1. Jennifer War dGeology 103Summer 2012Lake Tahoe Field Assignment

2. Table of ContentsResearch MethodGeological HistoryLocationMap of Lake TahoeCave RockLake Tahoe RocksLake Tahoe PlanetsLake Tahoe FaunaResources 3. Research MethodThe information and photos in this assignment are fromvarious activities. The Cave Rock picture was taken lastsummer on our way to Carson. My dad had never been! Thebear picture was taken in front of our house a couple ofmonths ago. A lot of these photos were taken on a walk Iwent on 7/18/12. The Pinedrop photo is from my backyard.The maps are from various websites. I tried to search for thebest ones!I pulled information from books such as Plants of the TahoeBasin by Michael Graf (1999) and Moon Handbooks: Tahoe byAnn Marie Brown (2006) and information from many differentwebsites. 4. Geological History Lake Tahoe was formed by geologic fault about 2 to 3 millionyears ago (Gould, 2008). There were blocks that were uplifted to create the CarsonRange on the east and the Sierra Nevada on the west (Gould,2008). Some of the highest peaks of the Lake Tahoe Basin that formedduring this process were Freel Peak at 10,891 ft, MonumentPeak at 10,067 ft (Heavenly Valley Ski Area), Pyramid Peak at9,983 ft, and Mt. Tallac at 9,735 ft. (Gould, 2008).Rain, stream and snow, filled the southern and lowest part ofthe basin, forming Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe today is shaped andlandscaped by the glaciers during the Ice Age (Gould, 2008). 5. Picture of some of Lake Tahoes Faults(zoom in!) 6. LocationThe driving distance from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe is 200miles - around 3 hours 24 minutes or up to 4 hours 20 minuteswith traffic (http://wiki.answer s.com) . 7. Map of Lake TahoeLake Tahoe is about 22 miles long and l2 miles wide with 72miles of shoreline. The surface area covers 191 sq. miles (http://www.tahoecam.com/ ). 8. Cave RockCave Rock was once a par t of the neck of a volcanicvent that existed about five million year s a go().3 million year s a go w hen Lake Tahoe was for med, thelake level was hundr eds of feet higher than it is now.T hese caves ar e car ved out of the r ock by waveaction of the lake over tens of thousands of year sduring that period(). 9. Cave Rock 10. Igneous Granite RockThis rock has characteristics of phaneritic textured rock. This representsslower cooling in the plutons (Monroe, James, and Reed Wincander. TheChanging Earth. fifth ed. n.d. 93. Print).Granite rocks are about 210 million years old to Lake Tahoe (Whitney,Stephen. The Sierra Nevada, A Sierra Club Naturalists Guide ). 11. Igneous DioriteYou can find diorite all thr oughout Lake Tahoe. T his r ock is fineand coar se at the same time and is composed of ma gma which hascr ystallized. T his rock is distinctive because of its salt and pepperlook. T his is due to the dar k fer r oma gnisn silicates and the lightpla gioclase (Monr oe, James, and Reed W incander. T he ChangingEar th. fifth ed. n.d. 93. Print). 12. Pinedrop PlantThis planet has a fleshy root but is brittle at the same time. It comes fromSouthern Canada and can be found in clusters from June until August (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterospora).This plant gets its nutrients from near by trees and John Muir said in his SierraNevada Field Guide that they are freeloaders, referring to them getting theirnutrients from the surrounding plants and trees. 13. Tahoe LupineTahoe Lupine can gr ow from 1 foot to 3 feet (Graf, M, 1999).You can find it on Mount Rose at 9,000 feet, but there is a ton of ithere in Lake Tahoe (Gr af, M, 1999).It grows on ridges, on open, dr y slops and in the for est. It can alsobe found on volcanic slopes (Graf, M, 1999). 14. Snowshoe HareT his har e changes color s! He is white in the winter and brown in thesummer (Br own, A, 2006).He gets his name because of his snowshoe like feet (Br own, A, 2006).His ear s ar e 3 inches long that stand str aight up(Br own, A, 2006).Type: MammalDiet: HerbivoreAver a ge life span in the wild:1 year or lessSize: 16 to 20 in (41.3 to 51.8 cm)Weight: 2 to 4 lbs (0.9 to 1.8 kg) 15. Snowshoe Hare 16. American Black BearDid you know that black bears have a mostly vegetarian diet? Theylove fish, but fancy berries and vegetation Beede, Jill, 1996-2000.Cubs are only born in January and early February.Up to 30 bears can be found on a one mile stretch of river fromabout June until September in Lake Tahoe Beede, Jill, 1996-2000. .Temporal range: Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene to recent. 17. American Black Bear 18. Douglas Squirrel aka ChickareeI found these two excited chickarees chasing each other. If you look closely,you can see both of them. These guys are around all year and you can findthem in the trees and on the ground. They make high pitched sounds said tosound like a bird (Brown, A, 2006).The Douglas squirrel is one of several species of tree squirrels found in theBasin . 19. ResourcesGould, M, 2008 Brown, Ann Marie. Moon Handbooks: Tahoe, 2006. Print.Graf, Michael. Plants of the Tahoe Basin, 1999. Print.Monroe, James, and Reed Wincander. The Changing Earth.fifth ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 93. Print.Quesnel, Eve... 20. Resources Cont. .Various Authors (2012) Retrieved fromhttp://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/douglassquirrel.htmBeede, Jill, 1996-2000.....Whitney, Stephen. The Sierra Nevada, A Sierra Club Naturalists Guide.