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Geology Field Assignment A Trip to By: Kacy Clements Photo by: Kacy Clements
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Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Jun 26, 2015

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Kacy Clements

A Trip To Condon Peak, California
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Page 1: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Geology Field AssignmentA Trip to

By: Kacy Clements

Photo by: Kacy Clements

Page 2: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Condon Peak

• Condon Peak is on the outskirts of Clear Creek Management Area (CCMA) and within Fresno County.

• The peak reaches 4,970 feet.• It contains grassy Slopes covered in

shrubs, pines and oaks.• Recreation includes: hiking, camping,

hunting, stargazing and wildflower viewing. (blm.gov)

Photo by: Kacy Clements

Page 3: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

California Quail• The California Quail is not indigenous to all of the Northwest. Since becoming a game-

bird, it has become widespread.• They live in brush for shelter.

• They eat leaves, seed, fruit, and some insects, spiders and snails.• They have one brood of 12 to 16 cream-colored eggs per season.

•They are New World Quail and were thought to be a part of the Phasianidae family (Old World quail, pheasants, partridges, and francolins) but in in 1990 Sibley found that they

were from an early divergence from 63 million years ago in South America.• The plume on the head is called a top-knot and is used by the males to attract a mate.

(bss.sfsu.edu)

Kingdom:  Animalia Phylum:  Chordata

Class:  Aves Order:  Galliformes

Family:  Odontophoridae

Genus:  Callipepla Species:  Callipepla

californica

Photo by: Kacy Clements Photo by:

backyardbirdshop.com

Page 4: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Mule Deer

Class: MammaliaOrder: ArtiodactylaFamily: Cervidae

Genus: OdocoileusSpecies: Odocoileus

hemionus

• They are named Mule Deer because their ears are “mule-like” however, they mainly rely on their sense of smell.• Mule deer are usually a dark grey-brown, with a small white rump patch and a small, thin, dropped, black tipped tail.• They have a particular high-bounce trot which helps them escape from predators.• They have one to two offspring at a time.• Mule deer evolved from blacktail bucks breeding with whitetail does. (conservenature.org)

Photo from google.com

Page 5: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Vesper Sparrow

Photo by: Kacy Clements Photo from google.com

• They are found in open habitats like prairie, meadows, and pastures on the ground.

• They have two to six eggs at a time and eat grasses, grains, and insects.

• They are 5.1 to 6.3 inches long.• House Sparrows came to North America in 1852. Now sparrows have evolved into many different colors and subspecies all over

the United States.•The sparrows in higher latitudes are larger and those who live in

arid areas are paler.• They migrate to the southern states and Mexico. (birdweb.org)

Class: AvesOrder: Passeriformes Family: EmberizidaeGenus: Pooecetes Species: Pooecetes

gramineus

Page 6: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Blue Oak•Blue Oak covers over 3 million acres.•The Scottish biologist David Douglas named the blue oak in 1831 for the color of its leaves.•They can survive temperatures above 100° F for several weeks at a time and grow to average heights of 30 feet.•With their root system, they are able to grow through cracks in rocks to depths of 80 feet to reach ground water.•They are fire resistant and evolved under less severe grass fires. (http://www.fs.fed.us)

Common Name: Californis Blue Oak, Iron Oak, Mountain White Oak, Mountain OakGenus: QuercusSpecies: douglasii

Photo by: Kacy Clements

•Blue oaks evolved in the early Cretaceous period and have evolved to drier and warmer climates over the last 10 million years. (http://bss.sfsu.edu)

Page 7: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Yucca Plant

Order: Asparagales Family:

AsparagaceaeGenus: Yucca L. Species: Yucca

baccata

•Was used by Native Americans for basket weaving.•Was used for medicinal purposes and to make soap and shampoo.•The flowers or pods from the plant were eaten.•The flowers range from 5 to 13 cm long.•Yucca with fruit flowers in the spring, starting in April to July.•Tiny Yucca moths and Yucca plants evolved together. Since the moths are small, they can fit into the flowers and pollinate them. The larvae of the moths eat the Yucca seeds.

