Overview of California Flashcards
How many states are larger than California? Which ones are they?
Two. Texas and Alaska
What does endemic mean?
Found no where else
How many plants are endemic to California?
5500
How high are the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges?
14,000 feet
How long (in miles) are the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges?
400 miles
What are the physical characteristics of Mono Lake?
Salty water, tufa towers
What are the biological characteristics of Mono Lake?
algae bloom, brine shrimp, alkali flies, birds.
How were the Tufa Towers in Mono Lake formed?
When calcium from submerged freshwater spring is combined with carbonates in the lake water.
What are California’s three deserts?
Mojave, Colorado and Great Basin
What is the lowest point in California?
Badwater Basin in Death Valley
How many feet below sea level is Badwater Basin?
282 feet
What is the highest point in California?
Sierra Nevada
How tall is Mt.Whitney?
14,494 feet
What got flooded by the Colorado River and for almost two years poured through an irrigation ditch into an ancient seabed?
The Salton Sea
What is the water like in The Salton Sea?
Salty
What is the largest estuary in the US?
San Francisco Bay
What was formed by the movement of plates along the San Andreas Fault and flooded when sea levels rose at the end of the last glacial period.
San Francisco Bay
What river flows into the San Francisco Bay?
The Sacramento River
What is the dominant ocean current that flows along the coast of California?
California Current
Which direction does the California Current flow?
Southward
What is the temperature like of the California Current?
Cool
What affect does the California Current have on the weather of northern California?
Cool & wet
Describe the Rainshadow effect?
Moist air from the ocean is forced to rise from the mountains making it cool and create clouds. Clouds bring rain and snow. By the time the air reaches the inland side of the mountain the air is drier.
How does the rainshadow affect the climate on the ocean-facing side of a mountain?
Makes it cooler and wetter
How does the rainshadow affect have on the inland-facing side?
Makes it drier.
Which side of Sierra Nevada mountain is wetter?
The western side
Which side of the Sierra nevada is dryer?
The eastern side
What are the four major regions of California?
Coastal, valleys, mountains and deserts
What is California average annual precipitation?
21 inches
What is climate?
long term temperature and precipitation
what is weather?
what’s happening on a particular day
define habitat
division of the landscape defined by their plant community
What are native species?
Naturally belong in California. Coastal prickly pear
What are endemic species?
Found nowhere else but California. Giant sequoia
Which lake is the highest in the continent?
Tulainyo Lake
Which province contain 500 peaks?
The Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada
ca map
