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A problem centered approach to earth science for the Los Angeles area

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A PROBLEM CENTERED APPROACH TO EARTH SCIENCE FOR THE LOS ANGELES AREA

A Project Presented to the Faculty of the School of Education The University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Education

by Donald Freeman Utter August 1950

UMI Number: EP46631

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

Dissertation Publishing

UMI EP46631 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code

ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346

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T his project report, w ritten under the direction of the candidate’s adviser and app ro ved by him , has been presented to and accepted by the F a c u lty of the School of E d u catio n in p a r tia l fu lfillm e n t of the requirements f o r the degree

of M a s t e r of

Science in Education.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I.

II.

PAGE

THE P R O B L E M .....................................

1

Statement of the problem .....................

1

Background of the problem

...................

2

REVIEW OF THE L I T E R A T U R E ........................

4

Literature on broadening the science teaching program .........................

b

Literature on providing instructional materials to meet local needs

...........

5

Literature on the selection of Important

III.

principles ................................

6

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................

8

THE GEOLOGY OF THE LOS ANGELES A R E A ...........

10

General physiography .........................

10

Structure and structural history ........... IV.

V.

VI.

.

WATER P R O B L E M S ..................................

14 17

Overdraft on ground water basins .............

18

Securing additional water

...................

21

FLOOD C O N T R O L ..................................

24

Local flood background .......................

24

Flood control measures .......................

26

SOIL C O N S E R V A T I O N ..............................

29

The problem in C a l i f o r n i a ...................

29

Beach e r o s i o n ................................

31

iii CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

E A R T H Q U A K E S ....................................

34

Southern California faults ...................

3^

Earthquake history ............................

37

.............

38

Some conclusions on earthquakes VIII.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES

...

40

Classroom activities .........................

40

Geological points of interest

...............

42

Field t r i p s ................................

42

E x h i b i t s ....................................

45

Agencies concerned with earth science

IX.

p r o b l e m s ....................................

46

Federal a g e n c i e s ..........

46

State a g e n c i e s ..............................

47

County agencies

48

............................

Municipal agencies .........................

.48

Other s o u r c e s ..............................

48

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

...................

49

S u m m a r y ......................................

49

Recommendations

50

BIBLIOGRAPHY

..............................

........................................

51

LIST OP FIGURES FIGURE

PAGE

1.

Generalized Geologic Map ofthe Los Angeles

Basin

2.

Flood Control in the Los AngelesCounty Drainage A r e a ..........................................

13

27

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM The study of earth science would seem almost by de­ finition to be down to earth.

Unfortunately, this subject

has often been treated in such a detached, formal way as to render it dull and of little use to the average student.

In

an area where pressing geological problems exist and varied geological experiences may be had easily, earth science can be practical and interesting.

I.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The purpose of this study was to assemble some of the resources that could be useful for the teaching of earth science in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The geographi­

cal limitation was imposed so that a reasonably rounded selection of local teaching materials could be presented. The geological problems of this area are sufficiently varied to allow the teaching of important principles to stem from the study of very real local problems.

The study may be

considered as a search for answers to the following ques­ tions : 1. What are the important local geological problems? 2. What agencies are concerned with geological problems?

2 3 . What are some of the local possibilities for field trips and excursions? 4. What are some of the useful published sources on the geology of the Los Angeles area?

II.

BACKGROUND OP THE PROBLEM

The traditional division of the sciences into rigid subject matter areas has had the unfortunate effect of ex­ cluding from the curriculum the consideration of many impor­ tant problems.

The concern of this paper is with some of

the problems in the earth science field which have lain out­ side the sciences usually taught in the secondary school. With the trend towards recognition of the values of general education has come the opportunity for including such prob­ lems in general science and social studies courses. The movement towards a broadened curriculum has pre­ sented difficulties in the matter of instructional materials. Textbooks do not usually deal with current issues, nor can they deal with strictly local problems.

