| USGS Education Home / California Education Standards / California Resources |
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California
Geography, Geology, Hazards, and Natural History Information |
This website presents selected examples of maps and educational reference materials about California that are available free on the Web. Note that many thousands of publications exist that deal with California geography, geology, and natural resources and hazards, and many of these can be found with simple topical searches on the Web. Hard-copy materials can be identified and borrowed from libraries. The most comprehensive library collection of Earth Science is the USGS Library; the library's catalog is on-line at http://library.usgs.gov.
Click on any of the fast links below:
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Geography / Physiographic Provinces / Parks / Geology / Minerals / Energy
Natural Hazards / Earthquakes / Volcanoes / Landslides / Wildfires / Tsunamis
Water Resources / Climate / Floods / Drought / Biology & Environment |
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| Geography |
Maps of selected areas, scales, themes, and formats can be found in several ways. Many maps can be viewed and purchased online through the USGS Store or by calling 1-888-ASK-USGS. To browse popular maps, go to the USGS Store and click on "Education Products". Below are web links that provide access to standard USGS map series that include California:
The National Map - this interactive website is useful for generating maps at many scales with multiple data sets including shaded relief, topographic maps, roads, cultural features, boundaries, water resources, aerial photography (orthoimagery) and other data sets.
The National Atlas - provides access to more basic interactive maps with varying themes including agriculture, biology, climate, environment, geology, history, people, transportation, and water. Many of the maps below are modified from the map data sets available from the National Atlas.
A fast search for a map can be done by using the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
by searching the Query Form for the United States and Its Territories. A search on GNIS will give you topographic map indexing, longitude & latitude, and feature information, plus gives you direct access to topographic maps and aerial photography via the National Map and other sources.
A portal to many information resources about the Bay Area. Digital map data (recent and historical) for the San Francisco Bay Area can be found on the Bay Area Regional Database
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Shaded Relief Maps of California
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Shaded Relief Map of California
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Shaded Relief Map of California (Gray Scale)
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Draw-What-You-Want-On- California Map
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| Population and Urban Issues in California |
California is the most populous state in the country. Although California's percentage growth rate is not the highest in the county, the total number of people immigrating to the state remains the highest in the nation. Los Angeles is the 2nd largest metropolitan region in the nation, and the San Francisco Bay Area is 5th. Sixteen California cities rank in the top 100 most populous cities in the country. Click here to see 2000 Census statistics about California and its largest metropolitan areas.
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California's Population Density By County
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California's Population (With Major Cities)
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California's Interstates and Highways
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| Elected Officials and Political Boundary Maps of California |
Information about Federal, State, and local representation can be found at these sources:
Congress.Org
Information about all elected officials in the United States, and information about about issues and actions in government, information about government agencies, elections, and resources to practically every topic related to government. California congressional representative information is also available by district.
California Voter Foundation - California Map Series
Links to representation maps on many scales for California, from state levels down to Congressional, CA Senate, CA Assembly, and county maps.
California State Senate
Information about the California State Senate with CA Senate district maps of California.
California State Senate>
Information about the California State Assembly with CA Assembly district maps of California.
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Click here to see information on California's physiographic provinces:
Basin and Range
Cascade Range
Coast Ranges
Colorado Desert
Great Valley
Klamath Mountains
Modoc Plateau
Mojave Desert
Peninsular Ranges
Sierra Nevada
Transverse Ranges
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Physiographic Provinces of California
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Physiographic Provinces of California
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See the California Geological Survey website on physiographic provinces:
California GeoTour: An Index to On-line Geologic Field Trip Guides of California http://www.consrv.ca.gov/cgs/geotour/ |
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| California's Parks and Public Lands |
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California's Parks and Public Lands
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Note that large sections of land in California not show on this map are managed by other land trust organizations, and Federal, state, and local governments. Examples include military reservation, Indian reservations, The Nature Conservancy, open space reserves, county and city parks, transportation, water and utilities companies, agricultural and industrial institutions, universities, and many others.
Finding information about land ownership, land access, and land use policies can be challenging even to professionals. A good place to start is with a local chamber of commerce. |
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Selected Federal and
State Agencies
National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov
Bureau of Land Management
http://www.blm.gov
National Forest Service
http://www.fs.fed.us/
US Fish & Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/
California State Parks
http://www.parks.ca.gov/ |
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| Geology of California |
California has formed over the last billion years of Earth's history. The oldest rocks exposed in California are exposed in the Death Valley and Mojave Desert regions and represent ancient oceanic crust and marine platform sediments that accumulated next to the continental margin of California. An ancient volcanic arc developed along the western edge of North America starting about 250 million years ago and continue through the Mesozoic Era (to about 70 million years ago). Today, the core of this ancient volcanic mountain range are exposed in the Sierra Nevada and throughout Southern California. The Great Valley and Coast Ranges regions are underlain by rocks that slowly assembled from oceanic crust and from sediments deposited in the ocean basin next to the continent. The by rocks were transport and accreted onto the continental margin by forces associated with plate tectonics and later by motion along great fault systems, including the San Andreas Fault. Forces that shaped the earth in the past are still occurring today, as best demonstrated by California's earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, and other natural events, both great and subtle, that, over long periods of time, have shaped the surface of the landscape on which we live.
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| Natural Hazards of California |
Geographic Distribution of Major Hazards in the U.S.
Natural Hazards
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| Earthquake Hazards of California |
USGS Earthquake Hazards)
This is the primary resource page for information and research related to earthquakes and seismology.
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Major Faults of California
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Major Faults of California
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California's Faults (blank)
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Maps of Recent Earthquake Activity in California-Nevada
Visit the ever-popular USGS "Quake" website to see information about the daily earthquake activity in California and Nevada.
