Marissa's PSC 103 blog

  Photo Blog #9 The stratigraphy that I observed was Spooners Cove in Montaña de Oro. I visited this site for the PSC field trip on Saturday May 31st at around 11am. I think that the ocean moving towards the land periodically overtime caused the erosion that exposed the layers. Also, I think another contributor was the fact that the continent slowly rises over time too, which could cause erosion as well. The layers are different, which leads me to believe that they are different rock material. The layer that is horizontal on the top looks like a different material than the rest of the rock layers. These specific layers were created due to anticline which caused Spooners Cove and another Cove to be compressed  together. This caused the two coves to create an upwards arch. When I researched Spooners Cove, I found that the formation is a long-term process driven by geological forces like wave action, erosion, and tectonic shifts and it has taken over thousands or even millio...

 Photo Blog #8 For this week's blog, I decided to record the leaves rustling due to the wind as my atmospheric process. This tree is in the view from my apartment window, so it's part of an atmospheric process that I see everyday. I visited the tree on May 24th around 12PM. From my research, I learned that the atmospheric phenomenon that I am observing is a form of wind-driven boundary layer that can impact the leaf's transpiration rate. This means that the wind has an impact on how quickly water vapor leaves the leaf through its stomata, which affects the plant's capability to take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Wind-driven boundary layer forms when wind interacts with the Earth's surface and creates a layer of turbulent mixing. Some things that are necessary for this atmospheric process are strong winds, surface friction, and temperature differences. Also, I'm assuming that since we live so close to the ocean, we experience more wind compared to other p...

  Photo Blog #7 The volcanic geological feature that I chose to visit is the Morro Rock. I visited Morro Rock around 2:35 on Thursday, May 15th.   Morro Rock formed over million of years ago and it is a result of a long-extinct volcano's plug. It is part of a chain of nine volcanic peaks known as the "Nine Sisters." It is an igneous extrusive rock primarily composed of dacite. When Morro Rock was active, it was part of a chain of volcanoes that erupted between 20 and 26 million years ago. Yes, Morro Rock has physical characteristics of an igneous rock, specifically an igneous extrusive rock. Morro Rock is mainly composed of dacite rock, which is formed by the cooling of magma at or near the Earth's surface. It also has large crystals, which is a physical characteristic of igneous extrusive rocks.  

 Photo Blog #6 The place I chose to visit where I believe humans have created structures to fight against erosion is the creek near the Poly Canyon Village apartments. I visited the creek at around 12:30 pm on Friday May 9th.       In this picture here, you can see the black metal piece that is placed in the water. I believe that this was man made to help slow down the flow of the creek, which would, in turn, help slow down the effects of erosion. It works by stopping the flow of the water and forcing it to slow down, similar to a speed bump. I think that erosion is still happening, but I think that the added structure definitely helps slow down erosion.

 Photo Blog #5 For this week's blog, I decided to visit the periodic table in the LS office. I visited the office on Friday May 1 at around 12 PM.     The mineral that is a single element that I am focused on is Gold. Gold is primarily used for jewelry, art pieces, investments and finance, electronics and industrial applications, dentistry, medicine, aerospace and defense, and many other uses. Gold is typically found in often in the form of nuggets or in quartz veins. It is usually found deep in the ground or in river and stream beds. Gold is usually extracted from the Earth through mining and then processing the extracted ore to separate the gold. The two main principal mining methods are placer and vein mining. Gold mining operations have numerous environmental consequences. Some of these include deforestation, soil erosion, water pollution, and air pollution.