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Geology of California

Finding materials on the geology of California entails using book, online, serial and map resources.  A few suggested overview books are listed below, but many more specific papers can be found by using CLAS, GeoRef, and other geology libraries' catalogs, all of which can be accessed from the Geological & Planetary Sciences Library's homepage, or from links below.

Detailed instructions for finding geologic maps are below, as well as a few web sites of interest to the researcher.
Books (all call numbers and locations are in the Geology Library, unless otherwise noted)

Geology of California, second edition, by Robert M. Norris and Robert W. Webb. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1990. QE89 N67 1990

California Geology, by Deborah R. Harden. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Prentice Hall, 1998. QE89 H37 1998

Assembling California, by John McPhee. New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993. QE89 M37 1993. For additional copies, see CLAS.   Reprinted with some additional material in Annals of the Former World, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.  QE77 M338 1998

Geology of Southern California, edited by Richard H. Jahns. San Francisco, California Division of Mines, 1954. California Division of Mines Bulletin 170. It's in the Geology Office. For additional copies, see CLAS.

Geology Underfoot in Southern California, by Robert P. Sharp and Allen F. Glazner. Missoula, Montana, Mountain Press, 1993. QE90.S65 S524 1993

A Field Guide to Southern California, third edition. by Robert P. Sharp. Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall/Hunt, 1994. QE90 S65 S5 1994

Geology of Northern California, Edgar H. Bailey, editor. San Francisco, California Division of Mines and Geology, 1966. California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 190. Geology E-2. For additional copies, see CLAS.

Check CLAS under the subject heading geology california, or, use the subject heading "geology california [<county name> or <quadrangle name>]". You can also do a keyword search in CLAS for the name of the quadrangle, county, or feature.

Check GeoRef.

Guidebooks/Field Guides

  1. Search Geologic Guidebooks of North America Database. After that, you can check CLAS to see if we have the guidebook.
  2. California GeoTour An Index to Online Geologic Field Trip Guides of California
  3. Walter Geology Library at University of Texas at Austin has a good list.

Finding Geologic Maps of California

  1. First, determine the name of the quadrangle on which your feature is to be found, using either
    1. Geographic Names Information System Server, or
    2. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America, v. 9 (Map Room E 154 O45 1991 v.9) or
    3. the topographic index map on the table in the Map Room.
  2. Check CLAS by subject (geology California [quadrangle]) or keyword for the name of the quadrangle.
  3. Consult Geologic Map Index to USGS 7.5' & 15' Quadrangles of California.  The Geology Library or the Map Room has all the series that are indexed, except the USGS Water-Supply Papers, which are at the Sherman Fairchild Library [SFL **TC1 .U2].
  4. Check the indexes that accompany the individual sheets of the Geologic Map of California, [Map Room (folded) G 4361 C5 s250 C1 <sheet name>] or in Geologic Atlas of California, [Geology Ref QE 89 C355 1958.]

    Please note: six of these sheets (Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, San Bernardino, Santa Rosa, Weed) have been superseded by sheets in the Regional Geologic Map Series [Map Room (folded) G 4361 C5 s250 C12 <sheet number>]), so check those for more up-to-date information instead.

  5. Check Index To Geologic Maps Of California and its supplements (through 1975), [Map Room G 4361 C5 1958 S76].
  6. Check Guide to USGS Publications [Map Room QE 36 G842 1998].  Use the area index, then search by quadrangle name.
  7. Check Index to Geologic Mapping of California, on the table in the Map Room.
  8. Check the National Geological Map Database.
  9. Check GeoRef.
  10. Have a look at Western Earth Surface Processes Team (USGS).

Web Sites

Content provided by Jim O'Donnell (jimodo AT library.caltech.edu)