Name of fly-through:  Canyon -Valley

 Red line shows flight path

File Size:  170.8 Mb; web version:  8.3 Mb

Run Time: 2min 5sec; web version:  36 seconds

Window Size:  800 X 500 pixels; web version:   300 X 182 pixels

Vertical Exaggeration: 1.5

Flight Altitude: Begins at 2500 m below sea level, finishes at 700 m above sea level.

                           Altitude above surface varies from 500 m  to 1300 m

Distance Over Ground:  136 kilometers  (85 miles)

Average Speed Over Ground:  3,900 km/hr (2,450 mph); web version: 13,600 km/hr (8,500 mph)

Description of flight:

 The flight starts about 3000 m down in the depths of the lower Monterey Canyon.  Differential erosion accentuates the stratigraphic layers exposed on the north wall (left side) of the canyon.  The north flank of Sur Ridge is on the right.  Notice the flat, wide canyon floor and its sharp contact with the canyon walls.  This probably indicates that the debris falling from the canyon walls is periodically swept away by the action of turbidity currents.

 

  The San Gregorio-Hosgri Fault crosses the canyon here in a north-south direction.  Preferential erosion along the fault has formed a wide valley to the north (left) and the narrow linear Carmel Canyon, which joins the Monterey Canyon here.

  Incised meanders with cut banks, point bars, and elevated terraces characterize the upper Monterey Canyon.  Here we see the sharp turn around Gooseneck Meander, which may have been formed by a large slope failure from the north (left) canyon wall.

  Here we see the low hilly terrain of the Aromas Sand formation, an ancient sand dune field deposited when sea level was 100 meters lower and a cooler, windier climate prevailed.  The Gabilan Range rises up in the distance.

In this section we fly southeast up the fault bounded basin that forms the Salinas Valley.  The Gabilan Range is on the left and the Sierra de Salinas are on the right.  The landscape of the valley is dominated by farming activity and the sprawling development of the city of Salinas. Well-developed bajadas are visible against the Sierra de Salinas.

 

canyon_valley.avi