Geographical and biological specialities of California
Introduction
The most populous state of the US California, also called the “Gold State”, offers lots of geographical and biological specialities which are worth dwelling on because we are talking about some really unique phenomena. Of course it is not possible to list all beautiful and stunning specialities of this state but some of the most important and impressing places should be presented.
San Andreas Fault
California is located close to the fault of two tectonic plates, called the San Andreas Fault. These tectonic plates are responsible for numerous earthquakes and therefore the area near to the San Andreas Fault is known as vulnerable area concerning earthquakes. The San Andreas Fault is more than 1100 kilometres long, runs from Mexico to San Francisco and divides California into two parts. This fault of tectonic plates is very special because it is some of the few faults ashore, most of them are underwater. In former times the fault was not visible, but after an enormous earthquake, it measured 7,8 on the Richter scale, a big spilt appeared between the two plates.
Death Valley
Death Valley is a national park in California and is located in the Mojave Dessert. The specialty about this park is that this one is the driest national park in the whole USA. Death Valley is not only one of the driest places on earth, but also a very hot one; once 65 degrees were measured. A legend gave the valley his name. It says that two tourist parties wanted to take a shortcut and lost the way in the valley. Some days they could not find the out of the valley and they started to eat their saps. Only after many weeks they found the right way and before leaving the valley, an old woman turned around, waved and said “Good bye Death Valley!” Natives like to tell that all people of the tourist party died but the truth is that they survived and gave the valley this name.
Redwood trees
The geographic in California is very multifaceted compared to the size of the state. In California we find mountains, coasts, desserts and fertile land. Also the botanic offers a lot of specialities, for example the redwood trees. California has the highest, thickest and oldest trees in the world. The sequoia tree is the state tree of California and the highest one measures 115 metres. The thickest tree measures an outline of 31 metres and the oldest trees can reach an age of 2500 years.
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range which is for the most part located in California. Sierra Nevada contains different areas, for example valleys, national parks, forests and mountains. The highest mountain of the Sierra Nevada is Mount Whitney, which has an elevation of 4.418 metres and which is for this reason the highest mountain in the USA. The whole mountain range is 650 kilometres long and adjoins in the east to the Death Valley. The Sierra Nevada is additional the only area where redwood trees, all three species the highest, the thickest and the oldest ones, grow.
Mojave Dessert
The Mojave Dessert extends to 35.000 quadrate kilometres and you find the popular Death Valley there which is one of the hottest places in the world. On average 45 degrees are measured in the Mojave Dessert. Two continental fault zones are located in this dessert, even the San Andreas Fault and the Garlock fault zone. The dessert is also popular for some deserted villages, called the ghost towns and the most famous ghost town is Calico which was in former times important for minding silver.