Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as an avid amateur naturalist, I have collected many regional nature guidebooks-- maybe most of them. I just received this book, having ordered it just based on the title and little else. What a pleasant surprise!-- It is probably the best regional natural history book I have ever seen.
If you are an avid amateur naturalist like me, maybe the following is familiar: You pick up a nice general geology or rock atlas book, and find it beautiful and comprehensive; but when you try to match an actual local observation to this catalog of all possible rocks and structures in the world, you are left with uncertainty. And you quickly lose interest in this guesswork. Well, if you are in the Bay Area, you will feel extremely lucky when you get this book in your hands. It focuses on things you are likely to see here; it shows regional patterns to further help you understand what is what. As a result you will find the topic tangibly relevant, and your local explorations more interesting and fulfilling.
Another amazing aspect of this book is its fullness and quality. You would expect a regionally focused work to be a glorified pamphlet of highlights. On the contrary, this book has the feel of an expensively produced comprehensive geology introduction. (Judging by the cover photo you might not realize (I didn't) that it's a relatively thick (300+ page) book.) It ties everything to the big picture of geologic time. It is full of shiny color photos and color-coded maps. It is extremely well written!-- the writing shows obvious care in making explanations simple and intuitive to nonspecialists. So it is as if we have been given a full geology introduction text (and a great one at that!) written from scratch completely focused on the Bay Area. I might call it the nearest thing I've seen to a "scientific cosmology of the Bay Area"!
I'm not a specialist, but I can vouch for the contents in the following way. Over the years I've collected and bookmarked the most interesting and up-to-the-minute local geology content from the web. For instance, the USGS geologic quadrangle maps. This book seems to collect together all the same good stuff-- and reproduces them in summary form (but in color still!).
In summary, I have not seen a guide written more lovingly for the Bay Area explorer.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region (California Natural History Guides)
Why does a bit of ocean floor lie on top of Mt. Diablo? Why is Red Rock, that small, knobby island in San Francisco Bay, red? Why is Loma Prieta high? This book is for San Francisco Bay Area residents and visitors who want to explore the geologic world of this spectacular area, to learn about its shapes, colors, and rocky foundations. Doris Sloan illuminates the colorful geologic mosaic that surrounds San Francisco Bay and lucidly explains the complex and fascinating processes that have forged it over millions of years. In a lively and engaging style, Sloan describes forces such as the movement of tectonic plates, erosion, the waves on the coast, and human activity. She provides background information on the processes, time frame, and rocks that are the key to understanding the Bay Area landscape and geologic history, then turns to distinct regions of the Bay Area and to San Francisco Bay itself. * Superbly illustrated with 139 color photographs, 41 drawings, and 29 maps * Covers Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties * Gives clear, nontechnical explanations of complex topics including plate tectonics and the Bay Area's fault systems * Suggests locales in parks and open space preserves to view Bay Area geology in action
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