Читать книгу Afoot and Afield: San Francisco Bay Area. A Comprehensive Hiking Guide онлайн

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The San Andreas fault—which splits the Santa Cruz mountains and slices through Marin County—and a host of lesser faults crisscross the Bay Area. As the Pacific plate slides past the North American plate, tremendous bursts of energy are sometimes released in the form of earthquakes. Most of the time, however, the northward movement, which, over the last 25 million years has carried granite from southern California to Point Reyes, is imperceptible. Visit Point Reyes National Seashore in the North Bay, Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve and Mt. Diablo State Park in the East Bay, and Los Trancos Open Space Preserve on the Peninsula to learn more about Bay Area geology.

Little Yosemite is a rocky gorge on Alameda Creek, perfect for picknicking and nature study.

Plants

California has a rich diversity of plant life. Some species, like coast redwoods, date back to the dinosaurs, whereas others have evolved within the past several thousand years. Roughly 30 percent of the state’s native plants grow nowhere else. These endemics, as they are called, include many types of manzanita (Arctostaphylos) and monkeyflower (Mimulus). Botanists divide the plant kingdom into several major groups: flowering plants, conifers, ferns and their allies, mosses, and algae. A plant community consists of species growing together in a distinct habitat. Here are the principal plant communities you will encounter along the trails.