Geology of the San Diego Metropolitan Area, California

In 1965 the California Division of mines and Geology in cooperation with the city of San Diego began a comprehensive geologic investigation aimed at a better understanding of the geologic hazards that exist within the greater San Diego metropolitan area. This report is one product of that investigation. The western San Diego metropolitan area is underlain by valuable sand, gravel, and clay resources deemed feasibly extractable in today’s market for use. Faults in the San Diego coastal area lie within a regional north west, striking right lateral fault system that includes the active Mission Creek, San Andreas, San Jacinto, and Elsinore fault zones. Faults belonging to both of these sets have displaced rocks of the late Pleistocene Bay Point formation, which has on the basis of a rich near shore molluscan fauna. The most prominent faults within the northwest striking set belong to the Rose Canyon fault zone.