There must be other

materials available to tie the principles of any study to student experience.

In the case of this study it means

giving the students experiences with the geology of their community. In the Los Angeles area an excellent opportunity

exists for student experiences in earth science.

A wide

variety of geological points of interest may be found. Problems dealing with conservation (of soil, water, and minerals), flood control, and earthquakes demand civic attention.

Earth science need not be a dead study unless

one closes his eyes to the consideration of issues of import to the health, safety, and economic welfare of his community. It may be worth mentioning that the need for the integration of science with other subjects in the curriculum may be approached by using as ’’focal points” real problems instead of principles.

Too often there is no time for the

thorough application of principles to really meaningful situations.

Perhaps by starting with problems, principles

may be better and more easily taught. A large literature has been published on the geology of the Los Angeles Basin and its environs.

Little of this

information has been presented in a simplified form suitable for use by the average secondary student.

This situation

is improving, but the burden of providing much of the actual instructional material will fall on teachers and local cur­ riculum workers.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OP THE LITERATURE Much has been written on the aims and content of science programs for general education.

A very short review

of some of these studies having relevance to the present problem will be given. Literature on broadening the science teaching program. McGrath has edited a collection of descriptions of science courses for general education.^

Most of the discussion is

about courses at the college level, but the question of aims and the problems of content selection are essentially the same as would be met in organizing a secondary program. Cahoon gives a strong argument in favor of the inclusion of 2 a physical science course in the high school. In Joliet, Illinois a course in earth science was given to all high school freshmen, and Wilson has assembled a perhaps loaded, but impressive list of fifteen values gained from the course instead of a general science

course.^

^ Earl J. McGrath, Science in General Education, 400 pp. 2 G. P. Cahoon, ’’Teaching Science for General Educa­ tion in the Secondary School," pp. 281-8 7 . 3 Ben Hur Wilson,

"Earth Science," p. 622.

5 Literature on providing instructional materials to meet local needs.

Hadsall claims that science education

". . .should begin with the child in his immediate invironment."^

The article makes mention of a projected resource

volume on California's Natural Resources for use in the San Joaquin Valley.

This is a recognition of a very real need

that exists in all the major areas of the state.

Leonard

quotes extendedly from a water supply unit developed for use in Santa Barbara County.

This unit does a good job of

bringing in some of the water problems that have been very pressing in that county.

It also shows how the important

principles can be included by a problem centered approach. The California State Department of Education has done a good job, on the state wide scale, of preparing a source book on materials for conservation teaching.

It Is a good

source of ideas for teachers, but the geographical scope is too great to allow the consideration of local problems. The Virginia State Board of Education has published suggestions for a unit on soils.

7

This unit attempts to bring in

^ L. P. Hadsall, "Nature and Conservation Programs in the West With Special Reference to California," p. 631. 5 J. Paul Leonard, Developing the Secondary School Curriculum, pp. 465-80. 6 "California's Natural Wealth," 124 pp. 7 Virginia State Board of Education, Suggestions for the Inauguration of a_ Twelve Year School System, pp. 11-17•

6 some of the problems In that area. Literature on the selection of Important principles. Studies of earth science principles have not been too fre­ quent since the subject is not taught as a course in many places.

Miles has reworked an older study by Wise, and come

up with a list of principles for an integrated physical science course which includes the following principles from geology: When elevations or depressions are created upon the surface of the earth, the elevations are usually attacked by the agents of erosion, and the materials carried to the depressions. Streams, generally, are lowering the surface of the land in some places and building it up in other places. Rocks may be formed by the compacting and cementing of sediments. The earth’s surface may be raised or lowered by interior forces. Earthquakes [of the tectonic type] are produced by the sudden slipping of earth materials along faults. Strata of rocks occur in the earth’s crust in the order in which they were deposited, except in the case of overthrust faults. [Overturned folds and intrusives provide other exceptions.]^ The idea of isolating important principles so that their inclusion may be planned in a course or unit is sound. The use of such a list as the basis of organization may not

o

° Vaden W. Miles, "A Determination of Principles and Experiments for an Integrated Course of Physical Science for High School," pp. 148-51•

be such a good idea.

