1. SIERRA NEVADA
Amy Hutto
Carlos Guzman
Linh La
Tracey Mach
Nam Nguyen

2. Approximately
400 miles long
and 50 miles
wide
One of the most popular regions
in the state of California

3. THE SIERRA NEVADA
REGION INCLUDES:
• 3 National Parks
• 20 Wilderness areas
• 2 National Monuments

4. BUSINESSES & ORGANIZATIONS
• Sierra Entertainment
• Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
• Sierra Bullets
• Sierra Club
Even the state of Nevada was
named for this mountainous
region!

5. EARLY INHIBITERS – NATIVE AMERICANS
• Inhabited as early as 500 CE
• Northern Paiutes – East Side
• Mono and Sierra Miwoks – Western Side
• Kawaiisu – South Side
Captain John of the Pauites
Chief Winnemucca Pauites
Mono Indians
Sarah Winnemucca (daughter)
Pauites writer, lecturer

6. EXPLORERS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
• Began by the Europeans and
Americans in 1827
• Pedro Fages - First
European to sight range in
1772
• Bolton Coit Brown –
Explored Kings River in late
1800s
• Joseph N. LeConte –
Mapped Kings Canyon
National Park in early 1900s
• James S. Hutchinson –
Climbed Palisades and Mt.
Humphreys in early 1900s

7. MORE EXPLORERS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
• John C. Fremont and Kit Carson – Lake Tahoe in the mid 1899s
• Josiah Whitney & others – Yosemite National Park in the mid 1899s
• 1912 – USGS (United States Geological Survey) published first
maps of the Sierra Nevada
John C. Fremont
Kit Carson
Josiah Whitney

8. CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH (1848 – 1855)

9. EARLY ADVOCATES FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA
“None of Nature's landscape are ugly so
long as they are wild” (John Muir from Our
National Parks)
John Muir (1838 – 1914)
Advocate, Conservationist, Author

10. EARLY ADVOCATES FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA
Ansley Adams (1902 – 1984)
Photographer, Environmentalist

11. • The topography of the Sierra Nevada
have influence on the climate which
causes a rain shadow effect.
• The rain shadow effects occurs when
air flows eastward from the ocean
towards the Sierra Nevada. This air
is then cooled and compressed as it
rises over the range releasing
moisture and causing heavier
precipitation on the slope facing the
coast.
• The Western slope receives about
75% precipitation and the Eastern
slope only receives 20%.

12. PRECIPITATION EFFECT
Eastern Slope
Western Slope

13. •
Adiabatic cooling is a major cause for climate in the Sierra Nevada as well because air at higher
elevations is condensed, so it’s not able to hold as much moisture or oxygen molecules .
•
As a result, there is less oxygen at higher levels making it harder for wildlife to survive.
•
Also, air that is cooled becomes more drier and is chilled because as it rises the temperature
drops rapidly creating strong winds.
•
These strong winds are caused by the “Venturi Effect.” As cool air rises and passes through
mountain gaps velocity levels increase because of narrow openings causing dry and strong
winds.

14. GEOLOGY
• The Sierra Nevada is the largest Mountain range in the United
States and the most topographic feature in California.
• It is 400 miles long and 50 miles wide.
• It is mostly made up of granite rocks that started to form during
the Mesozoic Era.
• The Sierra Nevada is considered a young mountain range.

15. BIRTH OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
• The Sierra Nevada was formed when the North American plate pushed
westward over the Pacific Ocean plate, as a result, subduction caused
magma from volcanic eruptions from the continental crust to rise and cool
into granite magma.
• As the mountains rise erosion starts to carve the rocks and give it shape.
They turned the flat and wide hills into steeper and higher elevation ranges.
• There is major uplift in the eastern side of the range which has caused a
steeper slope along the west and has dismantled away older metamorphic
rocks.

16. GOLD IN SEDIMENT DEPOSITS
• During the time when the magma formation occurred it caused hot water to
rise to the ocean’s surface, this hot water had composites of gold and quartz.
• As the hot water rises to the surface, there is a composition of liquid gold and
quartz that gets engraved into the veins of rocks in the sediment and then
gets cooled.
• Erosion occurred which caused these engraved rocks to get left behind in the
banks of rivers and springs.
• One of the major reasons why the Gold Rush in California occurred was
because was because gold was discovered in the American River near
Sutter’s Mill.

17. Greenleaf Manzanita
(Arctostaphylos patula)
Kit-Kit-dizze
(Chamaebatia foliolosa)

18. FLORA
Western Azalea
(Rhododendron occidentale)
Flannel Bush
(Fremontodendron californica)

19. FLORA
Sierra Gooseberry
(Ribes roezlii)

20. FLORA
Giant Sequoia,
also known as
Giant Sierra
Redwoods
Sequoiadendron giganteum
The largest living
things in the
world!!

21. FAUNA – FOOTHILL WOODLAND
• California Ground Squirrel
• Great Horned Owls
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Burrowing Owls
• California Quail

22. FAUNA – YELLOW PINE FOREST
• Gilbert’s Skink
• Steller’s Jay
• American Robin
• American Black Bear
• Mule Deer

23. FAUNA – LODGEPOLE- RED FIR FOREST
• Cassin’s Finch
• Hermit Thrush
• Marten
• Northern Flying Squirrels
• Lodgepole Chipmunk

24. FAUNA – RIPARIAN HABITAT
• Lorquin’s Admiral
• Western Tiger Swallowtail
• Belted Kingfisher
• Zephyr Angelwing
• Pale Swallowtail

25. CONSERVATION ISSUES
- Yosemite Valley government protection (1864).
- Endangered spp.
- Invasive spp.

26. ENDANGERED SPECIES
Giant Sequia
(Sequoiadendron giganteum)
California Tiger Salamander
(Ambystoma californiense)
Sierra Nevada Red Fox
(Vulpes vulpes necator)

27. INVASIVE SPECIES
Cheatgrass
(Bromus tectorum)
Yellow
star- thistle
(Centaurea
solstitialis)
Northern
Snakehead
(Channa argus)