416 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 
CRYSTALLINE BASEMENT COMPLEX. 
Considerable areas of granite, crystalline schists, and lime- 
stone appear at many points in the Coast Ranges between Point 
Reyes and Ventura county. No information has yet been gained 
of the age of any portion of this basement complex, beyond the 
fact that it underlies unconformably the most ancient uncrystal- 
line rocks which are probably not older than the Jurassic. It 
would appear that the granite cannot be correlated with that 
which was irrupted at the close of the Jurassic in the Sierra 
region. It seems highly probable, from our present knowledge, 
that a long period of erosion, during which these crystalline rocks 
were much more prominently exposed than at present, ensued 
between the upheaval and metamorphism of the schists and lime- 
stones, and the deposition of the lowest uncrystalline strata. 
GOLDEN GATE SERIES. 
Definition. — Between the lowest recognized Cretaceous and 
the basement complex is a series of rocks separated from both 
by nonconformities, and everywhere characterized by rather 
peculiar lithologic features. For this collection of strata, con- 
sisting chiefly of jasper, sandstone, shale, and «late, typically 
developed about the entrance to San Francisco Bay, the designa- 
tion Golden Gate series is proposed. According to our present 
knowledge these rocks form a conformable series of strata witha 
remarkable similarity of character through their whole extent. 
The scanty fauna thus far known indicates that it does not 
embrace a great range of geological time, although its thickness 
is very considerable. The series has been recognized by the 
writer from central Santa Barbara county northwestward through 
the Coast Ranges to the Klamath Mountains. On the western 
slope of these mountains it has been traced to the Oregon line, 
and it undoubtedly extends farther. Until recently the series 
has been considered, by all geologists who have published results 
of work in the Coast Ranges, not older than the Knoxville, of 
which it has often been thought to be a metamorphosed portion. 
In 1892 the writer first advanced the view that these rocks were 
