 | The Salton Trough region - San Andreas |
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East Shore of the Salton Sea |
Scenery from the top of the hill |
Box Canyons |
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Box Canyons |
Box Canyon |
Box Canyons. Rugged Canyon Walls.Created by the upward thrust of a earthquake |
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Box Canyons.Notice the upward thrust of the rocks |
Box Canyon. Earthquakes played a major role in the design of the landscape. You don''t have to be an expert to see the results.N 33°34.838'' W 115°56.615'' |
View from Sheep Hole Oasis Trail |
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Box Canyon minerals |
Box canyon, Names carved into the soft sandstone. The oldest date was 1911 |
Box canyon. Natural Arches and Windows |
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Entrance to Painted Canyon |
These tilted conglomerates are found in a spur of the Painted Canyon in California''s Mecca Hills. The Mecca Hills were formed by the convergence of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault. The geologic formations of Mecca Hills are among the most unusual of their kind in the world. Layers of eroded rock, some over 600 million years old, have been pushed up and overturned by the activity of the San Andreas Fault system. Painted Canyon, in the heart of the hills, exhibits many mineral deposits in hues of rose, pink, red, purple and green.Active Faults; Conglomerate; Deformation; Fault Zones; Faults; North American Plate; Offsets; Pacific Plate; Plate Boundaries; Plate Tectonics; San Andreas Fault; Strike-Slip Faults; Tectonics |
Painted Canyon |
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These tilted conglomerates are found in a spur of the Painted Canyon in California''s Mecca Hills. The Mecca Hills were formed by the convergence of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault. The geologic formations of Mecca Hills are among the most unusual of their kind in the world. Layers of eroded rock, some over 600 million years old, have been pushed up and overturned by the activity of the San Andreas Fault system. Active Faults; Conglomerate; Deformation; Fault Zones; Faults; North American Plate; Offsets; Pacific Plate; Plate Boundaries; Plate Tectonics; San Andreas Fault; Strike-Slip Faults; Tectonics |
A spur of the San Andreas Fault is clearly seen here in the wall of California''s Painted Canyon.Deformation; Faults; Folds; Mecca Hills; San Andreas Fault; Sedimentary Rocks; Structural Analysis; Structural Geology; Synclines; Tectonics |
Rocks and vegetation on the canyon floor |
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White quartz in a black rock gives it a painted appearance |
the Painted Canyon |
Zebra rocks |
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Painted Canyon |
Painted Canyon |
the Painted Canyon |
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Panorama of Painted canyon |
Mecca Hills / Painted Canyon |
Deep in Ladder Canyon |
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Deep in Ladder Canyon |
Ladder Canyon |
Ladder Canyon twists |
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In a narrow section of Ladder Canyon |
Ladder Canyon is a narrow but deep slot canyon. The name comes from a series of ladders that have been placed in the canyon to allow hikers to negotiate several dry waterfalls in the canyon. This is not an exercise for the claustrophobic |
Near entrance of Ladder Canyon Trailhead |
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Taken near Ladder Canyon, Mecca Hills. These are the true colors of the hills.Photo -Peter McMahon |
the Mecca Hills |
the Mecca Hills |
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the Mecca Hills |
Description: Mecca Hills. Palm Spring Formation tipped by the San Andreas Fault. The Mecca Hills are a rising block of sedimentary formations sandwiched between earthquake faults associated with the southern San Andreas Fault System that runs basically along the eastern side of the Coachella Valley and the Salton Sea.Active Faults; Deformation; Fault Zones; Faulting; Faults; Fluvial Features; Plate Tectonics; Sedimentary Rocks; Strike-Slip Faults; Structural Analysis; Structural Geology; Tectonics; Uplift |
The work of the San Andreas Fault is clearly seen here in this wall of of rocks in California.Deformation; Faults; Folds; Mecca Hills; San Andreas Fault; Sedimentary Rocks; Structural Analysis; Structural Geology; Synclines; Tectonics |
Ladder Canyon is located in Mecca Hills about 40 miles SE of Palm Springs and near Salton Sea. It was formed by the convergence of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault.
On the east side of the Coachella Valley runs the San Andreas fault and the Mecca Hills. The hills are dissected by a maze of medium size to tiny canyons. Painted canyon was today''s
destination
Ladder Canyon through Painted Canyon
The Mecca Hills are located about 40 miles southeast of Palm Springs. They were formed by the convergence of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault. The geologic formations of Mecca Hills are among the most unusual of their kind in the world, and the San Andreas Fault that runs from below the Salton Sea all the way above San Francisco is overdue for a large quake
Layers of eroded rock, some over 600 million years old, have been pushed up and overturned by the activity of the San Andreas Fault system. Painted Canyon, in the heart of the hills, exhibits many mineral deposits in hues of rose, pink, red, purple and green. The canyon runs in a general north-south direction, and is distinguished by sandy washes sprinkled with Ironwood, Smoke Trees, and Palo Verde. It is also home to the rare Mecca aster, a lilac tinted bloom resembling a daisy. Along the rim of the canyon and the tops of the mesas, are colorful Ocotillo. Occasionally Bighorn sheep cross over from the Orocopia Mountains on the east looking for water. Like any desert area, the fauna includes a multitude of lizards, snakes, and prairie falcons.
The Mecca Hills sit directly above the San Andreas fault, at the very edge of the North American plate. As a result, the earth, rocks, and mineral deposits in the area have been squeezed, compressed, contorted, and pushed up to the surface many times over the past Millennia.
This almost continuous upheaval, has created a profusion of shapes and colors in the stone and earth that make up the hills - red abuts tan, dark gray abuts pale lilac, orange abuts dark purple.
San Diego features - http://classroom.sdmesa.net/dbarrie/field_trip.htm
The Salton Trough region
Landward portion of the rifting seen in the
Gulf of California
Highest strain rates in the entire U.S.
Some of the highest seismicity rates in all
of California
Several recent earthquakes on non-major
faults : Big Bear, Landers, Joshua Tree,
and Superstition Hills
Ellsinore, San
Jacinto, San Andreas and Imperial faults
