California (2/4)
This is also part of this series: Journeys from the Centre of the Earth (4)
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Subjects:
Anthropology, Geography, Geology, History, Social Studies |
Grade Level: JrH-Adult
Producer: BBC
Closed Captioned: No |
Running Time: 50 mins
Country of Origin: Great Britain
Study Guide: No |
Copyright Date: 2006
Available in French: No
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Californians spend every day not knowing whether an earthquake will strike. It seems like a terrible flaw in one of the most beautiful, wealthy and technologically advanced corners of our planet. But the same thing that brings the quakes also creates the beauty, the wealth and everything else that makes California unique. The pushing together of the Pacific and American plate at the San Andreas Fault thrust up the Sierra Nevada Mountains. These make an otherwise barren desert habitable, as they capture all of California's much-needed water. The resulting valleys – where oil and gold are collected – attracted great swathes of people in the 18th Century. Each time there is a big earthquake, the risk-averse leave for the safety of the interior and are replaced by a new influx of entrepreneurial risk-takers. This spawned the development of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, the cradle of the modern computer industry. |
Links: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/journeys-centre-earth.shtml
