While visiting more than twenty-seven amazing sites, you�ll discover why many of Yosemite�s domes shed rock shells like onion layers, what happens when a volcano erupts under a glacial lake, and why rocks seem to be almost continually tumbling from the region�s cliffs.

An authoritative and up-to-date study of Yosemite s geology this is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject written in terms that the lay person can understand. Multiple maps, diagrams and full-color photographs help to describe Yosemite s rocks and their origins. The book includes a very helpful glossary of terms and references for additional reading."

Twenty vignettes focus on particular geologic scenes, relationships, and features of southern California's active landscape.

Eastern California boasts the greatest dryland relief in the contiguous United States, offering a rich variety of environments and spectacular geology. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and diagrams, Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley provides an on-the-ground look at the processes sculpting the terrain in this land of extremes for everyone interested in how the earth works.

Copious illustrations and witty, page-turning prose guide readers on geologic walking or driving tours of 37 sites in Illinois.

Most people think of Nevada as a land of casinos and drive-in wedding chapels punctuating vast expanses of desolate desert. But at the heart of the Basin and Range province, the Silver State is also a geologist's playground, with great topographic relief

Alfred Runte, An environmental historian based in Seattle, Is the author of National Parks: The American Experience (1979; rev. ed., 1987), also published by the University of Nebraska Press.