Gulf of California

Gulf of California is an arm of the Pacific Ocean that lies between the Lower California peninsula and the mainland of Mexico. The Gulf of California was once known as the Sea of Cortes, because the Spanish adventurer Hernando Cortes first explored it in 1536. The gulf was also called the Vermilion Sea. Many kinds of fish, including big-game sailfish, can be found in the Gulf of California.

Oyster beds lie along the eastern shore. The western shore has pearl and sponge fisheries. The gulf is about 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) long, from 30 to 150 miles (48 to 241 kilometers) wide, and from 600 to 6,000 feet (180 to 1,800 meters) deep. The Colorado River is the largest stream that flows into the gulf. The gulf's largest islands are Angel de la Guarda and Tiburon.

Contributor: James D. Riley, Ph.D., Associate Prof. of History, The Catholic Univ. of America.

La Brea tar pits, pronounced luh BRAY uh, are one of the world's richest known sources of Ice Age fossils. They lie in Hancock Park in Los Angeles. Beginning in 1906, when the remains of a giant prehistoric bear were found, about a million well-preserved skeletons of saber-toothed tigers, giant wolves, llamas, camels, horses, giant ground sloths, and other ancient animals have been dug from the various layers of oil and tar. These animals became trapped when they came to drink from the shallow pool that covered the sticky asphalt bog. Some Indians of the area used the pitch to cover baskets and canoes. Spanish settlers waterproofed adobe houses with it. The George C. Page Museum, at the site, displays skeletons from the pits.

Contributor: Brian M. Fagan, Ph.D., Prof. of Anthropology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara.

Page last updated 07/30/00