Santa Lucia Mountains

Santa Lucia Mountains

The Santa Lucia Mountains or Santa Lucia Range is a mountain range in coastal California, running from Monterey southeast for 105 miles (170 km) to San Luis Obispo. The highest summit is Junipero Serra Peak, 5,862 ft (1,786 m), at coord|36|08|44|N|121|25|10|W| in Monterey County. It is part of the Pacific Coast Ranges.

Toponymy

The first European to document the Santa Lucias was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542 while sailing northward along the coast on a Spanish naval expedition. Cabrillo originally named the southern portion of the range the "Sierras de San Martín", as he was passing the area on 11 November, the feast day for Saint Martin.

The present name for the range was documented in 1602, when another Spanish voyage, this time lead by Sebastian Vizcaíno, tasked with completing a detailed chart of the coast. Passing by the northern portion of the range on 14 December, he named the range "Sierra de Santa Lucia" in honor of Saint Lucia.

Climate

Like all other Pacific Coast Ranges, these mountains are close enough to the Pacific Ocean and high enough to force incoming moisture upward, making the west side wet and fit for conifers to grow. This creates a rain shadow over Salinas Valley to the east, which is considerably drier. The higher peaks receive some snowfall during the winter.

The climate is classified as Dry Summer Subtropical, or Mediterranean. Rainfall varies from 16 to 60 inches throughout the range, with the most on the higher mountains in the north; almost all precipitation falls in the winter. During the summer, fog and low clouds are frequent along the coast up to an elevation of several thousand feet. Surface runoff from rainfall events is rapid, and many streams dry up entirely in the summer, except for some perennial streams in the wetter areas in the north. [ [http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/ecoregions/261aj.htm Santa Lucia Range ecological subregion information] ] .

Geology

The rock of the Santa Lucias is dominated by granitic basement of the Salinian Block, between the San Andreas Fault and Sur-Nacimiento Fault. According to plate tectonic theory, the core of the Salinian block formed as part of the same batholith which forms the core of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Peninsular Ranges of Baja California. It was broken off the North American Plate and transported north by the action of the San Andreas Fault from an original position. It is predominantly Mesozoic granitic and pre-Cretaceous metamorphic rocks. There is some Cretaceous sedimentary rock of the Great Valley Sequence, considerable Miocene marine sediments, and some other Tertiary sediments. Units west of the Sur-Nacimiento fault are dominated by rocks of the Franciscan Assemblage.

Flora

The west slope of the range facing the Pacific Ocean is moist with good forest growth including Coast Redwood, Douglas fir, Ponderosa Pine, Pacific Madrone and the local endemics Bristlecone Fir "(Abies bracteata)" and Gowen Cypress "(Cupressus goveniana var. goveniana)", while the east side is drier, with chaparral and open woods of pine (including Coulter Pine and Gray Pine) and several species of oak. These mountains are home to the southernmost native stands of redwood trees, since the climate gets drier towards the south. This range is the only known habitat of the Vortriede's spineflower.

Major peaks

*Junipero Serra Peak, 1,786 m (5,862 ft), at coord|36|08|44|N|121|25|10|W|
*Cone Peak, 1,571 m (5,155 ft), at coord|36|03|07|N|121|29|46|W|. Cone Peak features the steepest coastal elevation in the lower 48 United States, rising nearly a mile (1,609 m) above sea level, only three miles (5 km) from the Pacific Ocean.
*Ventana Double Cone, 1,479 m (4,853 ft)
*Mount Carmel, 1,346 m (4,417 ft)

Wine

The Santa Lucia Highlands American Viticultural Area, a producer of California wine, is located in the region.

References

External links

* [http://www.ventanawild.org Ventana Wilderness Alliance] — Dedicated to the protection, preservation, enhancement and restoration of the wilderness qualities and biodiversity of the public lands within California's northern Santa Lucia Mountains.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Santa Lucia Mountains Slender Salamander — Taxobox name = Santa Lucia Mountains Slender Salamander status = LC | status system = IUCN3.1 regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Amphibia ordo = Caudata familia = Plethodontidae genus = Batrachoseps species = B. luciae binomial =… …   Wikipedia

  • Santa Lucia Mountains — Das Santa Lucia Gebirge ist eine Bergkette an der Küste Kaliforniens. Das Gebirge ist Teil der Southern Coast Ranges, einer der Gebirgsketten an der nordamerikanischen Pazifikküste. Es gehört weit überwiegend zum Monterey County, nur seine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Santa Lucia Range — Les Santa Lucia Mountains ou la Santa Lucia Range est une chaîne de montagne située sur le littoral de la Californie, entre Monterey et San Luis Obispo. Son point culminant est Junipero Serra Peak (1784 mètres) dans le comté de Monterey. Elle… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Santa Lucia Range — Coordinates: 36°3′3.861″N 121°28′8.769″W / 36.0510725°N 121.4691025°W / 36.0510725; 121.4691025 …   Wikipedia

  • Santa-Lucia-Gebirge — p1 Santa Lucia Gebirge Das küstennahe Santa Lucia Gebirge vom Cone Peak aus gesehen Höchster Gipfel Junipero Serra Peak ( …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Santa Lucia Highlands AVA — Infobox Wine Region name = Santa Lucia Highlands AVA caption = official name = other name = type = American Viticultural Area year = 1990 [http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text idx?c=ecfr;sid=bff700d0bbb2a632948b70fe7e91d7d4;rgn=div5;view=text… …   Wikipedia

  • Santa Lucia II — (Santa Lucia,Италия) Категория отеля: Адрес: 55041 Santa Lucia, Италия …   Каталог отелей

  • Santa Lucia III — (Santa Lucia,Италия) Категория отеля: Адрес: 55041 Santa Lucia, Италия …   Каталог отелей

  • Santa Lucía, Intibucá — Santa Lucía is a municipality in the Honduran department of Intibucá.Santa Lucía is nestled in a valley along the San Juan river, in the remote mountains of the province of Intibucá. It is one of the poorest towns in the province, though in… …   Wikipedia

  • Chaînon Santa Lucia — 36° 03′ 04″ N 121° 28′ 09″ W / 36.0510725, 121.4691025 …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”