Guided Hike: History in the Rocks

On this walking field trip of the UCSC Campus, we will visit outcrops of ancient rocks, largely hidden beneath the redwoods and extensive modern soils, and describe their role in deducing the geologic history of the UCSC Campus and the Santa Cruz area in general. The igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks of the UCSC Campus record approximately 250 million years of geologic history. These rocks tell of the presence of an ocean far to the East in Paleozoic time (550-250 million years ago), the formation of the Sierra Nevada during the Mesozoic (250-65 million years ago), the influence of the movement of the San Andreas fault since its formation approximately 25 million years ago, and the rising and falling of sea level many times over the past 20 million years.

Details about meeting location will be shared upon registration and will be confirmed the day before the walk.