Mima Mounds:
Found worldwide, Mima Mounds cover vast areas and are of unknown origin. The mounds are included here because they have been found to exist near some area of rock lines in the Shasta Valley, the Sutter Buttes and Nevada Area. Mima mounds are a cool mystery with some comic relief being supplied by the proponents of competing hypotheses taking potshots at each other.
There are over 30 different theories on the origination of the Mima Mounds but the three bandied about the most are:
a. They are a product of seismic activity even though they are much more common in non-seismic areas.
b. They are the product of gophers, but again most exist in areas where gophers have never existed and there is no sign of gopher activity, past or present within the mounds.
c. They are the product of glacier melt, but yet again most exist in areas where no glaciers have been for a hundred million years and more.
When Mima Mounds were first being investigated there was a line of thought that the Mima mounds were artificial. This hypothesis has been pushed aside without any additional evidence even though the mounds match this hypothesis far better than any other. Does abundant topsoil over a gravel layer ring a bell for anyone who gardens with raised beds? Just a wild ass guess.
Shasta Valley:
Weed Mima Mounds:
These pictures were taken from the Weed southbound rest stop. The mounds are clear of rock but are surrounded by artificially arranged rocks including rock lines. When viewed in Google Earth it shows the rock decorations to cover many square miles.
Google Images:
Google Markers:
Weed Mima Mounds 1 Weed Mima Mounds 2 Weed Mima Mounds 3 Weed Mima Mounds 4 Weed Mima Mounds 5
Weed Mima Mound Aerials:
Ground View from southbound Weed I-5 rest stop.
View from west of Highway I-5.
Sutter Buttes:
Links to info about Mima mounds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mima_mounds
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf119/sf119p09.htm
http://www.perigeezero.org/treatise/Enigmas/geologic/mima_mounds/index.html