Geology 103 field assignment

1. Van Sickle Bi State Park
Jessica Paola Mendoza Nunez
Geology 103
Prof. Mark Lawler
Field assignment project
Due June 21st, 2015

2. Content
 Location
 Steller's Jay
 Black bears
 Jeffrey Pine
 Evolution of the Jeffrey Pine
 Manzanita
 Evolution of the Manzanita
 Igneous Granite
 Metamorphic Rocks
 References
 Picture taken by author

3. Van Sickle Park is located in the middle
of California and Nevada. It opened to
the public in 2011.
The park encompasses 575 acres inside
the Nevada side and 150 acres on the
California side. The park was donated by
Jack Van Sickle in the hopes of honoring
his grandfather Henry Van Sickle
This park was formed by faulting
around 3 million years ago and it is
surrounded by both the Sierra Nevada
Mountain Range and the Carson
Mountain Range. The highest peak in
Van Sickle park is around 7,777 ft.
*LOCATION*

4. STELLER'S JAY
On my hike I saw this bird many times. The
stellar Jay is closely related to the blue Jay. It
is native to western North America.
Another name for the Stellar Jay is" Long
Crested Jay, Mountain Jay,Pine Jay
The steller's Jay is one of two species in the
genus Cyanocitta, and it belongs to the
corvidae family
The steller's Jay is actually very bold and
aggressive, this birds flight is strong and
steady Its length is 11.5 inches.

5. The scientific name of the American black bear is Ursus
Americanus. Despite the name "black bears" they can
actually be of different colors such as blonde, cinnamon,
brown and black. Black bears are very common in the
States of California and Nevada, there are no Grizzly
bears left in these areas.
Black bears can weigh around 200 pounds but some of
the adult males can reach a weight of up to 500 pounds.
It is estimated that there are up to 25,000 to 35,000
bears in California. And 200 to 300 in Nevada.
(forestservice)
Black bears are believed to have evolved from dog like
animals. Bears are carnivores and are mammals. Bears
come from the Ursidae family. (American bear)
Black Bears

6. Jeffrey Pine
The scientific name for Jeffrey pine is Pinus Jeffreyi. The
Jeffrey Pine is mainly found in California, but also in some
western parts of Nevada, Oregon and Baja California. It is a
high altitude species and it can grow widely at 4,900-6,900
feet. It is closely related to the Ponderosa Pine; however,
this tree is more stress tolerant than the Ponderosa. The
Jeffrey Pine tree can grow at higher elevations and poorer
soils, in colder or dryer climates.
Its pinecones can be 12-24 cm long and they are dark purple
when immature. Its leaves are needle like and from in
bundles of three. (Jeffrey Pine, wiki)

7. Evolution of the Jeffrey Pine
The Jeffrey Pine was discovered in 1852 in Shasta
Valley, California by John Jeffrey. At first it was
believed to be a sort of species of the Ponderosa
Pine, but later was identified as having differences
to the Ponderosa.(forestryabout)
Although the tree was discovered in 1852, the
actual history of it is a lot longer. The Jeffrey Pine
tree seeds appeared around 400 million years ago
which was during the Devonian Period. After the
appearance of seed, we then had the appearance of
the gymnosperms. With these first steps completed,
the development of the Jeffrey Pine was now
possible. (paleozoic era)

8. MANZANITA
The name
Manzanita is one
of the many
different types of
species that come
from the
Arctostaphylos.
These plants are
characterized by
having smooth
orange or reddish
bark. There are
over 100 species
of Manzanita.
(manzanita,wiki)
Picture taken by author

9. Evolution of the
Manzanita
The evolution of the
Manzanita and every other
plant, began with
hybridization. It is believed
that fossils ancestors of this
plant occurred in the middle
Miocene, with the
appearance of modern
species in the late tertiary.
Another hypothesis to the
evolution is that these plants
appeared with the
appearance of a cooler drier
climate.(eoearth)
(Image from Wikipedia)

10. Igneous Granite
Pictures by author
This type of rock sees
to be very common in
the South Lake Tahoe
area, in fact, during
my hike It was pretty
much the only type of
rock that I observed.
Granite consist mostly
of feldspar, quartz,
mica and amphibole
minerals. A general
characteristic of
granite is that is it
almost always
massive in size.
(granite, wiki)

11. Metamorphic rock
Pictures taken by author
Metamorphic rocks are formed by the
transformation of existing rock types>
The original specie of rocks comes into
contact with heat and pressure, by
which the rock changes its
appearance. Metamorphic rocks make
up a large part of the Earth's crust.
(metamorphic, wiki)
There are two types of metamorphic
rocks; which are the foliated
metamorphic rocks and the non
foliated.
The foliated is the types of rocks that
have molded because of heat and
pressure.
The non-foliated do not have a layered
or banded apearance.
(geology)

12. REFERENCES
http://www.americanbear.org/evolution%20-%20taxonomy.htm
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ltbmu/learning/nature-science/?cid=fsm9_046599
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_pine
http://forestry.about.com/od/conifers/tp/Pinus_jeffreyi.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manzanita
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150218/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite
http://geology.com/rocks/metamorphic-rocks.shtml