﻿386 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  pubterraueaii 
  heat, 
  when 
  the 
  strata 
  are 
  in 
  contact 
  with 
  igneous 
  rock 
  beneath 
  

   them. 
  

  

  The 
  lignite 
  beds 
  of 
  lone 
  Valley 
  and 
  Lincoln 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  one 
  age. 
  The 
  

   former 
  is 
  described 
  by 
  Professor 
  Whitjjeyin 
  the 
  State 
  Geology, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  as 
  being 
  

   very 
  soft 
  material, 
  approaching 
  peat, 
  and 
  useful 
  only 
  for 
  local 
  consumption. 
  It 
  

   forms 
  a 
  bed 
  seven 
  feet 
  thick, 
  occupying 
  several 
  small 
  basins 
  in 
  the 
  foot-hills, 
  

   apparently 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  former 
  lakes. 
  Numerous 
  fossil 
  plants 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  it, 
  

   and 
  are 
  considered 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  prove 
  its 
  pliocene 
  tertiary 
  age. 
  The 
  large 
  de- 
  

   posits 
  found 
  near 
  Lincoln, 
  at 
  a 
  much 
  lower 
  elevation, 
  show 
  that 
  this 
  pliocene 
  

   lignite 
  probably 
  occupies 
  large 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Sacramento 
  and 
  San 
  Joaquin 
  

   Valleys, 
  where 
  marine 
  pliocene 
  fossils 
  have 
  long 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  exist, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   fresh 
  water 
  and 
  terrestrial 
  fossils, 
  which 
  occupied 
  it 
  successively, 
  as 
  the 
  

   country 
  rose 
  above 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea. 
  Much 
  of 
  this 
  coal 
  was, 
  no 
  doubt, 
  

   formed 
  in 
  lakes, 
  which 
  in 
  filling 
  up 
  left 
  the 
  present 
  marshes. 
  

  

  Pliocene 
  coal 
  is 
  also 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Coast 
  Range, 
  but 
  nowhere 
  in 
  paying 
  quan- 
  

   tity. 
  Strata 
  from 
  an 
  inch 
  to 
  a 
  foot 
  thick 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  by 
  any 
  one 
  visiting 
  Long 
  

   Beach, 
  south 
  of 
  Lake 
  Merced, 
  where 
  the 
  pliocene 
  strata, 
  full 
  of 
  marine 
  fossils, 
  

   (which 
  prove 
  their 
  age 
  by 
  the 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  living 
  species) 
  are 
  uplifted 
  

   with 
  a 
  dip 
  of 
  thirty 
  to 
  forty 
  degrees 
  to 
  the 
  northeast. 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  article 
  in 
  the 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  California 
  Academy, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  244, 
  

   Amos 
  Bowman 
  described 
  and 
  figured 
  this 
  pliocene 
  formation 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  

   " 
  terraces," 
  most 
  of 
  which 
  exist 
  only 
  in 
  his 
  imagination. 
  As 
  seen 
  from 
  east 
  of 
  

   the 
  bay, 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  ridge 
  at 
  this 
  point 
  appears 
  tolerably 
  level, 
  but 
  the 
  strata 
  

   along 
  the 
  beach 
  are 
  plainly 
  inclined 
  thirty 
  to 
  forty 
  degrees, 
  and 
  were 
  so 
  de- 
  

   scribed 
  in 
  California 
  Geology, 
  Vol.1. 
  At. 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  ten 
  to 
  twenty 
  miles 
  

   many 
  such 
  " 
  terraces 
  " 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  along 
  the 
  ridges 
  around 
  the 
  bay, 
  but 
  none 
  

   of 
  these 
  ridges 
  are 
  really 
  terraced 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  strata, 
  which 
  are 
  everywhere 
  

   highly 
  inclined. 
  

  

  True 
  terraces, 
  probably 
  pliocene, 
  do 
  exist 
  at 
  low 
  levels 
  around 
  the 
  bay 
  and 
  in 
  

   Livermore 
  Valley, 
  containing 
  fossil 
  remains 
  of 
  land 
  animals. 
  Dr. 
  Cooper 
  was 
  

   investigating 
  these 
  when 
  the 
  survey 
  was 
  suspended 
  last 
  spring. 
  The 
  marine 
  

   terraces 
  described 
  by 
  Professor 
  Davidson, 
  in 
  Vol. 
  V, 
  Parti, 
  do 
  not 
  extend 
  

   within 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  bay, 
  or 
  very 
  near 
  it. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  fresh-water 
  deposit 
  in 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  San 
  Pablo 
  creek, 
  containing 
  

   thin 
  beds 
  of 
  good 
  lignite, 
  full 
  of 
  fresh-water 
  shells, 
  indicating 
  a 
  lake 
  deposit 
  of 
  

   probably 
  the 
  miocene 
  age. 
  The 
  strata 
  have 
  been 
  very 
  much 
  disturbed 
  by 
  

   volcanic. 
  action 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  places 
  where 
  Dr. 
  Cooper 
  has 
  examined 
  them, 
  and 
  are 
  

   not 
  likely 
  therefore 
  to 
  be 
  profitable. 
  

  

  Indications 
  of 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  volcanic 
  convulsions 
  about 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   the 
  pliocene 
  epoch, 
  which 
  destroyed 
  the 
  then 
  existing 
  tropical 
  fauna 
  and 
  flora 
  of 
  

   California, 
  (as 
  described 
  by 
  Professor 
  Whitney) 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  coast 
  

   strata 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  counties 
  so 
  far 
  explored 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  bay, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   gravel 
  terraces 
  containing 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  plants 
  and 
  tropical 
  animals, 
  described 
  

   by 
  Dr. 
  Leidy 
  in 
  a 
  recent 
  publication 
  on 
  the 
  " 
  U. 
  S. 
  Geological 
  Survey 
  of 
  the 
  

   Territories." 
  Why 
  does 
  not 
  California 
  see 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  retaining 
  and 
  

   publishing 
  such 
  interesting 
  discoveries 
  within 
  her 
  boundaries 
  ? 
  

  

  