. The Salinian Block is largely
granitic, in accordance with its
continental crustal origin. This composition contrasts sharply, and paradoxically, with much of the crust to its east, which is sedimentary and oceanic in origin. The block's granitic core, fragments of the
batholith of the
Peninsular Ranges, shares its origins with the
Sierra Nevada mountains far to the east. During the past 30 million years the North American Plate has been overriding the
East Pacific Rise and
transform faulting along the developing San Andreas fault zone. Successive "stretched out" slivers of the Sierra Nevada - the Peninsular Batholith - have been moving to the northwest to their current location, which movement continues. The granitic plutons of the Salinas block stretch from
Bodega Head () in the north to
Mount Pinos () at the southern end of the block. In the years since the 1974 study by Johnson and Normark the connection with the southern Sierra Nevada has been questioned, stating that "it more nearly resembles granite in the Mojave Desert". ==Notable Features==