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Geology

(Photo by Gorthian, Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0)

The San Francisco Bay Area’s crazy quilt-pattern of rock formations — shaped by earthquakes — are the key to understanding the region’s landscapes. From ice-age dune sand in San Francisco to recently subsided land in the Santa Clara Valley or the veritable maze of earthquake faults in the East Bay, the geology is a fascinating blueprint of the region’s natural history.

Summer Issue 2001 | Geology

Goat Rock State Beach

The Pacific Coast north of San Francisco is justly renowned for its scenic beauty. It is also geology writ large, where evidence of powerful forces still at work on our...

by Doris Sloan July 1, 2001

Spring Issue 2001 | Geology

Out of an Ancient Sea

The oak-dotted, rounded hills of Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties are a familiar sight, but do you know how they got to be that way?

by Christine Colasurdo April 1, 2001

Winter Issue 2001 | Archive

USGS Menlo Park’s California Center

Still trying to sort through the confusion of rocks and minerals that make up the Bay Area? Then you might want to visit the Menlo Park offices of the U.S....

by Marilyn Smulyan January 1, 2001