A reliable answer to this question depends on knowing in detail the past rupture behavior of the fault. This rupture history is best known for the Mojave segment of the San Andreas fault, a region from Gorman on the northwest to Cajon Pass on the southeast. The primary focus of this field trip will be to visit the well known trench sites at Pallett Creek and Wrightwood, in the center of this segment. Here, we can examine the earthquake record for the last 1000 years and discuss possibilities for correlating events northwest and southeast of the Mojave region. Other stops will include visits to the 1941 landslide escarpment at Wrightwood, earthquake damaged trees near Wrightwood, and the alluvial fans beheaded by Cajon Creek.
Most stops involve only short walks, but one includes a half-mile, moderately uphill walk.
This field trip will explore the complexity of environmental issues concerning the water resources of southern California. Southern California's demand for freshwater has increased steadily during recent years, while at the same time the availability of imported water to this region has remained the same or decreased. This increase in demand for water has been further intensified by the contamination of local groundwater reservoirs, like that found in the aquifers of the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys. To supplement present and future demands, it has become necessary to recycle tertiary- treated wastewater and to blend locally decontaminated groundwater with imported waters. On this field trip, we shall visit several major water facilities in the Simi and San Fernando Valley areas, including wastewater treatment and drinking water filtration plants, spreading grounds and artificial recharge activities, well fields, groundwater-reservoir remediation stripping towers, and water blending facilities.