Page 8: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Foothill Pine

Photo by: Kacy Clements

Class: PinopsidaOrder: Pinales

Family: PinaceaeGenus: Pinus L.Species:Pinus

sabiniana

•The foothill pine’s maximum height when mature is 80 feet, produces large pinecones, and has yellow flowers in spring.•The foothill pine was once called the Digger Pine because of the “Digger” Indians.•Also known as “Bull Pine”.•It is native and limited to California and is found between 0 and 4500 feet elevation. (http://plants.usda.gov)•The Pinus genus evolved 100 million years ago in the Cretaceous period. The individual species evolved in the last 5 million years. (ddr.nal.usda.gov )

Page 9: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Sandstone

•Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock usually composed of quartz or feldspar. The cement holding them together is usually made of calcite, clays, and silica.•Was used by natives for bowls and is used for domestic construction and house wares today.•How it is formed: Layers of sand accumulate from sedimentation from water or air and then it is compacted by pressure, turning it into sandstone. (tulane.edu)

Photo by: Kacy Clements

My sample has a grainy look to it, and is a slightly yellow and brown color. It is smooth on one side and jagged on the other, as if it had broken off a larger piece. It also looks like it has parallel lines running across the smooth portion, as if it was layered. Many of the grains have different colors and seem as though they are of different sediments.

Page 10: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Gneiss

Photo by: Kacy Clements

•Gneiss is a widely distributed metamorphic rock.•They are usually medium to coarse and have compositional banding due to high temperatures.•They are usually previously igneous or sedimentary rocks.•The parent rocks are usually shale, granite, or volcanic rocks.•hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu)

My sample is fairly small and mostly black with swirls of white. It has cracks and is slightly coarse with some tiny craters. Most of the edges seem to have been rubbed smooth, maybe from being under water so long ago, or from a stream that dried up not so long ago.

Page 11: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Siltstone

Photo by: Kacy ClementsMy sample is small with a slightly blue and green color. It has small craters and lines in it. The edges of it are also smooth like they have been worn down. The texture is slightly coarse and bumpy and the blue streaks have a slight shine to them.•Siltstone is a sedimentary rock primarily composed of silt particles. •It is finer than sandstone and more coarse than claystone.•Coarse silt forms across laminations in a current while finer particles are usually deposited from suspension. (csmres.jmu.edu)

Page 12: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

FossilsI also found quite a few shells within large clumps of sand and gravel. There were depressions from larger shells that had probably fallen off and smaller shells that were still stuck to the sand. I also found singular small shell that looked very old and had big clumps off hard sedimentary rock attached to the inside portion of the shell.

Photos by: Kacy Clements

Page 13: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

Fossils Continued

Photos by: Kacy Clements

Page 14: Geology Assignment - Condon Peak

References• CONDON PEAK:• www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/hollister/

condon_peak.html• www.picacho.org/interest/

condon_peak_access.html• QUAIL:• Backyardbirdshop.com• http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/

fall00projects/quail.html• MULE DEER:• http://www.conservenature.org/

learn_about_wildlife/prairie/mule_deer.htm• VESPER SPARROW:• www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/

Vesper_Sparrow/id• www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/

vesper_sparrow• 10000birds.com/vesper-sparrow-pooecetes-

gramineus.htm• BLUE OAK:• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/

blue_oak.htm• http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/

documents/psw_gtr217/psw_gtr217_93.pdf• bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Fall99Projects/

blueoak.htm

YUCCA:plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=yufibiology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio303/coevolution.htmFOOTHILL PINE:http://plants.usda.gov/java/charProfile?symbol=PISA2http://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jscnhm/v2n1/fieldtrip2.htmlhttp://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/36590/1/IND44288309.pdfSANDSTONE: www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol212/sedrxintro.htmGNEISS:http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geophys/gneiss2.htmlSILTSTONE:http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/fichter/SedRx/Rocks/Silt1.html