Reconnaissance of the Geomorphology and Glacial Geology of the San Joaquin Basin, Sierra Nevada California
Matthes FE. 1960. Reconnaissance of the Geomorphology and Glacial Geology of the San Joaquin Basin, Sierra Nevada California. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper. No. 329
This report is based upon a reconnaissance of the upper basin of the San Joaquin River conducted in 1921, 1923, and 1927. By the upper basin (or what will hereafter, for convenience, be termed the San Joaquin Basin) is meant the mountain course of the San Joaquin River, situated in the central part of the west slope of the Sierra Nevada (fig. 1.) The San Joaquin Basin lies between the drainage basins of the Merced and the Fresno Rivers, on the northwest, and the drainage basin of the Kings River on the south. This report does not include the level plain at the west foot of the range which is traversed by the lower or valley course of the San Joaquin River—the San Joaquin Valley, as it is generally called, or the southern part of the Great Valley of California; neither does it include the drainage basins within the Sierra Nevada of the other rivers which join the San Joaquin River on the plain. Like each of the adjoining basins and those of the other master streams of the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, the San Joaquin Basin is a natural geomorphologic unit that can advantageously be treated by itself. The reconnaissance with which this report deals was undertaken for a 2-fold purpose: first, to extend geomorphologic and glacial studies made in previous years in the Yosemite region southeastward, as a first step toward connecting that region with the as yet isolated area, 100 miles distant, in the basins of the Kern, Kaweah, and Kings Rivers, which had been investigated some years before by Lawson (1904, 1906) and Knopf (1918); and second, to test the soundness of conclusions which the author had previously reached in the Yosemite region regarding the geomorphologic development and the glaciation of that region, and to determine their bearing on the history of the Sierra Nevada in general.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Matthes, Francois
- Date of Issue
- 1960
- Units
- HIST , YOSE
- Keywords
- Cultural Resources, ehistory, Geographic sketch, Geology, Geomorphology, Glacial Geology, Glaciation, Glaciers, History, Natural Resources, Rocks, San Joaquin Basin, Sierra Nevada