This bridge just outside of Parkfield, Ca , straddles the San Andreas Fault. If you look closely, you can see the curve of the guardrail and the angle of the deck. It is evidence of how the fault has caused the bridge to bend or displaced. Since its formation, about 30 million years ago, displacement along the San Andreas Fault has exceeded 560 kilometers (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 296). San Andreas fault is called a ‘right-lateral strike-slip fault ‘ (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 296) which means that the movement of the plates is a side-to-side movement past each other. The Pacific plate is moving north and the North American plate is moving south.

This is a photo of a massive rock , found up in the hills of Coalinga, that has undergone mechanical weathering. As you can see, it has been broken down into two different rocks from a larger rock. ‘Mechanical weathering is accomplished by physical forces that break rock’ (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 175).

Mechanical Weathering

This is a photo of an anticline on the outskirts of Parkfield, Ca. It is a huge rock with traces of the color red. The red is a result of chemical weathering, which alters the composition of a rock. ‘Chemical weathering involves a chemical transformation of rock into one or more new compounds’ (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tas

Chemical Weathering

‘Mass wasting is the transfer of rocks and soil down slope under the influence of gravity’ Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 174). I took this photo of a huge landslide up in the hills of Parkfield, Ca.

This is a photo of a soil erosion. ‘Erosion is the physical removal of material by mobile agents such as water, wind, or ice’ Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 174). This photo depicts soil erosion. I took this photo in

the hills of Parkfield.

Erosion

ContinentalEnvironment

Lake Kaweah is an example of a continental environment. “Continental environments are dominated by the erosion and deposition associated with streams’ (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 220). Deposits in lakes come rivers, but may also be ‘deposited by wind, glacial ice and other processes’ (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 220).. These kids are actually swimming in the flooded parking lot of the lake.

‘Marine environments are divide according to depth; deep and shallow. Shallow marine environments borders all of the world's continents. Deep marine environments include all the floors of the deep ocean’ (Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa, 220)..

The Coalinga Oil Field is an example of petroleum geology. In order to find petroleum, companies need to understand and apply geological knowledge and processes in order to find this raw material. For example, they must have an understanding on how petroleum is formed. According to our text, ‘it begins with the accumulation of sediment in ocean areas that are rich in plan and animal remains’ (Tarbucks, Lutgens,

Tasa, 647).

1. Earth An Introduction To Physical Geology; Tenth Edition. Tarbuck, Lutgens, Tasa. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2011.

2. A Brief History of Coalinga by Bill Howell http://www.coalingachamber.com/about.html

3. Parkfield, California: The Earthquake Capital of the World.http://www.parkfield.com/parkfield/

4. Visit Visalia, California; Lake Kaweah. http://www.visitvisalia.org/Lake-Kaweah

5.Natural Gas and Petroleum in Coalinga, CA http://web.awesomebusinesspages.com/category-792624-0.htm