Volcanoes in the Santa Monica Mountains, southern California
Geology is everywhere and has a fascinating story to tell us.
My name is Karen Savage and I study and teach geology at California State University Northridge. One of my many interests is volcanoes and the material they leave behind. In southern California we do not have any active volcanoes, but have lots of evidence of past activity. I am going to share with you just a few examples of this evidence. This could be just the beginning of an amazing journey through what the Earth has to tell us about its history and we got to be here.
The Earth is talking to us if we just look and listen...
Malibu Creek State Park photo by Johnny Ink, Mountain Project.
The beautiful scenery is a product of what came before...we take advantage of the landscape in many ways, like rock climbing, hiking, and exploring to name a few.
Map of Santa Monica Mountains with locations of significant volcanic features
Geologic Map of the western Santa Monica Mountains, by Dibblee, T.W. and Ehrenspeck, H.E., 1990, Geologic maps of the Dibblee Geological Foundation, Dibblee Foundation , 1:24,000.
The above map shows the geology of the western Santa Monica Mountains. Note the red and pink colored areas show volcanic rocks exposed at the surface (Conejo Volcanics) The other other colors represent mostly sedimentary rocks exposed: Monterey Formation, Topanga Formation, Sespe Formation, Llayas Formation, Santa Susanna Formation and the Chatsworth Formation to name a few. We color these patterns on the map to show patterns and other features more clearly.
Which leads us to an interpretation (paleogeography) of what this area looked like during this time.
MioScene by John Iwerks, hanging in Live Oak Hall, second floor, home of the Department of Geological Sciences, California State University Northridge.
Those mountains in the background are the Santa Ana Mountains to the south of the present location of the features seen in the foreground of this mural. That is a whole other story...stay tuned.