Earthquake History of California
Earthquake Probability Map for San Francisco Bay Area
The San Andreas Fault System, California (USGS Professional Paper 1515)
This classic book, edited by Robert E. Wallace, is both a technical and exhaustive resource of information about the San Andreas Fault and is an essential companion to all newly published research about the fault system. The book is available for download or to purchase.
Putting Down Roots In Earthquake Country: Your Handbook For the San Francisco Bay Region
This general interest publication provides information about San Francisco Bay region earthquakes (cause, history, probabilities, effects) and provides detailed information about how to be prepared when a major earthquake happens. The guide identifies specific steps to improve your safety before, during, and following an earthquake. This "must read" document provides sound advice for anyone living in a potential disaster zone.
Where's the San Andreas Fault? A Guidebook to Tracing the Fault on Public Lands in the San Francisco Bay Region
This field guide provides descriptions of the section of the San Andreas Fault that ruptured in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Descriptions of places the public can go range from the South Bay regions near Holister, San Juan Bautista, throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains between San Jose and San Francisco, and Point Reyes National Seashore. Introductory materials include an overview of the San Andreas Fault System, geology, landscape features, and plant communities that reveal information about the underlying geology.
Faults in Southern California
This website provides detailed information about major active faults in Southern California.
Quaternary Faults and Fold Database of the United States
This website contains information on faults and associated folds in the United States that are believed to be sources of M>6 earthquakes during the Quaternary (the past 1,600,000 years) . Maps of these geologic structures are linked to detailed descriptions and references.
National Seismic Hazard Maps
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Modified Mercalli Intensity Maps for the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Plotted in ShakeMap Format
An interactive view of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake compared with other California earthquakes including the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
The Severity of an Earthquake
The severity of an earthquake can be expressed in terms of both intensity and magnitude. However, the two terms are quite different, and they are often confused. This website explains the differences.
Measuring the Size of an Earthquake
What is Earthquake Intensity?
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Earthquake Intensity Map for the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 (ShakeMap)
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Earthquake Intensity Map for the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989
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| Wildfire Hazards of California |
Wildfires (USGS Wildland Fire Research)
Provides links to introductory information about wildfire hazards throughout North America.
National Interagency Fire Center
The NIFC has wildfire information, current fire information for all states, and fire-safety educational resources.
Fire Ecology Research
This is the portal page to fire ecology studies at WERC; research is in Sierra Nevada forests, California shrublands, and Mojave and Sonoran deserts, and Great Basin.
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| Coastal and Marine Hazards |
Western Coastal & Marine Geology (USGS)
Provides access to information about scientific research in the coastal and offshore areas of California and other states, including marine earthquake, tsunami and other submarine hazards and processes.
Tsunamis & Earthquakes
Provides information about USGS tsunami research and links to information websites about the origins of tsunamis and QuickTime animations of tsunamis in the Pacific region including a recreation of the probable tsunami associated with the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
Tsunamis (USGS Earthquake Hazards Program Facts & Lists page)
Links to many tsunami information and resources.
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Water Resources Map of California
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Water Resource Map of California (With Relief)
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Water Resources Map of California (with Precipitation)
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Average Annual Precipitation Map of California
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Average Annual Precipitation Map of CA (With Relief)
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Average Annual Precipitation Map (with Relief and Water)
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| Climate of California |
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Past Climate and Vegetation Changes in the Southwestern United States
http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/impacts/biology/pastclim/
This website provides information about climate change through the late Pleistocene Epoch to the Present. It illustrates changes in land cover, biology, and the extent of great lakes that covered the Great Basin and southern California through the last Ice Age and modern global warming.
Climate Change & California (California Energy Commission website)
http://www.energy.ca.gov/global_climate_change/
This website provides links to introductory information and ongoing research into global climate change, including the potential impact on California.
Effects of Climatic Variability and Land Use on American Drylands
Links to many resources about global change in the US and Southwest, including California.
Investigating Climate Change of Western North America
A fact sheet that discusses how the California Current in the Pacific Ocean drives the climate of the western United States.
Deserts: Geology and Resources
This general interest publication defines what is a desert, types of desert and desert landscape features, and processes that form desert landscape features, and how the Earth's atmospheric system influences aridity.
USGS Global Change Research - Earth Surface Dynamics
A more technical resource website describes climate change research at the USGS, but contains useful links to many climate investigations and publications. |
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Late Pleistocene Map of California
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| California's Weather |
California State Information (Weather and Climate data from NOAA, National Weather Service)
Weather and climate information are gathered and compiled by the National Weather Service (a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]. This website provides access to satellite and radar images, hourly and short term reports by city, State forecasts, weather summaries, climatic data, special weather and watches, and other public information. Click here for information about NOAA's California regional offices.
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| Floods of California |
California Department of Water Resources, Division of Flood Management, California Data Exchange Center
Provides access to information about current river conditions with access to resources useful for predicting flood conditions (including snow pack, reservoir data, weather forecasts, and much more). It also provides access to all the major Federal (including NOAA and USGS), state and local water agencies' websites.
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| Droughts of California |
Drought Preparedness (California Department of Water Resources)
Provides links to information about past, present, and potential future drought conditions in California.
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California Wildlife
The California Wildlife and Habitat Analysis Branch provides extensive resource information about wildlife in California (both plants and animals). The website has extensive links to organizations and map resources related to wildlife resources.
California Native Plant Society
This society website has image galleries and links to resources about native plants and habitats throughout California. |
Forest Cover Map of California
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Forest Cover Map of California (With Relief)
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
