Caliente Range
The Caliente Range is a west-east trending zone of uplift mountains in the California Coast Ranges, in central California. The highest peak of the range is Caliente Mountain at 5,106 feet (1,556 m) in elevation, located in northeastern San Luis Obispo County.
Geology
The range is an anticlinal structure with a sharp southern boundary defined by the Morales Thrust Fault, along which runs the Cuyama River. The Cuyama Valley separates the Caliente Range from the Sierra Madre Mountains in neighboring Santa Barbara County to the south. To the northeast, the range is bounded by the Carrizo Plain. To the northwest, the range is abutted by the La Panza and Santa Lucia Ranges, two northwest-southeast trending units of the Pacific Coast Ranges.
The rocks of the Caliente range are dominated by marine and terrestrial sedimentary deposits laid down over the last 30 million years. Within them are some volcanic units, prominent particularly in the foothills beginning at the Carrizo Plain. These volcanic rocks are of Tertiary age, and are mostly basalt.
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