Analysis of San Franciscos Environment - Assignment Example

Field Study For my study, I took a walk to the San Francisco Bay. The bay is located at the tilt of a peninsula in northern California. It has three bodies of water within its environs. The estate is laid out in a grid with more than 40 hills, attaining heights of around 1000 feet. Therefore, this results in wide differences, in both temperatures as well as sky conditions in several areas of the city. The Pacific air maintains the temperatures normally moderate, hardly ever ranging above 75 degrees or under 45 degrees. This as lead San Francisco to be nick named the air-conditioned city. The climate here is extremely similar to that in the coastal areas a long Mediterranean. Even though, temperatures are comparatively constant, there exist two distinct seasons, which are wet and dry with more than three quarters of yearly precipitation occurring between the month of November and March. Possibly the most outstanding characteristic of the typical weather is the banks of mist that can roll in off the ocean, covering several parts of the city within a short time and disappearing again quickly (Seiffert, 23). The fog is remarkably regular on summer mornings, arising from the cooler ocean and backing up adjacent to the hills, though it may also come from the colder local areas throughout the winter. The fog influences various elevations in different amounts, covering San Francisco in complex prototype of fog and sunshine. The latitude as well as longitude of San Francisco in California is 37° 46' 30" N / 122° 25' 5" W. It covers an area of 47 square miles (2000). Its elevation is 155 feet above the sea level. The average temperatures range between January, 52.3°F, August, 62.4° F and an annual average of 58.6° F. The average annual precipitation is also22.1 inches. The Sun is in the North facing slopes. According to my observation, in summer the circulation of temperature around the surface is determined in most of the areas by the result of degree of difference in heating between both land and water surfaces. The temperatures vary between coastal ocean water as well as land surfaces. Land surfaces, which are 15 to 20 miles, inland gets to 350F and even more on several afternoons. During the night, this contrast normally reduces to less than 100. During winter, the mean temperature maxima as well as minima reverse the summer one in that during the day the variations are exceedingly small. At the same time, mean minimum, temperatures reflect large variation and strong gradients. The sheltered valley has coldest temperatures, meaning strong radiation inversions as well as inadequate vertical diffusion. There is evidence of the effects of wind such as the trees shapes and sand dunes. The trees are not straight in shape. The drifting sand caused by wind has created a number of dune lakes, of which Lake Merced is the largest. In addition, there are water bodies surrounding the San Francisco. The water temperature is warmer than the surrounding air. These temperatures differences are based on water depth. The deeper the water body, the higher the temperatures, and the shallow the water body the lower the temperatures. The city of San Francisco has several geographic features, which include the main landforms of coastal lands, deserts, mountains, as well as, the central valley. The San Francisco Bay is characterized by complex terrain comprising of, the coastal mountain, ranges, inland valleys as well as bays. The elevations of 1500 feet are usually common in the higher grounds of this area. It can obviously be seen that normal wind move, over the bay would be radically interrupted in the lowest areas. This is true when the air mass is constant, and velocity of wind is not strong. When winds flowing over the area are strong and unstable air masses, this distortion is lowered. The distortion is higher when there are low-level inversions present with the surface air, under the inversion, moving without the air above the inversion (Borzak 111). This condition is much common during the summer, with the sea breeze being the surface air mass. Because of this diverse landscape, both local residents and visitors have countless opportunities to enjoy all that the city has to offer. Having Pacific Ocean as its immediate neighbor and 779 miles of vertical length, San Francisco has a massive coastline. Along these several miles, the coastal landforms include the sandy beaches, as well as, sharp rocky, cliffs. San Francisco comprise of the low-lying badlands, water shades, which drain into San Francisco Bay, as well as, aquatic environments. It is bordered on the eastern side by the Delta sub region, on the northern side by the North Coast Region, on the southern by the central Coast Region and the Pacific Ocean towards the Western side. The bay is surrounded by low coastal mountains, which have peaks rising over 3000 feet. I t gets 90% of its surface water from the main Central Valley rivers via the Delta. Some additional rivers draining into the bay are the Sonoma, Napa and Petaluma rivers as well as Coyote creeks. The summers around the bay area are comparatively cold and often foggy. The winters are cold due to influence by marine air masses. Several of the Santa Clara Valley as well as the watercourses that empty into it drain into San Francisco Bay through the Guadalupe River. Most counties lie partly or fully within the Santa Cruz Mountains. San Mateo, as well as, Santa Cruz counties lies totally within the Santa Cruz Mountains, as does San Francisco County with the exception of the Farallon Island and other islands in San Francisco. There are tectonic forces that created the San Francisco landscape, which includes external or internal processes. External as well as internal processes that act on the crust of the earth usually shape landforms. For instance, external processes takes place on the surface of the outer layer through removal of surface (denudation), the raising of land (deposition), weathering and erosion (Seiffert, 17). Rivers, winds, waves as well as glaciers lead most of these activities. On the other side, internal processes work on the inner layers of the earth. Forces systematically build up, and the crust will go through movements in the Earth like earthquakes, mountain buildings as well as volcanic activity. For example, on the month of April 1906, one of the huge earthquakes in history rocked the San Francisco Bay area. Weathering and erosion cause the greatest damage at the weakest points. Weathering at the same time assist to weaken rocks causing them to be more vulnerable to erosion. Erosion, therefore, wears away rocks at the coast. Erosion end up leaving the landscape bear because most of the fertile soil that supported vegetation is washed away. Transportation is another process that affects the landscape. Material eroded is carried within the water in various ways minerals dissolved from rocks are transported inform of solution while the small fragment rocks, which are light enough to be held within water, float in suspension. In other instances, large rocks that are extremely heavy to be picked by waves get transported by traction. This is where the rocks roll along the bed when enough energy is picked up by the wave. Saltation, on the other side, move medium size rock particles that cannot be picked by waves. The final process, which operates along the coast, is the one of deposition. It is the process by which materials that are extremely heavy to be carried are left back, creating the beach. Because of the significance of energy in transportation sand, as well as shingle, it is the largest material that are first to be deposited. Several distinctive features may come up because of coastal deposition. San Francisco has become the fourth most famous city in the state of California. It occupies all county. It lays at the tip of the Peninsula, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean on the western, the Golden Gate on the northern side as well as, the San Francisco Bay on the east. It is perceived as one of the most beautiful cities in the nation due to its magnificent natural setting as well as architecturally distinctive buildings (Borzak 101). San Francisco is also a business center, a cultural as well as an educational center and more so a city of different nationalities. The San Francisco area was previously a ranch, which was referred to as Ridgewood range. Captain Walker was the first to settle in the valley and used to raise cattle. People have had a crucial role in shaping San Francisco’s environment for several centuries, with the majority strong alterations over the past two centuries. Not only do individuals have a direct influence on the city’s environment, but also individuals cause the change in climate by putting additional pressure on the natural environment that is already stressed. Though the city’s biodiversity has reduced due to human works, dedicated humans and firms are assisting to preserve the natural wonders that are left in San Francisco. Works Cited Borzak, Lenore. Field study: a sourcebook for experiential learning. USA, NJ: Sage Publications, 2008. Seiffert, Rachel. Field Study (Storycuts). 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