Pacific Beach Gypsum Strata
| Name: | Gypsum Strata |
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| Date: | 10/19/2006 |
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| Location: | Tourmaline Beach San Diego California |
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Embedded into the sandstone rock is a stratum of gypsum rock. Gypsum (satin spar)
is know as an evaporite, which occurs when sodium and carbonates are mixed in a hydrated solution, and
evaporates from within a sedimentary rock. As this gypsum layer was some seven feet above the basement
layer, one can conclude that the level of the ocean surface was once higher than present day. These
shifts in the ocean levels can be attributed to glacial melt and freeze cycles.
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