U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2007-3072

Revised March 2013

U . S . G E O L O G I C A L S U R V E Y M E N L O P A R K C A M P U S

Self-Guided Tour

Welcome to the USGS

The U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS), established by an act of 

Congress in 1879, is the Nation’s 

largest natural science and civilian 

mapping agency. The USGS works 

in cooperation with more than 2,000 

organizations across the country to 

provide reliable, impartial scientific 

information. This information is 

used to minimize the loss of life 

and property from natural disasters, 

safeguard the Nation’s natural 

resources, and enhance quality 

of life through careful monitoring 

of water, biological, energy, and 

mineral resources.

Natural and Historical Setting

The Menlo Park campus of the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS) is sited in 

the San Francisco Bay region, an area 

of complex and exciting geology. This 

region occupies the boundary zone 

between two of the major tectonic plates 

that make up the outer shell of the 

Earth—the Pacific Plate and the North 

American Plate. The many active faults 

slicing through the region, the frequent 

earthquakes, and the very young ranges 

of hills and mountains that have been 

pushed up are results of the relentless 

motion of these plates.

San Francisco Bay occupies a 

depression formed when a block of the 

Earth’s crust subsided between two of 

the region’s major faults. The rise of sea 

level about 10,000 years ago (at the end 

of the Pleistocene Epoch of Earth history) 

flooded this depression to form the Bay, 

an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.

The USGS Menlo Park campus was 

built on sedimentary deposits—mostly 

sands, gravels, and silts—laid down 

during the past few thousand years on the 

margins of the bay by San Francisquito 

Creek and other streams carrying debris 

down from the nearby hills. These 

deposits continue to form today, and new 

layers are added to the land whenever the 

streams flood.

This area, like much of the lands 

around San Francisco Bay, was once 

home to the Ohlone people. In the late 

1700s the Spanish explored the area and 

established several large rancheros. The 

Gold Rush brought many new settlers, 

who discovered the mild and sunny 

climate in the 1850s, and soon many 

wealthy families from San Francisco 

acquired Menlo Park properties as 

summer homes. The site of the Menlo 

Park campus was once part of the estate 

of Mark Hopkins, of California railroad 

and hotel fame. During World War II, 

the site was part of the Dibble Army 

Hospital, the receiving area for wounded 

returning from the Pacific front. After 

the hospital was decommissioned in 

1947, part of its site was designated by 

Congress for use by the USGS.
Self-Guided Tour

This self-guided tour provides an 

introduction to the grounds and some of the 

buildings of the USGS Menlo Park campus. 

Exhibits in the second-floor hall of Building 3 and in the USGS library at the corner 

of Building 15 are open for viewing weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Please do 

not enter buildings that are not designated as 

part of the tour. Restrooms are available in 

Building 20 near the cafe. This tour should 

take approximately one hour to complete.

Stop 3: Building 15 Plaza—Return to the 

first floor of Building 3 and exit through 

the door at the end facing Middlefield 

Road. As you exit Building 3, under the 

stairwell on your left is a large specimen 

of gold-bearing sedimentary rock consisting of layers of hydrothermally deposited opal, chalcedony, and quartz from 

the McLaughlin Mine near Calistoga, 

California.

The outdoor plaza between Buildings 3 

and 15 is shaded by graceful Jacaranda trees 

(Jacaranda mimosifolia), native to Brazil. 

Their branches are full of beautiful lavender 

blossoms in June and July.

Turn left and proceed to the largeblack 

columns in the center of the plaza. The 

columns are an artist’s conception of 

California, broken by faults. The black 

rock that makes up these columns, from 

the Academy Quarry in the western 

Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California, 

is approximately 120 million years 

old. It is a quartz diorite containing the 

dark-colored minerals hypersthene, 

hornblende, and biotite.

Stop 4: Fossil-bearing marine sandstone—

Across the drive and beside the bicycle 

shed is a fossil-bearing marine sandstone 

of Paleocene age collected three miles 

north of Fairfield, California. The elongate spiral gastropods (Turritella) lived 

Stop 5: Waterfall and Building 15—Return 

to the black columns and proceed to the 

nearby quartz diorite water wall, which 

feeds an artificial stream that cascades 

down to the lower plaza. The riverbed 

waterfall, canal bench, and vortex whirlpool were designed by Douglas Hollis 

and are collectively titled Water Songs.

Follow the stairs down to the lower 

courtyard to view the waterfall. The 

waterfall is sometimes shut off to conserve water. If you cannot manage the 

steps, there is a ramp at the other end of 

the plaza.

From the lower courtyard, a display of 

pillow lava is visible inside the glassed 

stairwell of Building 15. Pillow lava is 

produced when hot, fluid basaltic lava 

erupts under water. These pillows were 

dredged from depths of about 7,000 feet 

(2,100 meters) during USGS expeditions 

to the Juan de Fuca Ridge, 300 miles 

(480 kilometers) west of the Washington 

State coast.

