Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stream courses mark many of these otherwise indiscernible faults. The lower Big
Sur River from the gorge to Andrew Molera State Park offers startling proof of how
fault movement can alter a watercourse. Along this section, the river flows straight
down the Sur Thrust Fault until it is forced into a conspicuous 90-degree turn out to
Molera Beach.
Coastal bluffs, or marine terraces, offer evidence that the Santa Lucia Range con-
tinues its abrupt rise above sea level. These bluffs form as waves carve into the bed-
rock and deposit coarse sand and sediments. As land west of the San Andreas Fault
buckles, these platforms rise above sea level, exposing the layered sand and cobble-
stones. Prominent marine terraces stretch from Point Sur to Andrew Molera State
Park, while broader terraces form the flat terrain at Pacific Valley.
Erosion serves as a counteracting force to the recent uplifted Santa Lucia Range.
As mountain flanks rise ever steeper, streams cut deep, fast channels through the rock,
carrying away thousands of tons of sediment. A clear creek in summer can become a
muddy torrent during heavy winter rains or after wildfires remove anchoring vegeta-
tion. Landslides are a common phenomenon in Big Sur. Of course, the Pacific Ocean
also accounts for its fair share of erosion.
Geologists believe the recent uplift has thus far outstripped these erosive forces.
If the uplift slows or stops, however, the tables will turn and gradually return the re-
gion to a rumpled landscape of low, rolling hills and plains.
Climate
C
LIMATOLOGISTS HAVE LONG COMPARED
California's climate to that of the Mediter-
ranean coastline, with dry summers, wet winters, and moderate year-round temperat-
ures. Big Sur's climate differs markedly, however, due primarily to consistent summer
fog and the sheer topography of the Santa Lucia Range. Temperatures and humidity
run the extremes along the fog-shrouded coast, atop 5000-foot mountain peaks, amid
deep river canyons, and across the sun-drenched south-facing slopes.
An air circulation pattern known as the North Pacific High dominates regional
weather patterns. From May through September, the sun most directly strikes the
Northern Hemisphere. Surface air warms and rises into the upper atmosphere toward
the North Pole. This heated air mass cools quickly in the upper atmosphere, subse-
quently sinking toward the surface as a large high-pressure cell. This massive high-
pressure cell drives Big Sur's westerly winds and summer drought, as well as its sum-
mer fog, a very stable phenomenon off the California coast that is absent in the Medi-
terranean basin.
Thick fog forms when westerly winds brought by the North Pacific High push
cold ocean water inland, forcing warmer surface water offshore. Rich in nutrients
