TEACHING GEOSCIENCE TO THE TRAVELER FOR 120+ YEARS: SACRAMENTO TO RENO

Google Earth overlays and Google MyMaps markers are among the resources used in a comparison of more than 120 years of geoscience publications for the traveler in California, as listed in the table below. The route between Sacramento and Reno was chosen as a focus, both for the large number of publications for a general audience, and for California’s pivotal role in the progress of geoscience. Lessons are drawn both from the works’ diverse styles of presentation, and their varied approaches to the moving target of evolving geoscience concepts. The overlays and markers can be downloaded or accessed from http://georgiarocks.us/spots/usca.

Year(s)	Title	1st author	Notes
1878, 1890	An American Geological Railway Guide	MacFarlane	Table only, listing rock types by station
1915	Guidebook of the Western US, Part B [USGS railway series]	Lee	Major units, faulting, glaciation, and their timing, in mile-by-mile form, with fold-out geologic maps
1968	AAPG Geological Highway Map	AAPG	Compilation map with interstate routes readable, with cross sections and supplemental maps
1975	Roadside Geology of U. S. Interstate 80…	Hamblin	Mile-by-mile of outcrops, no geologic history
1975, 1996, 2006	Geology of the Sierra Nevada	Hill	Geologic history well-organized by chapters, featured sites not necessarily on roadways
1975, 2000, 2016	Roadside Geology of Northern (& Central) California	Alt	First plate tectonics for public (1975, especially subduction/ accretion), tagged geologic maps
1993, 1998	Annals of the Former World	McPhee	Celebrated author shadows one authority (Moores), emphasis on ophiolites and terranes
2002	Geologic Trips: Sierra Nevada	Konigsmark	Gold, granite, uplift, volcanism, and glaciation are well-introduced; great graphics, location vignettes
2011	Rough-Hewn Land	Meldahl	Geologist with literary talent weaves history and geography with new geoscience, e.g. Nevadaplano