Pinnacles - A Unique Californian Granitic and Volcanic Formation

Adventurer
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Based in San Diego, Brian Borg maintains a strong focus on family and parenting in his daily life. With a love of the outdoors, Brian Borg has visited natural areas in San Diego and across the state, including Yosemite National Park and Pinnacles National Monument.

Situated in Central California to the west of the Santa Lucia mountains, Pinnacles forms a distinct geological boundary at an active fault line. West of the fault is a granitic basement rock that formed gradually as huge masses of molten lava gradually rose through the Earth’s crust and cooled and solidified about 80 to 100 million years ago. 

East of the fault is a volcanic formation, with rhyolitic magma extruded and deposited 23 million years ago on top of the original granitic basement. Over the millennia, fracturing, faulting, and wind and water-caused erosion have resulted in vertically sculpted rock layers that form cliffs, spires, and pinnacles that can reach hundreds of feet in elevation.

The unique breccias or layered rocks that form the Pinnacles are also found in one other spot, 195 miles to the southeast. This represents a long-term displacement by the San Andreas Fault, which is bringing the Pinnacles north at a rate of 0.59 inches each year.

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Pinnacles Helps Support Wild California Condors

A summa cum laude graduate of San Diego University, Brian Borg has more than two decades of experience in risk management, human resources, and business analysis. Personally, Brian Borg enjoys traveling with his family from his home in San Diego to visit some of the state's natural areas, such as Pinnacles National Park.

First inhabited by native peoples and then Spanish missionaries and settlers for centuries before its designation as a national park in 2013 by President Barack Obama, Pinnacles National Park encompasses approximately 26,000 acres of land formed by the eruption of several volcanoes. Visitors have the opportunity to hike numerous trails through the quiet wilderness and learn about the area's flora, fauna, and geology.

Pinnacles National Park began serving as a release site for the California condor in 2013. The species had disappeared from the wild by 1987. In response, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnered with the Ventana Wildlife Society in order to make a coordinated effort to save the California condor. Over a period of 15 years, they set roughly 20-30 condors free each year in Pinnacles.

Today, park staff at Pinnacles work with scientists, interns, and volunteers to watch and protect the park's resident condors. Visitors can also see the spectacular birds of prey soaring over the park.