IP OS t e Ista 337 



rock are fossils of a relatively recent type. Mol- 

 lusks not distantly related to the ancestral types 

 of the mussels now swarming the rock shelves 

 of the coast then lived and contriljiited their 

 shells to the coastal detritus of their day. Thus 

 fragments of shale, crystalline grains of c|uartz 

 and fossil fragments accumulated and laid down 

 a bed of ]\Iiocene sandstone hundreds of feet in 

 thickness. It covered the surface of the ancient 

 shale formation, uneven with high knobs, rough 

 and w^ave worn surfaces. Many stream channels 

 and pre-Tertiary glens disclosed anew and chan- 

 neled out asrain since the old River Fuca took its 

 place among the geographic features of the 

 Pacific coast, increase the interest of the Station 

 student. 



The nature of the material forming this up- 

 permost formation commands attention. In 

 front of the Station buildings, adjoining the 

 rough, harsh surface upon which we first stepped 

 down, lies a coarse rock of onlv medium hard- 

 ness. Within it are many huge boulders formed 

 of great masses of .broken dike material, slabs 

 of shale and varied beach boulders. Binding 



