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Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert P. Sharp
Publisher: Mountain Press Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy Used: $3.23
You Save: $14.77 (82%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 186143
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 319
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0878423621
Dewey Decimal Number: 557.9487
EAN: 9780878423620
ASIN: 0878423621
Publication Date: October 1, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Has bookplate on title page and some writing on bottom edge. Interior clean. No spine creases. Good copy.
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Readable and Informative February 18, 2008
I neede to buy this book for a class/trip I am taking over spring break. I was very surprised that it was not a dry text book , but a very readable information guide to the entire area. Great book if your interested in the geology of the area.
wonderful explanations for the layman December 2, 2007
I read it after I came back from a trip to Owens Valley, so I can't speak on using it for directions, but it is a great book. I began reading to find a few facts to label my trip photos with but found myself reading the entire Owens Valley half, even the places I didn't see. There are some crazy things in Owens Valley! A gravity deficit, piles of rock in neat columns, lava cooling into glass, water issues with Owens Lake... I couldn't stop reading even though I had work to do - bad bad, but so good!
The chapters on each location are longer and geologic feature are more detailed than your average guide book, so you understand the background and science, but there's no technical jargon, so it's very easy to understand. Very clear simple writing by people who obviously have a genuine appreciation for what they're writing about.
Invaluable Info for Locals and Travellers May 3, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Great to take along any drive through the area. Have your passenger read as you go, stop along the way for a closer look. Easy to read, not too "intellectual". This was my favorite guide to the area when I moved here (and still is)!
Thoroughly Intriguing! June 27, 2002
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
The southwest United States is a geomorphologist's dream... There's not a lot of green stuff covering up the beautiful geology! This book details the geologic features of Death and Owens Valley, CA. It gives the geologic history of features while succinctly describing the details of the processes that brought about these features. The Tufa Pinnacles in Searles Valley, the alluvial fans in Death Valley, the interesting history and development of Gower Gulch, the mysterious ascent of desert pavement, the glacial morraines and routes of the Tahoe and Tioga Stade glaciers at Convict Lake, the Mono Craters (Domes), Fossil Falls, the Alabama Hills and more. You'll even get the heebee jeebees when you read about the monstrous explosion of Ubehebe Crater! Certainly one of the most interesting and pleasurable books I've read in ages! Highly recommended for ANYONE who plans a trip to California's awe-inspiring Death Valley and environs! A must have!
Wonderful Ticket to Adventure January 17, 2002
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
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).
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