Why are there whale fossils in California mountains?

The Christian Science Monitor. ^ | September 21, 2015 | Story Hinckley,

[george76]

Construction workers in California's Santa Cruz mountains were subject to a surprise delay last week when a team of archaeologists took over the site to remove an ancient whale fossil.

The project site was expected to have a high potential for archaeological finds, so a monitor was assigned to the Scotts Valley development and found the fossil amid construction vehicles on Sept. 4.

This project site is not the only one in California with fossils

...

Since the 19th century, paleontologists have been studying the “Sharktooth Hill Bone Bed” near Bakersfield, California, where fossils and bones of ancient whales, seals, dolphins, sharks, and fish have been uncovered.

...

At 25 feet long, the archaeologists assigned to the project believe the remains belong to a mysticete whale, an ancient ancestor of the baleen whale.

[treetopsandroofs]

Whalenado BC, the Prequel.

[thackney]

Middle Tertiary (Early Miocene) Paleogeography, Southwestern US (20 Ma). Drainage systems of the Western Interior were still not well integrated. Note the absence of a through going stream on the Colorado Plateau. Extensive volcanism continued. On the west coast, normal subduction resumed, but only north of where the East Pacific Rise had already collided with North America. Since the Permian or Triassic, the Farallon and related plates were subducted below North America. Once the East Pacific Rise collided with the continent, the westerly plate, the Pacific Plate, came into contact with the continent. Because both the Pacific Plate and North American Plate have westerly components of motion, a new stress regime was established. Extension dominated regions east of where North America contacted the Pacific Plate. A large transform fault system, the San Andreas, was created. Blocks moving northwest along the Pacific side of the fault were caught in a bend of the fault system in southern California. These blocks were rotated in clockwise fashion to form the Transverse Ranges

Latest Middle Tertiary (Late Miocene) Paleogeography, Southwestern US (10 Ma). The tectonic patterns of the earlier Miocene continued. Volcanism continued widespread and streams continued to gnaw at the Colorado Plateau. Extension spreads northward as the Mendocino triple junction, the point of contact between the Farallon, North American, and Pacific plates moved northward. Note that Salinia is now in central California. The Cordilleran arc shuts down south of the triple junction as subduction ceases and transform motion begins.

More at:
https://www2.nau.edu/rcb7/terpaleo.html

[Jim W N]

What does he say about the Annunaki?

[CivilWarBrewing]

It seems there have been massive displacements of sea life by major flood events. An asteroid hitting the ocean might do it. Or a nuclear holocaust brought on by the Annunaki or some other extraterrestrial force.

[HiTech RedNeck]

It would seem a shame to me to have to remove a functional polydactyl digit though if vestigial and not working that might make sense. That could be an advantage in many activities. Serious piano players might kill for an extra finger (so to speak).

[MeshugeMikey]

The fountains of the deep!

[huldah1776]

I think a new continent in the pacific would be nice.

[Jim W N]

So what your trying to tell me is the whole west coast of California is land fill? Uh-oh.

[MrB]

Oh, I wasn’t taking offense.

I was actually confused for a time about why the Appalachians appeared “old” and the Rockies “young”,

and I figured it out. Quite serendipitous too, that right AFTER I figured it out, I read an article on just that topic in Answers magazine.

[truth_seeker]

I have seen ocean floor fossils in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and Montana, at 9,000 ft. elevation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology_in_Wyoming

There is also a story about “global warming” to be understood concerning natural history.

[envisio]

ALIENS

[ETL]

Same reason there are sea fossils in the Himalayan mountains? Also the Rockies.

[ScottinVA]

Doesn’t surprise me... sea fossils have been found in the higher elevations of Colorado.

[thackney]

wo tectonic plates known to us as the Farallon tectonic plate and the North American Plate. During the Cretaceous time, the Farallon plate subducted under the North American Plate. Subduction is the process were one tetonic plate, in this case the Farallon Plate, moves under another tetonic plate, the North American. The rate of this process is average of 2 to 8 centimeter per year to give you an idea of how long it would have taken to form the seaway. Basically, as one plate slid underneath, it pulled down an area or depression which could be filled with water, which we had high sea levels during this period.

http://almonsees.hubpages.com/hub/NorthAmericaInlandSea#

[Hatteras]

They were scooped up by forest service aerial tankers fighting wild fires and deposited on the mountainsides along with a few thousand gallons of water?...

[TexasRepublic]

Don’t make this so difficult. There were no krill in the mountains and the whales simply starved.

[Cyman]

Man made global warming. We are responsible for the whales losing their skiing privileges in the mountains.

[DungeonMaster]

A hugh young earth finding that liberal media heathens will never hear about.

[huldah1776]

I like it. A LOT. Reason being, what if the big meteor that killed the dinosaurs is also the reason for the gain in mass and breaking away of continents? There’s a big solid mass in the center of the earth, right? Just sayin.

Plus, I’ve been reading about the end times. Something blocks the sun and moon is red. there are big meteor showers. Earthquakes that move islands, destroy ALL the cities (the coast lands being destroyed are often mentioned), and the mountains are split or crumble. It’s really cool.

Also, just as the 10 plagues could be naturally progressive, I think the day of God’s wrath is one day of naturally progressive catastrophic events. Fun to think about. Only 6 days or so until a big one hits the pacific. NASA says no, but they defend globull warming so why should I believe them?

[GOPJ]

Interesting link - but if the debris was ‘washed away’ - which seems the only likely answer - where's the debris field? At some point - even if water's rushing from the equivalent of a ‘three mile high broken dam’ there would be a field of rocks... somewhere... a pattern. Something...