We have crossed from the Coast Ranges to the Sierra Nevada and will begin seeing subduction-related rocks from much earlier periods. But here in the lowest foothills is a gently tilted surface marked by the 16-million-year-old Lovejoy Basalt, the same rock found at stop 6 on the other side of the Central Valley. When the lava was molten it flowed down a stream valley, but today that hard layer is preserved as a ridge, a situation that geomorphologists call inverted relief.
Day 1, Coast Range: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Day 2, Sierra Nevada: 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18
Day 3, Sierra Nevada: 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28