In the following chapter a discussion

of some earth science problems of more than academic interest may serve to show where such principles can be demonstrated in the physiography and structure of Southern California.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, H. Emmett, The Development of a_ Course in the Physi­ cal Sciences for the Lincoln School. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1939. 205 PP. This book deals with the development of an experimental course of study for a two year integrated high school physical science course. The first two units are in the field of earth science. It is an example of an approach to earth science that brings in some real problems. Cahoon, G. P., "Teaching Science for General Education in the Secondary School,” School Science and Mathematics, XLIX (April, 1949), pp. 28I-8 7 . A discussion of the problems in teaching science and mathematics for general education. It contains an argu­ ment for physical science courses in high school. It is a good article. "California's Natural Wealth," Bulletin California State Department of Education, Vol. IX, No. 4. Sacramento: California State Printing Office, 1940. 124 pp. A good source of Ideas and references for conservation teaching in California. It is a collection a science teacher in California should have access to. Hadsall, L. F., "Nature and Conservation Programs in the West With Special Reference to California," School Science and Mathematics, XLVIII (November, 1948), 62132. This article Is essentially a plea for more and better conservation teaching. It emphasizes a need of which all California science teachers should be aware. Leonard, J. Paul, Developing the Secondary School Curriculum. New York: Rinehart and Company, Inc., 1946. 580 pp. This is a good reference on curriculum construction using the problem centered approach. It contains a useful extract from the Santa Barbara County water supply unit. McGrath, Earl J., Science in General Education. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown, 19^7* ^00 pp. A good source on the aims of science teaching for general education. The variety of ideas presented on the ques­ tion of choosing the subject matter for general courses is good reading for people who are sure of what the best topics are.

9 Miles, Vaden W . , "A Determination of Principles and Experi­ ments for an Integrated Course of Physical Science for High School/’ Science Education, 33:147-52, March, 1949. A good collection of principles. The title is deceiving, as the experiments are not listed in this article. Protecting and Using Our Natural Resources. Santa Barbara: Office of the Superintendent of Schools, Santa Barbara County, 1949* 179 PPThis is a conservation source unit. It includes ques­ tions, activities, and extensive student bibliographies. Many of the questions are applicable in the Los Angeles area. The list of classroom activities is very exten­ sive. Santa Barbara County Curriculum Guide for Teachers in Secon­ dary Schools. Santa Barbara: Schauer Printing Studio, 1941. This guide contains a very good unit on water supply. Suggestions for the Inauguration of a_ Twelve Year School System. Part II, Section VI, Science. Richmond: Virginia State Board of Education, 1947. 24 pp. This paper contains suggestions for a unit on soils for eighth grade science. It lists approaches, activities, objectives, etc. The list of activities is useful. Wilson, Ben Hur, ’’Earth Science,” School Science and Mathe­ matics , XLIX (November, 1949)* 620-24. Earth science has been used for a freshman high school science course in place of general science. The advan­ tages of this switch are enumerated. This is a good article for those contemplating the insertion of earth science topics in the science program.

CHAPTER III THE GEOLOGY OP THE LOS ANGELES AREA Southern California presents a striking physiographic picture with Its rugged highlands, alluvium filled basins, and its varied shoreline.

It is a land of variety, an area

of rapid change within short distances.

An appreciation of

its landscapes may well be sharpened by an awareness of its structural history and its present structure. The complex structure of the Los Angeles Basin and its environs has been extensively studied.

This study has

been encouraged by the search for petroleum, by the need for investigation of water problems, and for other compelling reasons.

With the thousands of wells that have been sunk a

vast amount of subsurface data has been obtained.

