Magnified 200 times, these grains from Point Reyes tell an ancient tale.
Geology
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.
Letter from the Publisher: Of Volcanoes, Headlands, and Mountains
October 1, 2015 •
David Loeb’s October 2015 Bayview column
Rocking Out at Kehoe Beach: A Trip Through Time on the Pacific Plate
July 3, 2015 •
A visit to Kehoe Beach takes you on a journey to one of the Bay Area’s most dramatic geologic sites, where you can see rocks that have traveled far through time and space to pause temporarily in the Bay Area.
Not Doomed (Yet): A Q&A With Extinction Experts Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly
November 24, 2014 •
Two biologists discuss Earth’s alarming extinction rate.
Groundwater Depletion Could Lead to Earthquakes
May 15, 2014 •
In a newly published paper, scientists link groundwater depletion in the Central Valley to geologic uplift and maybe even earthquakes.
Why Bay Nature?
April 22, 2014 •
Publisher David Loeb had his Bay Nature epiphany while hiking in China Camp State Park. That’s when he conceived of the idea to start a magazine about the natural wonders of the San Francisco Bay Area. Recently David gave a … Read more
Is There Earthquake Weather? And Was That It?
October 16, 2013 •
Some people swear there’s earthquake weather. Some people swear there’s not.
Behind the Fracking Boom: Unearthing the Secrets of the Monterey Shale
October 14, 2013 •
But the pressure to exploit these resources isn’t going away anytime soon either, nor is the debate over the wisdom of doing so. As we weigh the pros and cons, a missing piece of the conversation is the land itself: What is the Monterey Formation? What is it made of and how did it get here? And what kind of habitats, plants, and animals live atop it?
Link Land and Sea in a Visit to the California Coastal National Monument
October 7, 2013 •
The link between dry land and deep water may soon be better recognized thanks to twin efforts to link together 3,300 acres of spectacular public shoreline and to make that land part of the California Coastal National Monument, a sprawling protected area almost no one’s ever heard of.
Could fracking the Monterey Shale lead to the next Big One?
September 17, 2013 •
The Monterey Shale runs through some of California’s major fault lines. Could pounding the earth trigger the next Big One?