The Bay Area’s No. 1 mercury polluter, the Lehigh cement plant in Cupertino, is cleaning its business after the region’s air district passed the strongest air rules in the nation.
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.
“Global Frackdown” Rally in SF Focuses on Oil and Gas in California
The state is considering new regs on fracking, which could create a new oil boom in California, in a swathe stretching form the Bay Area to Los Angeles.
Walking the Rift Zone at Point Reyes
Take a four-mile stroll with Jules Evens through a landscaped shaped by enormous geological forces — and full of wildlife, native plants, and a more than a few puzzles.
From the Inside Out
Workers digging the new fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel are getting a once-in-a-lifetime view of one of the defining features of the East Bay: the range of hills that runs from San Pablo Bay south to Fremont. By visiting just a few accessible sites aboveground, you can find clues that tell the story of how these hills rose from their humble origins as deep ocean sediments and volcanic flows to the iconic fault-riddled hillsides of today.
Video: Take a Tour of the Marin Headlands with Geologist Doris Sloan
Doris Sloan wrote the book on Bay Area geology and has taught thousands about the rocks beneath our feet.
Got Quakes on the Mind?
With a handful of very noticeable earthquakes jolting the East Bay, we’re getting a lot of questions about quakes — do small ones release strain? Or foretell the Big One? We get the word from one of UC Berkeley’s top seismologists.
Book Review: A Coast to Explore: Coastal Geology and Ecology of Central California
By Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel, Pandion Books, distributed by Heyday, 2010, 352 pages, $29.95. It’s hard to argue with the claim by the South Carolina-based authors of A Coast to Explore that “the shoreline of Central California is … Read more
A Life in Geologic Time
In the 1970s, mother and peace activist Doris Sloan was working a nonprofit desk job in a basement office in San Francisco when she got into a UC Extension Sierra field class and fell in love with geology. The rest, as they say, is history. Over the subsequent three decades spent teaching, writing, and leading field trips, Sloan has done more than anyone to make the complex geology of California and the Bay Area comprehensible and fun for those of us without PhDs.
Book Review: California Rocks! A Guide to Geologic Sites in the Golden State
A well-written and illustrated guide to California geology, including about a dozen spots in the Bay Area.
Pinnacles National Park, a Year-Round Oasis for Plants, Animals, and People
Volcanic drama, bat caves, diverse wildlife, roadless vistas: Pinnacles National Monument is definitely worth the trip.