8 



and evolution of the Los Angeles Basin. Poland, Garrett, and 

 Sinnott (1948); Poland, Piper, and others (1945) studied the 

 coastal region, especially in regard to ground water. Reed 

 (1951) and Reed and Hollister*s (1951) book on the geology 

 of California is an excellent source of information for 

 additional information on the geology of southern California; 

 and the recent publication by the California Division of 

 Mines, (Bulletin 170) of the geology of southern California 

 gives the very latest information for this region. 



GEOLOGIC AND GEOGRAPHIC SETTING OF 

 SANTA MONICA BAY 



Introduction 



The Los Angeles Basin is bounded by the Santa Monica 

 Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains on the north; the 

 Pacific Ocean and Palos Verdes Hills on the west and south; 

 and partly by the Santa Ana Mountains and Puente Hills on 

 the east. The San Pedro and Santa Monica Shelves are sea- 

 ward extensions of the Los Angeles Plain, Most of the regional 

 faulting trends northwest-southeast, and numerous parallel or 

 en echelon faults have resulted in the topographic prominences; 

 varying from mountains along the eastern border to hills and 

 knolls in the Los Angeles Plain area. The mountain ranges 

 along the northern border of the Basin are controlled by east- 

 west trending faults. 



Essentially all of the present major topographic features 

 in the coastal region, and probably much of the relief inland, 

 were formed by def ormational earth movements during Middle and 



