1978 



Limestone in i he Coast Ranges 



• marh An impure fine-grained limestone or dolomite containing 

 substantial amounts of noncarbonote minerals or grains. 



The above tvpes of carbonate materials are not al- 

 ways distinct and some materials may be intermediate 

 between two or three of the above classes. Also, many 

 deposits contain two or more distinct kinds of carbon- 

 ate materials. 



Purpose and Time of Investigation 



This investigation was initiated by the California 

 Division of Mines and Geology in 1962 as part of a 

 statewide survey of the limestone, dolomite, and shell 

 resources of California under the supervision of Oliv- 

 er E. Bowen in association with several other Division 

 geologists. At that time, the study was divided areally 

 into six carbonate provinces — Klamath Mountains, 

 Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Basin Ranges, Mojave 

 Desert, and Transverse Ranges and Peninsular 

 Ranges — and, together with an introductory part 

 (Bowen, Evans, and (iray, 1973), the seven-part re- 

 port was intended to be published as one Bulletin. The 

 initial report on the Coast Ranges province was sub- 

 mitted for publication processing by this writer in 



March 196.'i. Because of problems encountered in tim- 

 ing and coordinating the bulky, multi-authored report 

 and the delays in completing parts of the investiga- 

 tion, it was decided to publish the various parts sepa- 

 rately as they became ready. This report was 

 considerably delayed in the meantime and was reor- 

 ganized in October 1969. At that time, .statistics were 

 updated through 1968 and a little descriptive data add- 

 ed. Significant information obtained since October 

 1969 has been included as footnotes. 



Acknowledgments 



Unpublished field data and sample analyses sup- 

 plied by Oliver E. Bowen and other geologists of the 

 (California Division of Mines and Geology, as well as 

 employees of the U.S. Geological Survey and several 

 other agencies and private companies, are gratefully 

 acknowledged. The many courtesies provided by nu- 

 merous operators and property owners are also ap- 

 preciated. All available published and unpublished 

 data were used to evaluate the carbonate deposits and 

 are cited wherever practical. The author is indebted to 

 Oliver E. Bowen and Richard M. Stewart for critically 

 reviewing the manuscript prior to publication. 