The major

studies interpreting this mass of information were examined and from them were selected sources that may be useful to teachers.

Practically all of them contain extensive biblio­

graphies which list sources of details on local areas.

I.

GENERAL PHYSIOGRAPHY

The Geomorphic Map of California divides the state into eleven provinces.^-

The Los Angeles area lies within

1 Olaf P. Jenkins, Geologic Map of California, Sheet 3 *

11 two of these.

The Transverse Range Province includes the

east-west lying Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains.

The

Peninsular Range Province includes the area to the south and extending eastward to and including the San Jacinto Mountains. The structures in this province trend northwest and their form is strongly conditioned by the San Andreas fault system. The meeting of these provinces provides variety to the top­ ography and the geologic history of the area. The Santa Monica Mountains are of moderate elevation. Calabasas Peak in the western part of the county has an ele­ vation of 2,169 feet. 1,825 feet.

Cahuenga Peak in Los Angeles reaches

The alluvium-filled San Fernando Valley lies to

the north of the Santa Monica Mountains at their eastern end. The rugged San Gabriel Mountains rise at the northeast mar­ gin of the San Fernando Valley and extend eastward to Cajon Pass.

The granitic San Gabriels are real highlands, reach­

ing their highest point at Mount San Antonio (Old Baldy) of 10,080 feet. The San Gabriel Valley is a broad, east-west trending basin lying south of the San Gabriel Mountains.

It is bounded

on the south, from west to east, by the Repetto Hills, the Puente Hills, and the San Jose Hills.

These last three are

rather low rolling hills. The broad structural basin containing most of Metro­ politan Los Angeles is composed of three major physiographic

12 units*

A line of disconnected low hills known as the New­

port -Inglewood Uplift divides the basin. line lies the El Segundo Plain.

Southwest of this

To the northeast lies the

Downey Plain which extends from Hollywood, to the southeast, through Santa Ana. The Santa Ana Mountains, a fairly imposing range, lie at the south-east end of the main basin.

A rather simple map

showing the physiographic units as well as the major struc­ tures of the area after Reed and Hollister is reproduced on page 13.2 The Palos Verdes Hills represent a land-tied member of the islands of the continental shelf.

Their striking

physiographic feature is the series of marine terraces, which has been well mapped and described in the classic paper on the Palos Verdes Hills.^ The drainage of the area is shown in part on the flood control relief map page 27 . San Fernando Valley.

The Los Angeles River drains the

It then flows generally south to its

outlet In the Pacific Ocean at Long Beach.

It is joined by

a principal branch, the Rio Hondo, near South Gate.

The Rio

2 Ralph D. Reed and J. S. Hollister, Structual Evolu­ tion of Southern California, p. 113. 3 W. P. Wooding, M. N. Bramlette, and W. S. W. Kew, Geology and Palentology of the Palos Verdes Hills * California * pp. H 3-I6 , plates 22-2 7 .

13

Figure 1 GENERALIZED GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE LOS ANGELES BASIN (Adapted from Reed and Hollister* Structural Evolution of Southern California^ p3 113. ) Geologic structures are shown in red. Oil fields are shown in green. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

Santa Monica Mountains Verdugo Mountains San Rafael Hills Repetto Hills San Gabriel Mountains San Jose Hills Puente Hills Santa Ana Mountains

j. k. m. n. o. p. q.

San Joaquin Hills Palos Verdes Hills San Fernando Valley San Gabriel Valley San Bernardino Valley Downey Plain El Segundo Plain

l b

Hondo is one of two main channels which drain the San Gabriel Valley and which run through the gap between the Repetto Hills and the western extension of the Puente Hills. gap is called the Whittier Narrows.

This

Compton Creek, a short

tributary, joins the Los Angeles River at North Long Beach. The San Gabriel River runs through the Whittier Nar­ rows from the San Gabriel Valley.

It empties at the eastern

edge of Long Beach into the ocean.

