Geol.— Vol. I.J DAVIDSON—SUBxMERGED VALLEYS. 



93 



fine soft mud, dark gray, dark yellow, and dark green, as 

 far in as 30 fathoms of water, with occasional cases of fine 

 dark sand, even to 150 fathoms. 



Near the head of this valley empties the SaHnas River 

 from the southeast, and the Pajaro from the northeast. One 

 or two miles inside the shore, at the head of this valley, are 

 some very deep, fresh water lakes, but we have no certified 

 measurements of their areas or depths. The peculiarities 

 of the Salinas will be described in another paper. 



Transpacific Cable. — The existence of this submerged 

 valley of Monterey has been taken advantage of to propose 

 it as the shore approach for a transpacific cable, and a line 

 of soundings was run through it by Capt. Tanner, of the 

 U. S. S. "Albatross," who developed a depth of 868 fathoms 

 on the line of its axis at 16^ miles from shore. The con- 

 ditions are very favorable for an undisturbed bed up to the 

 very shore of the bay. 



17. The Coast North of Monterey Bay. 



Northward of Monterey Bay there are several well marked 

 breaks in the Coast Ranges, viz.: — 



At the Golden Gate, at Bodega Bay, and thence to Rus- 

 sian River; and yet off none of these breaks is there the 

 least sign of a submerged valley in the plateau out to 100 

 fathoms. 



Northward of Russian River the Coast Ranges are quite 

 compact and the elevation of the crest-line from 2,000 to 

 2,500 feet to Point Arena, in latitude 38° 56'. 



The Walalla River breaks squarely through the outer 

 range in latitude 38°, but there is no sign of a submerged 

 valley off its mouth. 



On the north side of Point Arena there is a receding of 

 the shore-line for a mile or two and low country inside, but 

 no sign of cutting through the lOO-fathom plateau; thence 

 northward the mountains increase in elevation to Cape 

 Mendocino, where they reach 3,400 feet, with a sharp, well 

 marked crest-line, culminating at 4,265 feet at King Peak. 