Return to the upper plaza using the 

ramp to the left of the waterfall, turn left, 

and proceed to the corner of Building 15 

(the Vincent E. McKelvey Federal Building), the largest building on the Menlo 

Park campus. McKelvey was the ninth 

director of the USGS (1971–1978) and 

did much of his early field work in the 

Sierra Nevada. The bottom floor of this 

3-story, 96,000-square-foot (8,900 square 

meters) building was built 8–10 feet 

(2.5–3 meters) below ground level so that 

the building height would better match the 

residential neighborhood.

A wide range of research activities 

are housed in the building, from classical geochemistry to microbial ecology. 

Its 85 highly individualized laboratories 

include a clean room with solid polypropylene walls and cabinets and constanttemperature laboratories with epoxy-coated 

stainless-steel walls.

Stop 2: MaPS (Map and Publication 

Sales)—From the top of the stairs (or from 

the elevator), follow signs to Map and Publication Sales (MaPS). MaPS is operated 

by the California Geological Survey (CGS) 

and offers an opportunity to browse through 

topographic and geologic maps, books, and 

other publications from both the USGS and 

the CGS and to purchase items of interest. 

Numerous free brochures on earth science 

subjects are also available. 

in shallow water about 60 million years 

ago and were possibly killed and washed 

together by storm currents. The sediment 

and shells then slumped into deeper water 

before being hardened into solid rock.

Stop 1: Building 3—As you enter the 

lobby of Building 3, you’ll see the USGS 

Press Room on the right, where scientists 

are interviewed about breaking science 

research. Proceed to the second floor by 

using the elevator that is just past the lobby 

and in the center of the building, or by 

turning right and walking down the long 

hallway to the stairs. The atrium at the top 

of the stairs contains changing exhibits and 

leads to the auditorium where public lectures are held. A century-old plaster raisedrelief map of California near the stairs 

was originally hand-crafted by a USGS 

cartographer in 1892 and was restored by 

the Bureau of Land Management in 1945. 
Stop 6: Library—At the top of the corner 

stairs is the library (a ramp is located 

to your left). The USGS library system 

contains the most extensive collection of 

natural science materials in the world. Here 

on the Menlo Park campus is a collection of 

400,000 volumes and 350,000 maps, with 

an emphasis on the Western United States. 

The general public may use this library for 

research and reference (Monday – Friday, 

8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.), but materials 

may only be borrowed using interlibrary 

loan through a participating library. 

Inside the library you will find displays 

of rocks, minerals, and fossils from the 

San Francisco Bay area and elsewhere 

throughout the country.

Stop 9: Antarctica rock—Continue along 

the azalea-lined sidewalk parallel to 

Building 1 until you reach the second 

door and look left, toward the cafe. In a 

flowerbed adjacent to the sidewalk is a 

rounded granitic boulder. USGS scientists 

brought it back from Antarctica in 1984. 

It comes from the eastern flank of Iselin 

Bank, a large undersea ridge that extends 

nearly 124 miles (200 km) from the Ross 

Sea into the South Pacific Ocean. This is 

one of the largest pieces of Antarctica to 

have been shipped from that continent.

Stop 10: Mt. St. Helens lava—A few steps 

farther toward the cafe is another unusual 

rock. This piece of Mount St. Helens 

lava is dedicated to the memory of David 

Johnston, the USGS scientist who died in 

the catastrophic explosion of the mountain 

on May 18, 1980. This rock is an example 

of “breadcrust” lava from the deposit of an 

andesitic pyroclastic flow (high-speed flow 

of hot ash, gas, and rocks). Tree-ring dating 

techniques bracket the age of that deposit to 

between the years 1489 and 1556.

Stop 11: Blueschist—Retrace your steps 

to the Antarctica rock and continue left to 

the corner of Building 1, then turn right 

and continue walking until you are almost 

to the courtyard of Building 2. On your 

right is a large specimen of metamorphic 

blueschist collected in Marin County, 

north of San Francisco. Minerals in this 

rock (including small garnets) and its 

folded structure are evidence of immense 

pressure when it was formed deep in 

the Earth about 160 million years ago. 

A polished slice of the same rock at its 

base shows the highly folded structure. Its 

name reflects the abundance of a blueish 

mineral called glaucophane. The glittery 

look of the rock is from muscovite mica.

To the right of the blueschist is a 

most unusual tree, the Dawn Redwood 

(Metasequoia glyptostroboides). This 

species of tree was believed to be long 

extinct by western scientists until a small 

grove was discovered in China in 1946. 

Since that time, numerous seedlings have 

been propagated and planted throughout 

the world. Unlike the two California 

redwoods, this deciduous tree drops its 

needles each autumn.

To the left of the blueschist is a Giant 

Sequoia (Sequoiadendron gigantea) or 

mountain redwood. It is planted in soil, 

brought here from its native environment in the Sierra Nevada, that was 

derived from glacial debris. Such soil is 

crucial to the growth and health of Giant 

Sequoias.

