California - Getting REALLY CLOSE to the PNW!

As we get closer to covering the rest of US geography, we approach a very unique region in Chapter 15 of the textbook. It is the California region, covered by only one state: California.

Klamath - visibly transitional 

Unlike the other regions we have yet covered, there are absolutely NO transitional areas that surround California. The region is contained right within its state boundaries, with the exception a small section folding over the corner of Nevada. The state is full of different forms of diversity. It is home to 12% of Americans. Its national image stands as the state alone.  When it comes to any sign of transition, I would consider the Klamath Mountains to kind of being a unofficial transitional area between California and Oregon.

The following descriptions will be full of illustrations (thanks to the textbook) that tell us all about California. 

Diverse, diverse, and more diverse. Let's start off with the physical geography of California.
The coast ranges are an array of long, linear mountain ranges that run northwest to southeast, along the coast.  Its topography is linear due to the land movement along the fault zones, which are parallel to the coast. The Central Valley runs 400 miles north-south, 95 miles wide (east west). It provides a huge amount of agriculture for the state alone and other surrounding states. Its fertile soils and great climate make for one of the best places for agriculture. East of the Central Valley is Sierra Nevada, which is the edge of Nevada state, made up of "fault block" mountains, there are major barriers to movement, which is pretty much the opposite of the western coast of the area where the San Andreas fault lies.
Coast ranges make up alot of California, and there indeed a fair share of coast ranges among Oregon state (leading to The Dalles). 

Speaking of faults, it is known for its various fault zones where earthquakes are somewhat frequent and have changed the state's topography in the past. 

Owens River waterbed, almost dried out by Los Angeles.

Water - with agriculture dominating so much of California, water demand runs high. And with the 12% of American inhabiting the state, water demands adds even higher. About 8.5 million acres of land is irrigated in the State of California. Water projects have cost millions in dollars and resource. Groundwater was dried out in Los Angeles, which resulted in creating aqueducts from regions like the Owen Valley. LA's demand for water due to urbanization ended up drying the Owen's River.








There is also a sort of "water mismatch" situation happening in California. There is high precipitation levels in Northern California, and while they are low in Southern California, the demand for water is higher. The long stretch between the north and south regions of the state make it hard for water development projects.

Great Climate, and yet more diversity in the climate area within the state. Desert, interior and coastal semi-arid, dry, mild and hot Mediterranean....desert, semi arid alone, dry summer, and alpine. A total of 10 different climate types rule one single state.

The automobile industry has impacted California strongly. The disadvantage of the state is that there are topographic barriers towards the east. Since the state is very large, and provides many highways to get from one point to another, automobiles are vital to California citizens. Public transportation is scarce, except in San Francisco. Due to so much travel via automobile, smog levels tend to be higher in the state than in any other region in the US. Efforts to reduce smog levels in the air are strongly enforced by creating vehicles with lower emissions and setting high standards for things like smog checks.

North of California is shared with transitional areas of the PNW (but not vice versa). High levels of precipitation  towards Northern California are shared along with Oregon State (Portland, Wasco County). Small areas of alpine is similar to that of the PNW. The agricultural aspect of the state is shared with that of Wasco County. East of Wasco County is also made up of arid-semi arid climate.


The following will be images of different parts of California for the sake of landscape diversity as well :).

 

Vineyards in Central Valley

Eastern Sierras, picture from yours truly! 

San Francisco, CA - urbanized in Northern California.

Los Angeles, downtown area. Largest city in Southern California.

Mojave Desert (Joshua Tree National Park)

Humboldt, CA (NorthWest) - starting to look more like the PNW, no?

San Francisco is one of the most important port cities on the west coast. Water barriers centers the city. It is ethnically diverse, neighborhoods being much like ones in New York (Little Japan, Little Italy, Chinatown, et cetera). Terrain is not so flat, and the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) transportation system is one of the best in the states.