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Loma Prieta

Highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California

Summary

Highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California

Field	Value
name	Loma Prieta Peak
photo	West_Flank_of_Loma_Prieta_Mountain,_April_2012.jpg
photo_size	320
photo_caption	Loma Prieta from the West
elevation	3786 ft
elevation_ref
id	HS5218
designation	Loma Prieta Reset
accessdate	2009-08-07 }}
prominence_ft	3425
prominence_ref
pid	1197
name	Loma Prieta Peak , California
accessdate	2009-08-07 }}
translation	Dark Hill
language	Spanish
location	Santa Clara County, California, U.S.
range	Santa Cruz Mountains
coordinates
coordinates_ref
topo	USGS Loma Prieta
easiest_route	RoadAlexander Dallas Bache
map	USA California#USA
relief	1

Loma Prieta (Spanish for "Black Hill") is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California, measuring 3790 ft in height.

Although the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was named for this mountain, the actual epicenter was five miles southwest of the peak, across the San Andreas Fault, in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.

In the 19th century, the peak was called Mount Bache, a name given in honor of Alexander Dallas Bache; the name is no longer in use.

From 1955 to 2005, the mountain was the longtime site for the transmitter tower of San Jose television station KNTV. In September 2005, it moved its transmitter 83 km northwest to San Bruno Mountain after it became the Bay Area's NBC affiliate.

Geology

Loma Prieta is the tallest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains and it is common to see snow on the mountain during the winter.

Loma Prieta and other nearby mountain peaks are pushed upward by local collision forces associated with a left bend in the San Andreas Fault. Starting near Uvas Canyon, the fault stops trending northwest but instead bends west-northwest for about eight miles before continuing its northwest direction. This left bend is renowned among geologists as an archetypal restraining bend which acts to oppose strike-slip motion along the fault. From the perspective of Loma Prieta and other mountains atop the Sierra Azul block, the Pacific Plate is trying to shear them off the North American Plate but can't break them off. Rather, the resulting transpression force pushes up the local terrain and helps explain why these are the highest peaks in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Astronomy

From 1976 through 1990 amateur astronomer Donald Machholz put up his telescope an average of 120 times a year on the south slope of this mountain to search for comets. From this site he discovered three new comets that bear his name, including Periodic Comet Machholz 1 96P/Machholz on May 12, 1986.

The first official West Coast Messier marathon was conducted from this site in March 1979.

| Image:Loma Prieta aerial.jpg | Loma Prieta (the peak just right of center) and other nearby peaks are decorated with television broadcast towers and other communication towers, serving the Santa Clara Valley. Fog-shrouded Monterey Bay and the Monterey peninsula are visible in the background in this late-afternoon approach to San José International Airport. On the left-near side you can see Crystal Peak and Mt. Chual.

References

{{cite gnis. 227488. Loma Prieta
"Up and Down California in 1860-1864; The Journal of William H. Brewer: Book 2, Chapter 3 NEW ALMADEN".
Hilley, G.E.. (December 2008). "Exhumation history of the Sierra Azul Block of the Santa Cruz Mountains Revealed Using Low Temperature Thermochronology". American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008.
Sloan. (2006). "Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region". University of California Press.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

mountains-of-santa-clara-county,-california mountains-of-the-san-francisco-bay-area santa-cruz-mountains mountains-of-northern-california

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