Home | Session 3 | Franciscan Formation Pg 1, 2, 3, 4

The Franciscan Formation: Where the Rock and Plate Tectonic Cycles Converge

Presented by Lisa White
San Francisco State University

Questions to Ponder About the Franciscan Formation:

  1. How can such a diverse suite of rocks occur in a single formation?
  2. What kind of plate tectonic setting does it represent?
  3. What is a mélange? An accretionary wedge?
  4. Where else do Franciscan Formation rocks occur in California? Is there any connection with the San Andreas fault?

Recommended Books and Resources:

Konigsmark, Ted, 1998. Geological Trips, San Francisco and the Bay Area. GeoPress

Wahrhaftig, Clyde, 1984. A Streecar to Subduction. American Geophysical Union (www.agu.org)

Stoffer, Philip W. and Gordon, Leslie C. 2001 (eds.). Geology and Natural History of the San Francisco Bay Area, A Field-Trip Guidebook. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 2188, http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/bulletin/b2188/.

The Dynamic Planet: The Story of Plate Tectonics, http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/Vigil.html

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updated February 6, 2002

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