Beautiful panoramic landscapes of GigaPan.com > Sur Series and Bixby Bridge, Big Sur, California by ahochstaedter

Looking north along the Big Sur coast at the mouth of Bixby Creek. The rocks on the sea cliff across the cove are part of the Sur Series, a package of igneous and metamorphic rocks that represents the basement on which a volcanic arc was built after the west coast of North America changed from a passive to active continental margin in the Jurassic. Granitic plutons that closely resemble those in the Sierra were intruded into this basement complex in the Cretaceous. The age of the protolith and early metamorphism of these rocks is poorly constrained, with most sources citing Paleozoic to early Mesozoic times. A Peninsula Geological Society guidebook, however, mentions Precambrian ages for the protoliths. Additional metamorphism undoubtedly occurred as the granitic plutons were emplaced as well.

Metamorphic rocks of the Sur Series include schist, quartzite, marble and granulite gneiss. In the sea cliff several types of interlayered and highly deformed dark and light metamorphic rock are visible, along with multiple dikes and veins of lighter colored intrusive rock. These metamorphic rocks are generally thought to represent deposition of sediments in marine basin and later emplacement onto the continent.

The Bixby Bridge is one of the most iconic structures of the Big Sur Coast, appearing in countless photographs, advertisements, and movies. It was built during the construction of this section of Highway 1in the early 1930’s, and completed in 1932. The highway itself was completed several years later in 1937. Wikipedia tells us that the bridge is over 700 feet long and 280 feet high. About the half of the roadbed is above the arch.