Menlo Park Celebrates. . .USGS 125th Anniversary with a special lecture for employees!

Mapping the American West--Clarence King and the 40th Parallel Survey

By James G. Moore, USGS Geologist, Menlo Park, California

* After completing a geology degree at Yale and coming West in the wagontrain, Clarence King worked with the California Geological Survey and wasin the field party that discovered Mount Whitney.

* King led the United States Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel(1867-79), which mapped topography and geology along the 100-mile-widestrip across Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

* King discovered the first known glaciers in the U.S. exposed the "greatdiamond hoax" of 1872, and wrote "Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada," a book that became a classic in western writing.

* In 1879 Clarence King became the founding Director of the U.S. GeologicalSurvey, the Nation's first civilian government science agency.

* King's enduring legacy includes excellence in combining mapping ofgeology and topography and supporting geologic field work with a full rangeof laboratory studies.

*Flyer: March_flyr.pdf
**Video: mms://video.wr.usgs.gov/science/jimmoore04.wmv