Surf, Sand, and Stone - by Keith Heyer Meldahl (Paperback)

About the Book

The author tells the scientific story of the Southern California coast: its mountains, islands, beaches, bluffs, surfing waves, earthquakes, and related phenomena. He takes readers from San Diego to Santa Barbara, revealing the evidence for how the coast's features came to be and how they are continually changing.

Book Synopsis

Southern California is sandwiched between two tectonic plates with an ever-shifting boundary. Over the last several million years, movements of these plates have dramatically reshuffled the Earth's crust to create rugged landscapes and seascapes riven with active faults. Movement along these faults triggers earthquakes and tsunamis, pushes up mountains, and lifts sections of coastline. Over geologic time, beaches come and go, coastal bluffs retreat, and the sea rises and falls. Nothing about Southern California's coast is stable.

Surf, Sand, and Stone tells the scientific story of the Southern California coast: its mountains, islands, beaches, bluffs, surfing waves, earthquakes, and related phenomena. It takes readers from San Diego to Santa Barbara, revealing the evidence for how the coast's features came to be and how they are continually changing. With a compelling narrative and clear illustrations, Surf, Sand, and Stone outlines how the coast will be altered in the future and how we can best prepare for it.

From the Back Cover

"Meldahl takes the reader on a tour of coastal Southern California, deftly explaining its complex geologic history, coastal geology, surfing spots, and the processes that shape them. Richly illustrated and told with great humor and enlightening analogies, Surf, Sand, and Stone is easily accessible yet contains valuable resources for those who want to delve deeper."--Mark Johnsson, staff geologist, California Coastal Commission

"How refreshing to discover a book about Southern California's complex geology that is written for those of us who want to learn, but who do not have a strong background in this field. I'll take this excellent guide with me whenever I go exploring."--Joan Easton Lentz, author of A Naturalist's Guide to the Santa Barbara Region

"Surf, Sand, and Stone is an entertaining and very readable explanation of the complex geology and oceanography of the Southern California coast. Meldahl must be an excellent teacher as he has a real gift for writing about complex topics in a comfortable, engaging, and fascinating manner."--Gary Griggs, Director, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz

Review Quotes

"Meldahl is a fine writer, easing his readers into difficult concepts gently, explaining them fully, providing excellent illustrations with fully explanatory captions and using the imagery of the everyday to make difficult concepts seem less so."-- "Geological Journal"

"Reading Meldahl's Surf, Sand, and Stone brought back to me the thrill I felt when discovering geography. . . . Meldahl has a terrific gift for explaining complex processes in accessible language, and the presentation feels honed to a pedagogic razor's edge by years of lecturing to intelligent surfer-students in Orange County. The book includes dozens of useful maps, photos, and diagrams."-- "Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers"

"With a compelling narrative and clear illustrations, Surf, Sand, and Stone outlines how the coast will be altered in the future and how we can best prepare for it."--Ian Paulsen, "Birdbooker Report"

About the Author

Keith Heyer Meldahl is Professor of Geology and Oceanography at Mira Costa College and the author of two popular books, Hard Road West and Rough-Hewn Land (UC Press, 2011).