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 California's
Sierra Nevada, Spanish for "Snowy Mountain," is a massive block of
granite, called a batholith. The Sierras stretches for 560 km (350
miles) and tilts to the west. Ranging in height from 4348 m (14,494
ft) high Mt. Whitney in the east nearly to sea level in the west,
it contains the spectacular Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The
granite batholith intruded the crust during the Mesozoic
and was uplifted and faulted in the Tertiary
during the formation of the Basin and
Range province to the east. Eroded material from the Sierra Nevada
has filled the Central Valley of
California, creating conditions for extensive agriculture and the
1849 Gold Rush. |
