Stop #5: Korean Bell of Friendship Palos Verdes Geology Field Trip << | Home | >>

 

This beautiful monument was given to the United States by the government of South Korea. It is located on a bluff that overlooks the Los Angeles Harbor, Cabrillo Beach and Aquarium, and the Point Fermin Park and Lighthouse.

This bluff is one of the many marine terraces that formed as the peninsula was uplifted by the Palos Verdes Fault. It is unique as it has a nearly 270° view of the coastline. This was a stratigic location for the U.S. during World War II because it allowed the millitary to have a clear view of the coastline to search for Japanese aircraft and submarines. A remnant of this wartime activity can be found just down the slope from the Friendship Bell in the form of a concrete circle. This is all that remains of a gun turret that once protected our coastine.

If you were to continue down the slope towards the coast you would reach Point Fermin Park, the Point Fermin Lighthouse, and the Point Fermin Landslide. The cause of this landslide is similar to the Portuguese Bend landslide - undercutting of the seaward-dipping beds of bentonite within the Altamira Shale.


Stop #5: Korean Bell of Friendship   << | Home | >>