Coyote Creek, which joins

the San Gabriel near its outlet, flows generally south west from its origin in the Puente Hills. The Santa Ana River drains the San Bernardino Valley. It runs almost due west through the deeplj^ cut Santa Ana Canyon before turning generally southward to run into the ocean near Newport Beach.

Ballona Creek, a smaller drainage

channel, is now conducted through an underground duct. discharges at Playa Del Rey.

It

These channels, with the ex­

ception of the Santa Ana River, are shown on the flood control map on page 27 of this paper.

II.

STRUCTURE AND STRUCTURAL HISTORY

A very brief and simplified comment on the structure and the structural history of the Los Angeles Basin and its environs will be attempted. of the major structures.

The map on page 13 shows some

For details the reader is referred

15 to several more extended treatments.

i| r 6 7 8 ’ ^ *

y

9

The earliest well known period of mountain making occurred in Jurassic time when the great granite batholiths were intruded into much of California.

The cores of the

San Gabriel., Santa Monica eastern end and Santa Ana Moun­ tains are such intrusives.

The basement of the Eastern Los q Angeles Basin is presumed to be also of this origin. The land may have remained above the sea until Upper Cretaceous times.

By Upper Cretaceous times considerable marine deposi­

tion was taking place in the Los Angeles Basin and these rocks may be found on both the east and west sides of the basin, dipping toward its mid-line. By Oligocene time the sea had probably retreated to about its present position, but during the Miocene epoch the seas returned and a great thickness of sediments accumulated in the basins. Reed and Hollister show a thickness of over _ 10 16,000 feet in the center of the Los Angeles Basin. In

^ Reed and Hollister, o p . c1t ., pp. 105-133* Plate 1. 5 Olaf P. Jenkins, Geologic Map of California, Sheet VI. 6 Olaf P. Jenkins, ejb a_l., Geologic Formations and Economic Development of the Oil and Gas Fields of California. (Contains many maps and articles which deal with the Los Angeles Basin). ^ Eckis, Rollin, South Coastal Basin Investigation: Geology and Ground Water Storage Capacity. pp5 23-83• 8 R. D. Reed, Geology of California, 355 PP« 9 Reed and Hollister, o p . cit., p. 132, p. 14. 10 Ibid., pp. 37, 39, 41.

16 the Middle Miocene, volcanic activity occurred and folding was strong in the mountains east and west of the Los Angeles Basin.

Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene time saw thick

deposition in the marine basins. The present topography is mainly due to extensive orogenic;activity in the middle of the Pleistocene epoch. Extensive faulting occurred with uplifts in the San Gabriel Mountains reaching many thousands of feet.

Folding occurred

in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Inglewood Newport uplift.

CHAPTER IV MATER PROBLEMS "Too little water" is a topic much discussed during dry periods in Southern California.

The South Pacific Basin*

with 10 per cent of the state1s irrigable land* has l.1! per cent of the state's water resources.-*enough water in good years.

The area has little

In dry years the problem of

securing water may well reach emergency proportions. The Los Angeles Area at this writing Is importing water at considerable expense in order to supply its present needs.

This imported water is much more expensive than most

of that locally procured.

It is also of inferior quality*

in the case of the Colorado water.

Furthermore, the sources

are being tapped about as heavily as is possible. Conservation of water Is a matter of vital concern to governmental and business leaders.

It should be worthy of

consideration in school studies in the field of earth science. This chapter will attempt to review briefly some of the local problems that fall in the earth science fields.

