Geographical study of the Los Angeles region of southern California

Abstract

In the last twenty years Los Angeles has become one of the large Cities of the world. Its setting is so well defined topographically that it invites regional analysis. As a basis for such study there must be a comprehensive description of the physical geography, and the main work of this thesis has been devoted to such a study. In this respect it is a pioneer work. In spite of the importance of the region and the activity in scientific investigation within its borders, a geographer finds here an almost unexplored field.The field work was carried on during two years in which I was an Instructor in geography at the University of California at Los Angeles. The study began with an investigation of the soils. The correlation of land surfaces through the similarity in soils was found to be of great aid in the physiographic analysis of the great plains of alluvial deposition. The enormous size of the land forms developed on these plains and the complications caused throughout the region by tectonic movements have made physiographic study very difficult. The discovery of evidence of horizontal displacement, the use of soil studies and the publication of detailed topographic maps for Los Angeles County, opened up a new opportunity for study and the explanation of the topography as .7,iven in this thesis is almost entirely new work.