Mormon Rocks and the Etiwanda Preserve

Ben AvilaGeography 111

Thursday’s 1:30pm December 2, 2010

Mormon Rocks

• The Mormon Rocks were formed in the Cajon Pass as a result of compression along the San Andreas Fault and Granular Structures.

• It was named after the Mormon Pioneers who had settled here in the 1850’s.

The San Andreas Rift Zone

• The San Andreas Fault covers more than 600 miles extending from North West California to the Gulf of California

• The San Andreas Fault is a Strike Slip Fault.

Granular Structures

• The rocks are made of sandstone and granular structures.

Holes in the Mormon Rocks

• The Holes in the Mormon Rocks are made from natural weathering and Converging of the Rocks that causes them to naturally fall because the rocks are made up of other rocks.

Three Tiers of Vegetation

• Herb Layer – Thickest layer.

Shrub Layer – Wood and stems layer.

Three Tiers of Vegetation

• Upper Tree Layer – Habitat Zone.

North Etiwanda Preserve

This site is important because it protects the Riversidian Alluvial Sage Scrub Habitat, and other species that live there.

This is an endangered Sage Scrub Habitat.

Water Tank

• Flood control is essential to this environment because without it the sage scrub habitat would surely be destroyed along with the other life living at the preserve.

• The area is also very dry and drinking water is essential.

White Sage/California Sage

The Riversidian Alluvial scrub is made up predominantly of drought-deciduous soft-leaved shrubs, but with significant cover of larger perennial species generallly found in chaparral. Alluvial scrub typically is composed of scalebroom, white sage, redberry, California buckwheat, Spanish bayonet, California croton, cholla, tarragon, yerba santa, mule fat, and mountain-mahogany.

(http://www.savehahamongna.org/habitat.htm)

Native Vegetation

• The Brittle Bush

• The Sycamore Tree

Native Vegetation

• Sycamore Tree (in the back)

• Yucaa Trees

Native Vegetation

• California Buckwheat

• Baccharis Salicifolia

Grand Prix Fire

• Scorch Marks on the rocks.

• The biological community continued to grow after the results of the fire and the wildlife returned to the preserve.

This is a sycamore and I took it because it was a beautiful image.

Extra Credit – Earthquake Fault Zone – Red Hill Fault. This hill is

the result of an earthquake.