Stop 12: Building 2 courtyard—Continue into the courtyard of Building 2 

and enjoy the numerous varieties of 

rhododendrons and azaleas that grace the 

courtyard. The USGS campus has the 

second-largest collection of rhododendron varieties in California. A Ginkgo 

tree (Ginkgo biloba), another ancient 

species native to China, with the fanshaped leaves is located in the center 

planter. Under the Ginkgo is a small 

plaque to Roland Brown, a USGS paleobotanist of the last century who studied 

fossilized plants.

Stop 13: Arbor—Retrace your steps to the 

walkway between Buildings 1 and 2. In 

the summer months, the arbor between 

Buildings 1 and 2 is heavy with wisteria 

blossoms (Wisteria frutescens) and filled 

with the fragrance of star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). A large boulder 

at the entrance to the arbor is orbicular 

diorite from the Sierra Nevada in which 

the rounded “orbs” crystallized before 

the surrounding rock solidified. Although 

geologists understand how molten magma 

crystallizes into solid rock, this particular 

type of rock presents many mysteries as to 

exactly how it formed.

In late April and early May, the orbicular 

diorite is framed by the red and white blossoms of the surrounding rare rhododendrons, 

“Mi Amor” and “Beauty of Littleworth,” 

as well as a rare deciduous tree, a Veitch 

Stop 7: Pecora plaque—Leaving the library, 

cross the street to the two large Coast 

Redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens). 

Beneath them is a bronze plaque on a redwood base honoring the memory of William 

Pecora, USGS Director from 1965 to 1971.

As you continue toward Building 1, you 

will pass Building 20 on your left. This is 

the USGS services building, which also 

houses a cafe that is open to the public from 

6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Stop 8: Petrified log—By the entrance to 

Building 1, you will notice a fossil log 

from Nevada that preserves the features 

of a tree from the Miocene Epoch of 

geologic time (from about 24 to 5 million 

years ago). The tree’s wood has been 

replaced with silica (quartz).
Magnolia (Magnolia X. veitchii ‘Peter 

Veitch’), to the left of the diorite.

To the left of the orbicular diorite is a 

plaque commemorating Howard Oliver, 

a USGS geophysicist and landscape 

hobbyist who was instrumental in selecting 

and planting many of the special azaleas, 

rhododendrons, camellias, and trees 

growing throughout the campus. 

At the end of the wisteria arbor 

between the buildings is a large, upright 

slab of polished New Hampshire granite 

containing a large pegmatite vein. The 

gray mineral is quartz, the black mineral is 

biotite mica, and the white and pink crystals 

are different feldspars. The slab was a gift 

from Stanford University. Continue the 

tour by walking either left or right behind 

the granite slab to the courtyard between 

Buildings 1 and 2.

Notice the steel bracings on Buildings 

1 and 2. These were added in 1979 as 

structural reinforcement to reduce the 

effects of ground shaking during an 

earthquake. They proved their worth 

during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, 

when neither building suffered any serious 

damage. A small specimen of gold-bearing 

ore from Nevada can be seen next to 

Building 2.

Stop 14: Flagpole circle— Proceed through 

the courtyard between Buildings 1 and 2 

and walk toward the main flagpole, which 

is surrounded by a circular garden of 

drought-tolerant plants.

To the right of the flagpole, at the end of 

the short sidewalk, is a USGS benchmark, 

“WMC 1994,” that can be used to check 

your hand-held Global Positioning 

System (GPS) receiver. A handout with 

the benchmark coordinates with respect to 

various datums is available in MaPS.

Just beyond the benchmark are three 

granite boulders, donated by the USDA 

Forest Service, from Sonora Pass in the 

We hope you enjoyed your visit to the USGS Menlo Park 

campus

To learn more about the USGS, visit 

http://www.usgs.gov.

For more information about the Menlo Park campus, call 

650-329-4390.

Information about our public lecture series is at

http://online.wr.usgs.gov/calendar

or call 650-329-5000.

This Fact Sheet and any updates to it are available online 

at

Sierra Nevada. The rocks solidified from 

magma (molten rock) that was intruded 

into the overlying rocks deep within the 

Earth about 86 million years ago, during 

the Cretaceous Period. The largest boulder 

weighs nine tons, and all three specimens 

contain unusually large phenocrysts 

(crystals) of orthoclase feldspar as much as 

four inches long.

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Self-Guided

TOUR

Self-Guided

TOUR

Numbered signs 

indicate tour stops

Directional signs 

indicate tour route

Self-guided tour route

and numbered stops

Cafe

Auditorium

(upstairs)

Map 

Sales

(upstairs)

Library

Middlefield Road Survey Lane

Buildings involved

in the tours

Look for these signs:

Map symbols:

8 9

Rest

rooms

U.S. Geological Survey

Menlo Park Campus, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3072/