INTRODUCTION 



The age of certain f ossiliferous sandstones overlying the 

 granite in Ellsmere Canyon,- near the San, Fernando Pass, has been in 



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doubt for some, years. Tiiy.e/ire been determined at different times 

 as Vaqueros, Monterey, and Fernando. It was wilh the hope of ob- 

 taining additional information on the age and relationships of these 



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beds that the writer undertook a study of them. This subject was 

 suggested for investigation by Doctor J. C. Merriam, and the work 



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has been carried out under his direction. The writer's field work 

 was done durim-- parts of the months of January aad June, 1912. 



LOCATION. 



The work done by the writer 'was limited to an area around 

 Illsmere Canyon, near TTewhall, California, about thirty miles north- 

 west of Los Angeles on the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad. 

 Ellsmere Canyon lies on the extreme northwest flank of the San 

 Gabriel Range, just east of the San Fernando Pass, which separates 

 the San Gabriel from its westward continuation in the Santa Susan 

 Range. The canyon is about three miles long, and runs in a northwest 



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direction toward Ellsmere Ridge, at which point it enters a broad 

 southwest extension of the broad alluvium floored Santa Clara Valley. 



The general elevation of the Santa Clara Valley is about twelve 



" 5 '-T^- r** 1 ^ fii^ "*Jaei ri 

 hundred feet, while the highest point in the San Gabriel Range of 



this immediate area is thirty five hundred feet. 



