Sierra Nevada Rises

A place to explore the natural setting (geology, flora & fauna), people, constructed infrastructure and historical events that play and have played a part in shaping the Sierra Nevada as we know it today.
Post Reply
User avatar
maverick
Forums Moderator
Forums Moderator
Posts: 11821
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:54 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Sierra Nevada Rises

Post by maverick »

Los Angeles AP:
A new NASA study says loss of water from rocks during drought caused California's Sierra Nevada to rise nearly an inch (24 millimeters) in height from October 2011 to October 2015.

The study also found that in the following two years of increased snow and rain, the rocks in the range regained about half as much water as was lost during the drought and the height of the mountains has fallen about half an inch (12 millimeters).

Research leader Donald Argus of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is discussing the study Wednesday at an American Geophysical Union conference in New Orleans.

The study suggests significantly more water was lost from cracks and soil within fractured mountain rock during drought and gained during heavy precipitation than hydrology models show.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
User avatar
gary c.
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1479
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:56 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Lancaster, CA

Re: Sierra Nevada Rises

Post by gary c. »

That's pretty interesting, thanks.
"On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude."
-- Lionel Terray
User avatar
Tom_H
Topix Expert
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:11 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Camas, WA

Re: Sierra Nevada Rises

Post by Tom_H »

Plate tectonics is also lifting the range. The Appalachians were once higher than the current Rockies. It is projected that one day in the distant future, the Sierra will be higher than the Himalayas are today.

I have my doubts that any humans will be here to enjoy that Sierra.
User avatar
giantbrookie
Founding Member & Forums Moderator
Founding Member & Forums Moderator
Posts: 3580
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 10:22 am
Experience: N/A
Location: Fresno
Contact:

Re: Sierra Nevada Rises

Post by giantbrookie »

Tom_H wrote:Plate tectonics is also lifting the range. The Appalachians were once higher than the current Rockies. It is projected that one day in the distant future, the Sierra will be higher than the Himalayas are today.I have my doubts that any humans will be here to enjoy that Sierra.
There is a small amount of tectonic uplift ongoing with the Sierra Nevada today. This is one of my main areas of research (over longer time periods of several million years) and I was recently in Reno discussing the data on very recent (ie last few years) uplift with one of the main researchers on this topic. The bottom line is that there is some debate on the rate of ongoing tectonic uplift, but for those researchers whose research indicates recent/ongoing uplift the rates are very much less than the Himalaya and the tectonic scenario is very different for the Sierra Nevada compared to the Himalaya. Accordingly it is highly unlikely the Sierra Nevada will surpass the Himalaya in elevation. In contrast, the Appalachians may have stood as tall as the Himalaya many millions of years ago.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests