In June, 1970 Rodman Snead made a field study of particular rock types in the San Felipe area of Baja California. Later that summer at a remote sensing institute at the University of California, Riverside, Douglas McDonald and Rodman Snead had an opporunity to study three different types of aerial photographs taken over the San Felipe region. The three types of photographs were medium altitude black and white vertical photographs, low altitude color infrared oblique photographs, and Apollo IX space photography. The purpose of this paper is to mention the landforms observed on the ground which can be easily viewed on these photographs and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the three types. (Author).
The research emphasizes the use and application of remote sensing techniques to coastal environment research of Baja and southern California. Ten technical reports, and numerous professional papers resulted, ranging over topics such as coastal vegetation, landforms, and use, tectonics and human activities. The research topics are summarized in an informal style and described in chronological order. (Modified author abstract).
Coastlines display a wide variety of forms, both subaerial and subaqueous, and an equal variation in nearshore processes (waves, tides, currents, etc.) on a worldwide basis. Spatial and temporal variations of these forms and processes along coasts cause considerable problems in planning and successfully executing many naval operations. If the relationships and interdependence between the nearshore processes and the resulting forms were completely understood, relatively accurate predictions could be made of existing conditions given only simple input parameters. This report documents the variability of coastal processes and resulting shoreline morphology along the peninsula of Baja California, which is used as a test case to examine whether some of the methodology developed can be used in linking process variables and morphology. (Author).
Baja California is an improbably long and narrow peninsula. It thrusts out like a spear, parting the Mexican mainland from the Pacific Ocean. In his third installment on the Gulf of California’s coastal setting, expert geologist and guide Markes E. Johnson reveals a previously unexplored side to the region’s five-million-year story beyond the fossil coral reefs, clam banks, and prolific beds of coralline algae vividly described in his earlier books. Through a dozen new excursions, in Baja California’s Coastal Landscapes Revealed, Johnson returns to these yet wild shores to share his gradual recognition of another side to the region. Johnson reveals a geologic history that is outside the temporal framework of a human lifetime and scored by violent storms. We see how hurricanes have shaped coastal landscapes all along the peninsula’s inner coast, a fascinating story only possible by disassembling the rocks that on first appraisal seem incomprehensible. Looking closely, Johnson shows us how geology not only helps us look backward but also forward toward an uncertain future. The landscape Johnson describes may be apart from the rest of Mexico, but his expert eye reveals how it is influenced by the unfolding drama of Planet Earth’s global warming.
Baja California: wild, desolate, and a treasure-house of geological wonders. Along its ancient shorelines, careful observers can learn much about how the Gulf of California came into existence and what the future of the Baja California peninsula might be. For those who wish to unlock the mysteries of Baja California, geologist Markes Johnson offers the key. He has taken a body of technical research on the geology and paleontology of the region and made it accessible in plain language for anyone who visits the peninsula, whether for study or recreation. His book teaches general concepts in coastal geomorphology and tectonics, as well as the basic geological and natural history of the Gulf of California, in a conversive, intellectually stimulating fashion. Johnson's guide takes the form of six day-long hikes in the area of Punta Chivato on the east coast of the southern Baja California peninsula. Punta Chivato is presented as a microcosm of the entire region; it can enable visitors to better understand major themes in the natural history of the Gulf of California and its geological past. All of the hikes begin at the southeast corner of the Punta Chivato promontory and loop out in different directions. Each circuit is designed to minimize overlap with adjacent hikes and to maximize the visitor's exposure to instructive variations in the landscape. Each chapter features additional reflections on a geologist of another time and place who has advanced the field in a way that elucidates the material covered in that chapter. Through these asides, readers will learn the basic lessons about how geologists read the secrets hidden in landscapes. Discovering the Geology of Baja California invites visitors to these shores to explore not only rocks and fossils but also the continuum of past ecosystems with the ecology of the present. It offers both an unparalleled guide to a remote area and a new understanding of life caught in an endless cycle of change.
This collection contains 15 papers presented at Coastal Zone '93, the Eighth Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Management, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 19-23, 1993. Part of the Coastlines of the World series.
The Baja California Plant Field Guide is a manual to native and naturalized plants of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. It is a useful guide for the entire Sonoran Desert and for Southern California, as over 50% of the species covered also occur in these regions. Over 715 different plants in 111 plant families are identified (most in both English and Spanish), with both scientific and common names and detailed descriptions. Many species are illustrated with color photographs. Descriptions entail plant habit and height; stem, leaf, flower, and fruit morphology; range; elevation; pollination biology; ethnobotanical uses; and discriminating comparisons with close relatives. This book is intended for everyone from the interested novice to the professional botanist.
Volume 1 of Baja Boater's Guide provides detailed coverage of Baja's 1,000-mile Pacific coastline, with aerial photos and charts of every bay, cove, promontory, island, and harbor.