-*- Kenneth Decker and Margret Rohrer* Problems of Mater Resources in California, pp. 7 ”9*

18 I.

OVERDRAFT ON GROUND WATER BASINS

In introducing the subject of ground water* a quota­ tion from a paper by Donald M. Baker has been chosen for its neat discription of local conditions. As to our water supply, few of us here realize what we owe to geology and the deep turbine pump. Nature ijt^ creating the South Coastal Basin--the coastal portion of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange Counties--erected a hugh [huge] range of mountains to the North and East which ’m i l k ’ the moisture laden air traveling inland from the ocean and cause most of this moisture to be precipitated and flow in or streams through the Basin and to the Ocean. This feature alone, however, would not give us a year round supply since most of our rain falls in the five months between November 15th and April 15th, As If to remedy this defect, nature also created two other major barriers-a range of hills commencing with the Santa Monica Moun­ tains and including the Montebello and Puente Hills and the Coast Range in Orange County, and also the ridge which extends from Beverly Hills southeasterly through Signal Hill to Newport. Behind these two barriers lie vast underground reservoirs which absorb the flood flows. In the case of the first barrier, water is released on the surface through the Elysian Park, Whittier and Santa Ana River Narrows, and in the case of the second barrier, it is held back in storage.2 Baker gives a very simplified picture of what is actually a complicated system comprising many minor basins. The details of the minor basins are in many cases well known. An Investigation by the State Division of Water Resources has produced several important papers on the South Coastal

2 Donald M. Baker, "Water Problems of Southern California Relative to Supply and Waste Disposal," (unpub­ lished paper).

19 1 4 Basin which assemble this information. Overdraft is a concern because it means a lowered water table with increased pumping costs and, eventually, reduced well yields. cheap water.

Local agriculture is dependent on

This, at present, must be supplied from mainly

local sources as the cost of imported water is too high for farmers except those growing specialized crops with high dollar yields per acre. A second concern of overdraft is contamination.

This

is a problem that is well suited to classroom consideration. The barrier provided by the Newport-Inglewood uplift is tra­ versed by permiable tongues of recent alluvium which allow ocean waters to penetrate inland.

It is felt that if ground

water levels behind the barrier are not maintained, the ocean waters may contaminate the important water zones be­ hind the barrier.5

Contamination to the southwest of the

barrier is already serious.

This Is particularly true in

the area from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica.

The water

bearing strata dip toward the barrier, and if overdrafts

3 Rollin Eckis, South Coastal Basin Investigation: Geology and Ground Water Storage Capacity of Valley Fill, 279 P P . ^ George B. Gleason, e_t aJL., South Coastal Coastal Basin Investigation: Overdraft On Ground Water Basins, 256 pp. 5 C. E. Arnold, n Contributions to the Hydrology of the United States. 19.37» Water Supply Paper 796-c. United States Geological Survey. Washing­ ton: United States Government Printing Office, 1937* Pp. 53-98. Wood, Harry 0., and others, "Destructive and Near Destructive Earthquakes in California and Western Nevada,” 1769-1933* Coast and Geodetic Survey Special Publication 191. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1934. 25 PP. Woodring, W. P., M. N. Bramlette, and W. S. W. Kew, Geology and Paleontology of Palos Verdes Hills, California. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 2 0 7 . Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1946. 145 pp. MISCELLANEOUS Baker, Donald M., "Water Problems of Southern California Relative to Supply and Waste Disposal," (unpublished paper read before the meeting of the Chemical Market Research Group of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, June 9* 19^9)Gale, Hoyt, and others, International Geological Congress Guide Book 1 5 ♦ Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. 68 pp. This is a good field trip source as well as a fairly comprehensive source on some of the more outstanding geological points of Interest around Los Angeles. Jenkins, Olaf P., Geologic Map of California. State of California, Division of Mines, Sacramento: California State Printing Office, 1938. 6 sheets.

56 Protecting and Using Our Natural Resources. Santa Barbara: Office of the Superintendent of Schools of Santa Barbara County, 19^9179 PPSanta Barbara County Curriculum Guide for Teachers in Secon­ dary Schools. Santa Barbara: Schauer Printing Studio,

1941. Suggestions for the Inauguration of a_ Twelve Year School System, Part II, Section VI, Science. Richmond: Virginia State Board of Education, 19^724 pp.