GEO 103

2. DANDELION – FRENCH DENT DE LION
• From the neoprene period about 65-2.5 MYA. (Willis,
McElwain)
• Dandelions are, quite possibly, the most successful plants
that exist, masters of survival, worldwide.
• They are the oldest of flowers dating back to early the
Egyptians. (Hanrahan)
• If you mow dandelions, they’ll grow shorter stalks to spite
you.
• They do not need pollination. That means if you have one in
your yard over time you could have millions. ( Hanrahan)

3. YOU PROBABLY SAYING TO YOURSELF " I HOPE THAT IS NOT HER HOME!"
AND I'M SAYING "I HOPE THAT THIS IS NOT YOUR HOME!"
THE TRUTH IS THAT DANDELIONS CAN OVERTAKE ANY HOME GARDEN IF LEFT NOT TREATED.
THEY ARE MASTERS OF EVOLUTION.

4. LODGE POLE PINE TREE- PINUS CONTORTA GINKGO - CLOSEST LIVING RELATIVE TO GYMNOSPERMS
o ALL PINE TREES CAME FROM GYMNOSPERMS FROM THE TRIASSIC PERIOD 200-250 MYA.
o THE LODGE POLE PINE IS A RESILIENT TREE THAT ADAPTS WELL TO DROUGHT CONDITIONS
o LODGEPOLE PINE GROWS ON SOILS THAT VARY WIDELY BUT ARE USUALLY MOIST. GROWTH IS BEST WHERE SOIL PARENT
MATERIALS ARE GRANITES, SHALES, AND COARSE-GRAINED LAVAS (DESPAIN)
o THE 3–7 CM CONES OFTEN NEED EXPOSURE TO HIGH TEMPERATURES (SUCH AS FROM FOREST FIRES) IN ORDER TO OPEN AND
RELEASE THEIR SEED (FEDUCK)

5. 3 OTHER PINE TREES FOUND IN LAKE TAHOE BASIN
PONDEROSA PINE SUGAR PINE WHITE FUR

6. BREWERS BLACKBIRD
 Brewer’s Blackbirds are social birds that nest in colonies of
up to 100 birds. (Martin, Stephen G. 2002)
 Brewer’s Blackbirds are quick to notice new food sources
and have been credited with helping to curb outbreaks of
insect pests
 I have seen that they protect their young by swooping down
at the back of the head of humans or animals that get close.
When they swoop, they get really close!

7. PICTURE OF NEST WAS TAKEN IN MY BACK YARD-SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA
 We also note that many all-black species of blackbirds nest
in open habitats that are not marshes (e.g., Brewer's
blackbird in savannas. Thus, it seems unlikely that
openness of habitat per se is a major factor driving the
evolution of plumage patches in marsh-nesting blackbirds
(Orians, 1985).
 The female is the one that makes the nest out of small sticks
and other material found close.
 I risked my life to get this picture!

8. THE FIRST PICTURE BELOW IS ONE OF GRANITE THAT WAS CHIPPED TO FORM RECTANGULAR BLOCKS THAT CAN BE USED FOR
RETAINING WALLS AND LANDSCAPE DECORATION
ALL GRANITE EXPOSED ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH HAD TO BE UPLIFTED FROM DEPTH, USUALLY FROM ABOUT ONE TO 20 MILES
DOWN.
GRANITE IS RADIOACTIVE. LIKE MANY OTHER NATURAL MATERIALS, IT CONTAINS TRACE AMOUNTS OF URANIUM. SOME GRANITE
BODIES, HOWEVER, CAN HAVE 5 TO 20 TIMES THE NORMAL AMOUNT OF URANIUM, THE BYPRODUCT OF WHICH IS RADON GAS,
WHICH HAS BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE LUNG CANCER

9. PINK GRANITES OWE THEIR COLOR TO RED OR PINK ALKALI FELDSPARS
THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS ARE ABUNDANT IN GRANITE ROCK FORMATIONS
30 MILLION YEARS AGO, DURING AN EPISODE GEOLOGISTS CALL A MAGMATIC FLARE-UP. DURING THIS TIME, AN OCEANIC PLATE
THAT HAD BEEN SLIDING UNDERNEATH NORTH AMERICA BROKE APART, EXPOSING THE BOTTOM OF THE NORTH AMERICAN
CONTINENTAL PLATE TO HOT MANTLE ROCKS. THIS HEATING CREATED NEW POCKETS OF MAGMA, AND EVENTUALLY BODIES OF
GRANITE CALLED PLUTONS ACROSS THE AMERICAN WEST. (ALLEN)
GRANITE BOLDER-IGNEOUS ROCK HALF DOME-YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

10. SCORIA IS A DARK-COLORED IGNEOUS ROCK WITH ABUNDANT ROUND BUBBLE-LIKE
CAVITIES KNOWN AS VESICLES. IT RANGES IN COLOR FROM BLACK OR DARK GRAY TO DEEP
REDDISH BROWN. SCORIA USUALLY HAS A COMPOSITION SIMILAR TO BASALT, BUT IT CAN
ALSO HAVE A COMPOSITION SIMILAR TO ANDESITE. (MCPHEE, DOYLE, ALLEN)
MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT SMALL PIECES OF SCORIA LOOK LIKE THE ASH PRODUCED IN A
COAL FURNACE. THAT HAS RESULTED IN PARTICLES OF SCORIA BEING CALLED "CINDERS"
AND THE SMALL VOLCANOES THAT ERUPT SCORIA TO BE CALLED "CINDER CONES."

11. RHYOLITE-IGNEOUS ROCK
FOUND IN MY FRONT YARD WHEN A TREE
STUMP WAS REMOVED . NOW USED IN
MY LANDSCAPE
RHYOLITE WITH MULTIPLE VUGS FILLED
WITH GEMMY TRANSPARENT ORANGE
FIRE OPAL.
Trapped gases often produce vugs in the rock.

12. LAKE TAHOE IN THE SIERRA NEVADA'S

13. CROSS-CUTTING RELATIONSHIPS

15. AFTER THE FAULTS
MADE THE SIERRA
NEVADA MOUNTAIN
RANGE, THEN…

17. Martin, Stephen G. 2002. Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus
cyanocephalus). In The Birds of North America, No. 616 (A.
Poole, Ed.). The Birds of North America Online, Ithaca, New York.
Orians G, 1985. Blackbirds of the Americas. Seattle: University
of Washington Press.
Nancy Kelly Allen, 2009. Granite and other igneous rocks, New
York, New York
Photo from page
https://tipsfromashton.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/kill-
weeds-without-killing-your-good-grass/
Feduck, Mike, 2015, "The genetic basis of cone serotiny in Pinus
contorta as a function of mixed-severity and stand-
replacement fire regimes".
Despain, Don G. 1973. Vegetation of the Big Horn Mountains,
Wyoming, in relation to substrate and climate. Ecological
Monographs 43(3):329-355.
Gardner, J., Mayer, L., & Hughes-Clark, J. (1998, August 2-17).
The bathymetry of lake tahoe, california-nevada.
Photos on page: 14
ahttp://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/students/lake-
tahoe/project.htm
Photos on page 13
http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/students/lake-
tahoe/project.htm
Photo page 15 left http://geology.com/rocks/scoria.shtml
McPhie, J., M. Doyle, and R. Allen (1993) Volcanic Textures A
guide to the interpretation of textures in volcanic rocks
Centre for Ore Deposit and Exploration Studies, University
of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania..198 pp. ISBN
9780859015226
K.J.Willis and J.C. McElwain 2002, Evolution of Plants, Oxford
University Press