ErosionHere is another example of erosion on a very small scale.Here you can see the hard parts of the surface that have escaped erosion and other parts surrounding it have eroded away. The harder surface areas have prevented sediment underneath them from eroding.

Sedimentary EnvironmentsMarine environment is the environment where the continental shelf is under water.In the picture to the right you can see the Pacific Ocean. As you look out into the picture the continental shelf is located under the water. As you walk out into the ocean you are walking on the continental shelf.

Sedimentary Environments Continental environments are the environments that are present on the continents.The picture to the right is a picture that I had taken while traveling to Salt Lake City a few years back. I never realized that this picture was such a great example of a continental environment. The mountains in the distance collect snow and as the snow melts it travels down hill in channels and the channels meander throughout the environment. This water picks up sediments as it travels and deposits them downstream.

Transitional EnvironmentsTransitional Environments are the environments at the transition of land and sea. Coast lines and beaches are great examples of transitional environments.The picture to the right was taken of me while I was looking at different rock types in the beach town of Cayucas.The tides change which means as the water comes inland it covers more of the coast line and as the water recedes more coast line is present.

Example of the Practical Use of GeologyThe bridge in Parkfield is a great example of this. While I was in Parkfield there was a poster in front of the USGS office that talked about the bridge over the fault. There was a structure built over an active fault line. As the fault moves the bridge is designed to take some stress in movement.

Parkfield BridgeThe bridge is relatively short and in the bottom picture you can see me standing over the joint in the bridge. This joint allows the two halves of the bridge to slide laterally without destroying the bridge. In the bottom picture I have one leg on the North American plate and one leg on the Pacific plate.