Physical Geography

Claire, Morgan, Kyle and Connor

The Soils In Danville

 *These are the major soil types: Sandy, Silty, Clay, Loamy, Peaty, and Chalky.*Major soil types found in Danville, California: Silty, Clay, and Loamy.*Clay soils are nutrient rich but do not drain well. We have clay soil in Danville because we have rain seasonally. Clay soil is similar in texture to mud.*Silty soil is dark in color and dry but smooth in texture. It is mainly used for landscaping and housing.*Loamy soil is considered to be "perfect soil". It is a mixture of different soils, it has high mineral content.*(we don't have sandy soil because no major natural rivers/creeks/lakes)*we also have ANTHROPOGENIC SOIl^^man made soil or man "enhanced" soil

(http://www.eais.net/soil) 

 

Dirt i found...on Mt. Diablo

Dirt i found... near the Danville Resevoir on Highland 

Dirt i found... near St. Isadore's

Most common soil in Danville

Danville soil uses

 

*there are different layers of soil*the more complex the ecosystem, the richer the soil (more nutrient)*there is a relitively small variety of wild-life in Danville so there is less nutrient soil in the Urban areas.*used for community gardens/gardens*housing/buisness*parks*local farming (Danville's farmers market is all locally grown food in/near area)

(http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/soil/)

Soil Type of Soil Example of Test Jar*Silty soils are throughout California. Typically contains about organic matter, silt and clay. It is light and very free draining, but holding water very poorly due to very high organic content.*Loam soils are also common in California, particularly in the valleys and flat areas (flood plains) surrounding rivers and streams. Loam soils are typically comprised of approximately sand, silt and clay by volume.  Loam soils are somewhat heavier than sandy soils, but also tend to be fairly free draining, again, due to typically high organic content.*Clay soils are very common particularly around urban areas where fill soils have been used to establish grade in developments.  Clay soils consist of sand, silt and clay.  Clay soils are not free draining, and water tends to take a long time to infiltrate. When wet, such soils tend to run off all excess water. Clay soils tend to be heavy and difficult to work when dry.

 (www.rain.org) 

I DIG IT(:

I went out and explored Danville...i brought you proof of Danville's soil types!(: I explored:

* Mt. Diablo

*St. Isadores

*& the Danville Resevior

It was dirty work and I can't be 100% sure what type of soil i found but i made educated guesses...

Natural Disasters: Information• Given the nearby ocean and many fault lines in the Bay

Area, Conta Costa County could potentially be hit with:o  Tsunamis: Coastal areas near Danville could be

inundated with water.o Earthquakes: Contra Costa County is home to the North

Hayward, Northern Calaveras, and Greenville faults. California in general has many fault lines.

o  Wildfires: The Bay Area is vunerable to wildfires because of California's climate.

Natural Disasters: Why it Matters

• Tsunamis: If areas become flooded by the tsunami, many people will have to be evacuated inland to other cities and places like Danville.

• Earthquakes: Earthquakes could devastate areas, and again, people would have to be evacuated inland.

• Wildfires: Wildfires can burn down forests and houses. They also put ash into the air, which affects air quality.

Sources:  "Tsunami Maps and Information." quake.abag.ca.gov. Association of Bay Area Governments Earthquake and Hazards Program. Web. 5 March 2011. "Active Faults Maps and Information." quake.abag.ca.gov. Association of Bay Area Governments Earthquake and Hazards Program. Web. 5 March 2011.  "Wildfire Maps and Information." quake.abag.ca.gov. Association of Bay Area Governments Earthquake and Hazards Program. Web. 5 March 2011. 

Map of Earthquake Shaking Potentialhttp://gis.abag.ca.gov/Website/Shaking_Prob/viewer.htm

Natural Resourses  Around the Contra Costa County

• The Contra Costa County has 3 main natural resources:

• Solar Power

• Wind Energy 

•  Water 

Solar Energy

Solar energy (or alternate energy) is probably the most abundant natural resource in the Contra Costa County because this area gets a lot of sunlight:

• Solar Energy plays a vital role in the ecosystem because it helps everything in the ecosystem to survive.

•  Solar Energy is cheap and very reliable.

• Solar Energy helps to diversify the energy sources. 

http://www.solarenergy-solarpower.com/what-is-solarenergy.html

  How is Solar Energy used?

• There are several technologies used to take advantage of Solar Energy. Concentrating solar power systems, passive solar heating and daylighting, photovoltaic systems and solar cells are just a few of the methods used to provide solar energy.

   Wind Energy

Wind Energy is one of the most important natural resources to the Contra Costa County.

•  Wind energy is energy collected from motion caused by heavy winds. Wind energy is collected in turbines with propellers that spin when the wind blows and turns the motion of the propeller into energy that can be used in the electrical grid. 

• Wind Energy is a clean and renewable source of energy.

http://www.ecomii.com/ecopedia/wind-energy

Water

Water is another important natural resource that the Contra Costa County has an abundance of.

• Naturally occurring rivers, streams, and lakes provide most of our water source.

• This is the water that goes to homes and stores all around the Contra Costa County.

• http://www.ccwater.com/

• http://www.ebmud.com/

How is the Water Transported to Houses?East Bay Mud controls the water in the East Bay. 

1. The water from the Mokelumne Lakes, Rivers, and Streams are attached to pipes that lead to Walnut Creek.

– From there the water is treated.– Then the clean water goes out through other pipelines that

lead to the neighborhoods.

flooding

•“MHDP's report predicts that in the event of a catastrophic storm, California's flood protection systems would be overwhelmed and property damage could reach almost $400 billion dollars. Over 1.5 million residents would have to be evacuated, and "business interruption costs" could reach $325 billion in addition to the aforementioned property costs”•Most people are not prepared for major flood because they think of earth quakes when they think of disasters in CA. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com)

Risk of natural disaster

•Many scientists believe that their will be a major storm or earth quake in the next few years

•Danville Weather, Pollution, Natural Disaster Indexes,http:// www.clrsearch.com

Supper volcanoes

•Yellowstone, like Hawaii, is believed to lie on top of an area called a hotspot •Hotspot is where light, hot, molten mantle rock rises towards the surface•If the super volcano goes off in Yellowstone the ash would spread all the way to CA and farther

The San Andreas fault

•The San Andreas is a Strike Slip fault: the two sides move past each other horizontally•The trees and plantes on either side of the lakes look different partly because the underlying rock is geologically very different.•“on the right came from the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains, and has been transported from several hundred miles to the South by motion along the fault.”Ward, The San Andreas Fault and the San Francisco Bay Area, http://sepwww.stanford.edu