Sierra Nevada (U.S.) Totally Explained

The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "Snowy Range") is a mountain range that's almost entirely in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of California. In places, it very briefly skims through neighboring Nevada. The range is also known informally as the Sierra, the High Sierra, and the Sierras.

Geography

The Sierra Nevada stretches 400 miles (650 km), from Fredonyer Pass in the north to Tehachapi Pass in the south. It is bounded on the west by California's Central Valley, and on the east by the Great Basin.
In west-east cross section, the Sierra is shaped like a non-equilateral triangle: the elevation gradually increases eastward until the crest is reached, whereupon the elevation rapidly decreases, forming a steep escarpment However, water from several streams and the Owens River is redirected to the city of Los Angeles (see Los Angeles Aqueduct). Thus, some east-flowing river water does make it to the Pacific Ocean.
There are several notable geographical features in the Sierra Nevada:

Lake Tahoe is a large, clear freshwater lake in the northern Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 6,225 feet (1,897 m) and an area of 191 square miles (489 km²). Lake Tahoe lies between the main Sierra and the Carson Range, a spur of the Sierra. is the highest point in the contiguous United States. Mt. Whitney is on the eastern border of Sequoia National Park.
Groves of Giant Sequoias Sequoiadendron giganteum occur along a narrow band of altitude on the western side of the Sierra Nevada. Giant Sequoias are the most massive trees in the world.

The height of the mountains in the Sierra Nevada gradually increases from north to south. Between Fredonyer Pass and Lake Tahoe, the peaks range from 5,000 feet (1,524 m) to 8,000 feet (2,438 m). The crest near Lake Tahoe is roughly 9,000 feet (2,700 m) high, with several peaks approaching the height of Freel Peak (10,881 feet, 3,316 m), including Mount Rose (10,778 feet, 3,285 m), which overlooks Reno from the north end of the Carson Range. The crest near Yosemite National Park is roughly 13,000 feet (4,000 m) high at Mount Dana and Mount Lyell, and the entire range attains its peak at Mount Whitney (14,505 feet, 4,421 m). South of Mount Whitney, the range diminishes in elevation, but there are still several high points like Florence Peak (12,405 feet, 3,781 m) and Olancha Peak (12,123 feet, 3,695 m). The range still climbs almost to 10,000 feet (3,048 m) near Lake Isabella, but south of the lake, the peaks reach only to a modest 8,000 feet (2,438 m).

Geology

See Geology of the Yosemite area for a detailed article about the geology of the central Sierra Nevada.
The geological history of the Sierra Nevada begins in the Jurassic period, approximately 150 million years ago. At that time, an island arc collided with the West coast of North America and raised a set of mountains, in an event called the Nevadan orogeny. This event produced metamorphic rock. At roughly the same time, a subduction zone started to form at the edge of the continent. This means that an oceanic plate started to dive beneath the North American plate. Magma from the melting oceanic plate rose and created plutons of solid granite, deep below the surface. These plutons formed at various times, from 115 million to 87 million years ago.

The Pinyon pine-Juniper woodland, 5,000-7,000 ft (1,500-2,100 m) east side only

Notable species: Pinyon Jay, Desert Bighorn Sheep

The lower montane forest, 3,000-7,000 ft (1,000-2,100 m) west side, 7,000-8,500 ft (2,100-2,600 m) east side

Notable species: Ponderosa pine and Jeffrey pine, California black oak, Incense-cedar, Giant Sequoia, Dark-eyed Junco, Mountain Chickadee, Western gray squirrel, Mule deer, American black bear

The upper montane forest, 7,000-9,000 ft (2,100-2,700 m) west side, 8,500-10,500 ft (2,600-3,100 m) east side

Notable species: Lodgepole pine, Red Fir, Mountain Hemlock, Sierra Juniper, Hermit Thrush, Sage Grouse, Great Grey Owl, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, Marten

The subalpine forest, 9,000-10,500 ft (2,700-3,100 m) west side, 10,500-11,500 ft (3,100-3,500 m) east side

Notable species: Whitebark pine and Foxtail pine, Clark's Nutcracker

The alpine region >10,500 ft (>3,100 m) west side, >11,500 ft (>3,500 m) east side

Notable species: Sky Pilot, Pika, Belding's ground squirrel, Yellow-Bellied Marmot, Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep

History

History of exploration

The earliest identified inhabitants of the Sierra Nevada were the Paiute tribe on the east side and the Mono and Sierra Miwok tribe on the western side. Today, passes such as Duck Pass are littered with discarded obsidian arrowheads that date back to trade between tribes. There were also prehistorical territorial disputes between the Paiute and Sierra Miwok tribes European-American exploration of the mountain range started in the 1840s. In the winter of 1844, Lieutenant John C. Frémont, accompanied by Kit Carson, was the first white man to see Lake Tahoe.
By 1860, even though the California Gold Rush populated the flanks of the Sierra Nevada, most of the Sierra remained unexplored. Therefore, the state legislature authorized the California Geological Survey to officially explore the Sierra (and survey the rest of the state). Josiah Whitney was appointed to head the survey.
Men of the survey, including William H. Brewer, Charles F. Hoffmann, and Clarence King, explored the backcountry of what would become Yosemite National Park in 1863. In April of 1776 Padre Pedro Font on the second de Anza expedition, looking northeast across the Tulare Valley, described the mountains seen beyond:

Looking northeast we saw an immense plain without any trees, through which the water extends for a long distance, having in it several little islands of lowland. And finally, on the other side of the immense plain, and at a distance of about forty leagues, we saw a great Sierra Nevada whose trend appeared to me to be from south-southeast to north-northwest.

Its most common nickname is the Range of Light. This nickname comes from John Muir. This description is due in part to the unusually light colored granite exposed by glacial action.

Climate and meteorology

Precipitation in the Sierra ranges from 20 to 80 in (500 to 2,030 mm) during fall, winter, and spring. It occurs mostly as snow above 6,000 ft (1,829 m). Rain on snow is common. Summers are dry with low humidity. Temperature averages 42 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (5.5 to 15.5 degrees Celsius). The growing season lasts 20 to 230 days, strongly dependent on elevation.
A unique peculiarity of the Sierra Nevada is that, under certain wind conditions, a large round tube of air begins to roll on the southeast side. This is known as the "Sierra Nevada Rotor." This "mountain wave" forms when dry continental winds from the east cause the formation of a stacked set of counter-revolving cylinders of air reaching into the stratosphere. As of 2004, no sailplane has found its top. Similar features occur on many mountain ranges, but it's often observed and utilized in the Sierra. The phenomenon was the subject of an Air Force-funded study in the early 1950s called the Sierra Wave Project.. All recent world altitude records set in unpowered aircraft were set in the Sierra Nevada Wave, most flown from Mojave Airport.
The Sierra Nevada casts the valleys east of the Sierra in a rain shadow, which makes Death Valley and Owens Valley "the land of little rain".

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