THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA

By ABIGAIL JONES

PART I: CALIFORNIA • 1 1 Golden Gate • 3 2 Mother Lode • 19 3 Rivers of Gold • 35 4 A Traverse across the Range of Light • 47 5 Where Is the Edge of the North American Plate? • 61 PART II: THE BASIN AND RANGE AND THE GREAT BASIN • 77 6 Where Rivers Die • 79 7 The Growing Pains of Mountains • 97 8 Wealth and Magma • 117 9 Water and Salt • 131 10 Evolution’s Big Bang • 147 PART III: THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS • 163 11 Range- Roving Rivers • 165 12 Up from the Basement • 183 13 At the Frontier • 199