Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

eady. Further west, wefind active volcanoesand sliding faults. In1857 the San AndreasFault slipped thirtyfeet toward Alaska inone hiccup, and theSanta Cruz Mountainsaround San Franciscohave warped severalinches higher in thelast three decades. InLos Angeles we have adesert artificially madeSandstone weathering in UtahGray desert of Nevadato appear abundant. It is a fragile, dependent life that is home to the center ofuniversal fantasy—Hollywood!A chain of volcanoes forms a mountainous spine along the PacificCoast, from the Aleutians past Central America to the tip of Chile. Most ofthe Caribbean islands were created by volcanic eruptions. Others are coraland other limestone formations.Like natural cathedrals, huge conifers dominate the Pacific coastal forests.In the Sierra Nevada, the sequoias are the bulkiest, though not the tallest,of all the world’s trees. The largest sequoias measure about one hundred feet(thirty meters) around at the base. They live between 3,000 and 4,000 years.Forests of redwood, one of the world’s tallest trees, grow along a narrowcoastal strip from central California to southern Oregon. Many of these giantstower more than threehundred and fifty feet(ninety-one meters).The predominantetheric gesturesexpressed in the Westare a moveable landinfluenced by earthquakes,volcanoes,and fire; a parched,wasted land holdingrich resources underneath,a feeling ofsomething new or33