Doris Sloan

Great book - it was particularly interesting because I just read John McPhee's Assembling California, which has much of the same information presented in entirely different ways. The various sections of the SF Bay Area (or Region, as it should properly be called in a geological context) are discussed, with their various characteristic rocks and what the faults and geologic action have done to the rocks. The same sets of rocks appear everywhere, from North Bay to South, in the Central Valley and on the peninsula - but in differing amounts, structures, and relationships. The bits where a unique formation shows up in two widely separated areas on either side of a fault are fascinating - illustrating just how far the Pacific Plate has slid up along the side of the North American Plate (hundreds of miles, definitely, possibly more over time). The book inspires me to go want to take a look at various areas, now that I understand something of their structures, too. I saw the red soil just east of the Caldecott Tunnel, for instance - and now I know that's where lava flowed (centuries ago) and baked the soil, turning it red. Absolutely fascinating - I got this from the library, and I think I'd like to own it and take it with me around the Bay Area.… (meer)

A very satisfying introduction to the geology of the Bay Area. It includes a good introduction to basic geology, which I certainly needed. The book looks and feels like a field guide and I actually went on several trips that were suggested by the book. A plethora of pictures helps in the learning process.

At times, it's a bit too heavy on the individual types of rocks at any given geographic location. I would have liked to have that balanced with a good description of why the particular areas look as they do. However, that being said, the book gives a strong general overview of the larger geologic processes that shaped the Bay Area.

I know I'll never again look at a rock in the Bay Area the same way.… (meer)