CONTENT: This class will cover San Francisco Geology -- the rocks and sediment that underlie our parks and buildings -- and the geological history that created them.

LOCATIONS AND LOGISTICS: This field trip will visit about a dozen different locations from San Bruno Mountain, to Fort Point, to Coit Tower. Participants should be in sufficient physical condition to be outdoors all day, rain or shine, and walk up and down hills and across sand and uneven terrain for distances up to 1 to 2 miles at a single stop. Map and photos of most location stops.

TRANSPORTATION: Students arrange their own transportation. Carpools are encouraged and can be coordinated by students during the orientation.

WORKLOAD AND GRADING: To receive credit for this class, students must receive a grade of 70% or higher on all assignments and attend both field days and the Orientation. The total estimated homework load for the average student who wants an average grade is 6 hours. Homework consists of reading relevant portions of the field guide, watching related videos, and completing an online open notes noncollaborative assignment based on that reading. Additional graded assignments will happen in class and in the field and consist of completed field activities (field notebook) and end-of-field-day open-notebook noncollaborative quizzes based on the field activities.

ORIENTATION: During the orientation, we will provide an overview of San Francisco geology and some of the things we'll be looking for and at in the field. These are lab activities to get us ready to understand what we'll be seeing. We will also go over the class logistics and grading systems.

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Preparation for Field Days

• Read Field Guide Local Geology Review -- a brief review of basic local geology, with images.
• Watch video tutorials for further clarification of field guide material:
  • Earth's Layers & Isostasy (background for understanding Plate Tectonics video)
    (6 min, 15 MB) Video only | Video w/CC | Script
  • Plate Tectonics Basics -- (11 min, 26.5 MB) Video only | Video w/CC | Script
  • Plate Tectonics and Global Impacts -- (11 min, 31 MB) Video only | Video w/CC | Script
  • Plate Tectonics and California (7 min, 25 MB) Video only | Video w/CC and Study Quizzes | Script
  • San Francisco Bay (12 min, 46 MB) Video only | Video w/CC | Script

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EXTRA WEB RESOURCES:

• Map and photos of most location stops
• National Park Service (GGNRA): Geology of the Golden Gate Headlands
• SFSU Master's Thesis: Living on the Edge: Environmental History at Mussel Rock, Daly City, California
• BBC Short Video: Undersea Volcanoes
• ANIMATIONS: Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift
• Web interactive: Plate Tectonics -- Boundaries, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes
• Geology and Hydrogeology of Lake Merced
• Historic Images of San Francisco (1800s):
  • Sand Dunes
  • Sutro Baths
  • Lands End
  • Sunset District & Sand Dunes
  • Hunter's Point
  • South Beach
• Video: Geology of Telegraph Hill by Spring 2023 Geology student Matthew Gerson (Script and Citations)
• BLOG review of trip -- by student Zann Goff March 20, 2012

For questions about this web page, contact Katryn Wiese     |     Wiese Faculty Page