Abbotts Lagoon

Abbotts Lagoon
Location Marin County, California
Coordinates 38°7′3″N 122°57′12″W / 38.11750°N 122.95333°W / 38.11750; -122.95333Coordinates: 38°7′3″N 122°57′12″W / 38.11750°N 122.95333°W / 38.11750; -122.95333[1]
Type lagoon
Primary outflows Pacific Ocean
Basin countries United States
Surface elevation sea level

Abbotts Lagoon is a two-stage lagoon on the northwestern coast of the Point Reyes National Seashore, southwest of Tomales Point. The upper lagoon is a fresh water impoundment which overflows into a lower brackish level with occasional winter tidal exchange.[2] The eastern shore of the lagoon is covered with old growth northern coastal scrub including coyote bush, yellow bush lupine, sword fern and California blackberry.[3]

Geology

Abbotts Lagoon is usually separated from the Pacific Ocean by dune sand to the west. The eastern side of the lagoon is bordered by Miocene marine sediments to the north and Pliocene marine sediments to the south from sedimentary rock formations on the western side of the San Andreas Fault.[4] Santa Margarita Sandstone atop the Monterey Formation forms a ridge along the southern side of the valley containing the upper lagoon, and is exposed along the eastern shoreline of the lower lagoon.[5]

History

Coast Miwok lived in the area prior to 19th century European colonization. Land surrounding the lagoon was used for cattle and dairy ranching by the 1870s.[5] Abbotts Lagoon was variously identified as Abbott's Lagoon Bombing Target, Abbott's Lagoon Target Area, Abbott's Lagoon Bombing Range, and Bombing Range Number Two while used as a dive bomber practice area by pilots from Alameda Naval Air Station and Santa Rosa outlying field from 1941 to 1952.[6] The lagoon was designated part of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962.[5]

Recreation

Walking trails provide access to observe the birds and wild flowers of the locally unique habitats surrounding Abbotts Lagoon.[7] Brush rabbits, black-tailed jackrabbits, pocket gophers, muskrats, river otter and black-tailed deer may be seen around the lagoon. Coyote, bobcat, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, striped skunk, raccoon, badger, and cougar are rarely seen.[8]

Birding

Bird species observed at Abbotts Lagoon include:

Flora

Abbotts Lagoon is the location of the single remaining natural population of the endangered plant species Sonoma spineflower (Chorizanthe valida).[20]

See also

References

  1. "Abbotts Lagoon". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. "Abbotts Lagoon". Great Outdoor Recreation Pages. Archived from the original on 2010-09-09. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  3. Stallcup, Rich & Pitkin, Melissa Discovering Birds at Point Reyes (2007) Point Reyes National Seashore Association ISBN 0-9607890-6-5 pp.35-37
  4. Koenig, James B. Geologic Map of California:Santa Rosa Sheet (1976) State of California Resources Agency
  5. 1 2 3 "Geology at Point Reyes National Seashore and Vicinity, California" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  6. "Tomales Bay Abbotts Lagoon Bombing Range, California (J09CA7292)". Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 Bay Area Hiker: Abbotts Lagoon
  8. Stallcup, Rich & Pitkin, Melissa Discovering Birds at Point Reyes (2007) Point Reyes National Seashore Association ISBN 0-9607890-6-5 p.39
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 Stallcup, Rich & Pitkin, Melissa Discovering Birds at Point Reyes (2007) Point Reyes National Seashore Association ISBN 0-9607890-6-5 pp.36-37
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 CalPhoto.com Arnel Guanlao
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Adam Paul
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Point Reyes Light
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 SurfBirds.com Daniel Edelstein 25 October 2009
  14. 1 2 3 point Reyes National Seashore
  15. 1 2 Biohere
  16. 1 2 3 Rockskipper
  17. Panoramio
  18. Sutton Center Archived 7 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. Fog Archived 29 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. USFWS. Chorizanthe valida Five-year Review. August 2010.

External links

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