Guthrie Creek Geology

The beach leading south from Guthrie Creek, which is accessed via a steep trail located off of Centerville Road in Humboldt County CA, displays incredible evidence of thrust faulting. Gigantic slabs of sand-stone'ish material have been thrusted hundreds of feet into the air. And the erosive wave action from the ocean hasn't had time to break these huge blocks of solid sand down even though the upwarped material extends straight up out of the ocean's edge. There are several thrust faults running more or less east-southeast to west-northwest, parallel to the nearby San Andreas Fault to the south. At low tide I hope to travel farther south along the beach and explore the remainder of this geologically active portion of Humboldt County.

Giants slabs of solidified sand are being thrusted upwards at a steep angle near Guthrie Creek.

Looking south toward Cape Mendocino and the Mendocino Triple Junction, where the San Andreas Fault, the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and the Mendocino Fault Zone all converge.

Trail south of Centerville Beach slowly sliding off into the ocean.

Sand bluffs rising high above Centerville Beach.