appropriate and unique choice for California (from Kirshenbaum's blog, working Nishanta Rajakaruna, a professor of botany at College of the Atlantic who has been working tirelessly these last few weeks getting the word out on serpentine):

-Serpentine is closely associated with gold deposits in the foothills, with the California Gold Rush, and California’s history;

-Serpentine is formed by hydration of rocks (peridotite) that come from the Earth’s mantle, the layer beneath the Earth’s crust.

-Principally, serpentines and associated rocks are part of rock suites called ophiolites that are fragments of ocean crust and mantle emplaced in continents;

-Ophiolites are widespread in California–in the Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, along other parts of the western margin of North America, in the Appalachians, and in Latin America, Eurasia, and elsewhere. Thus these rocks are important for a full understanding of the complex evolution of the California landscape and our planet.

-Serpentines are fairly easy to identify, being mostly shiny black or green. Many serpentines are also weak rocks and prone to landslide. Having serpentine as California’s State Rock calls attention to these issues in many places; and provides a “teaching moment.”

-The asbestos in serpentine is mostly the less-harmful form, chrysotile, rather than the more dangerous form – amphibole. The latter forms by different geologic processes from a variety of rock-types;

-Having children possess samples of serpentine should not endanger their health any more than samples of many other rocks;

-Many rare species of plants grow only on serpentines, including special trees, shrubs, and non-woody plants. California is world-famous for these plants: indeed many grow only in California. These plants also provide a “teaching moment”.

-Serpentines and their original mineral, olivine are increasingly viewed as an ideal repository of carbon dioxide (CO2), because they chemically combine to fix the CO2 in the solid mineral magnesite (magnesium carbonate). This possibility is important for the future of California serpentines, for the US’s efforts to control its greenhouse emissions, and provides an additional “teaching moment” for all of us.

-Serpentine plays an important role in small movements (creep) where serpentine is present along active faults, reducing the hazard of large earthquakes.

-“Defrocking” serpentine as the California State Rock is not going to make any of these issues go away. It will, however, make it more difficult to communicate the many issues, both bad and good, to the public in California.

Time is very short; if you are concerned about this issue, a letter to your senator, assemblyperson, and governor is critical (and California teachers, geologists, biologists, historians, environmental scientists, and everyone interested in good science should be!). Please, always be polite, positive and emphasize the educational values of keeping serpentine! It's easy to be angry about something that is important to us, but not well-understood by many others, including legislators. They need to know the issues involved (and there are many).

Today's photo shows ultramafic rock in Del Puerto Canyon that has been partly serpentinized. The locality was a chromite mine that operated during both world wars. Many important ores have been mined from serpentine and associated ultramafic rocks.

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes 5: Doing What I Like to Do, and An Invitation!

Two of the strangest days in my life happened this week, awoke one morning to find the serpentine story on the AP wires all across the country, and awoke again on another day to find my hand in a picture on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle. Geologists, ecologists, and biologists wanted a part in the discussion on whether to remove serpentine as the state rock, and I hope we have a place now. There is a serious need to engage and find a common ground that educates people about the scientific uniqueness of serpentine and the role it plays in California's history, geology and biology. And in public health. But that discussion can't happen if there are political ploys or even a whiff of hidden agendas, and that is what is wrong with the present bill.

To say that being involved in a political firestorm is unfamiliar ground for me is a huge understatement. Like almost every geologist I know, I would rather be on the road with my field class, pounding rocks. That didn't happen this summer because of the state budget crisis, of course. But some great things did happen in the last two days, two quick trips that reminded me of why I love doing what I do. I took a photographer for the Chronicle and a public radio reporter on a geologic tour to the center of the earth. In a manner of speaking, anyway. We drove up Del Puerto Canyon in the Coast Ranges, and quite literally drove through the muds on the ocean floor, through the oceanic crust and into the Earth's mantle. More properly, the mantle had been pushed up, and we drove up the canyon to see what it looks like.

On the way up the canyon, we passed 20,000 feet of layered sedimentary rocks, passed the dig site where California's first dinosaur was discovered, looked at landslides, old mines, and took a close look at California's state rock. It was quiet up there, there was a slight breeze, and it was hot as hell. But it felt good being a teacher.

I know what lung cancer is like. It is a horrific disease, it is a horrible way to die, and it touched my family personally. I want to honor and remember the victims of asbestos-related diseases. But the bill before the state assembly is not the way to do it.

I think there is a better way, and one that educates people, especially our children about the uniqueness of this strange rock that is found across our state. Sure, it has asbestos in it sometimes. It also sometimes contains ores of mercury. And chromium. And magnesite. And it carries a history within it of moving continents, vast ocean basins, and secrets from deep in the earth's interior.

I have no idea if anyone from State Senator Gloria Romero's office has ever read or even knows about my blog (funny thing, in all the papers around the country, but the same number of visitors to the blog!), but I would like to extend an unusual invitation to you, Senator, or any other legislator. Join me, and some biologists, and historians, and let's go to Del Puerto, or one of the other places where serpentinite can be seen. Let's talk about why it is important to the state of California.