432 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 
these fossiliferous beds the Miocene terminates in a soft, white 
sandstone. This rock rests against nearly vertical beds of hard 
sandstone and shale which without much doubt are referable to 
the Chico, as they can be traced by continuous outcrop to local- 
ities where fossils of that age were found. 
A narrow belt of Miocene shales extends diagonally across 
the Santa Lucia Range from a point west of Templeton to the 
head of Santa Rosa Creek. On the north fork of the Arroyo 
Atascadero this shale is filled with fish remains and the mollusk, 
Pecten peckhami, Gabb. The shales overlie rocks of the Golden 
Gate series and dip nearly vertically. Directly in line of their 
strike rises a hill of Chico sandstone, the bedding of which is 
nearly level. The Miocene can be traced by outcrop to within a 
few feet of the Chico; it was evidently deposited on the eroded 
surface of both the Golden Gate series and the Chico. The same 
white shales occur on the Eagle Ranch about three miles south- 
east of this point. There they dip about 30° southwestward 
apparently resting on the yellow Chico sandstones whose out- 
crop was obtained within 150 feet of the shales. The sandstone 
shows at many places a uniform dip of 20° to 30° to the north- 
east. West of the white shales is a hill of jasper partly capped 
by the Chico sandstone. The dip of the shales at the base of 
the hill is such that if extended they would pass beneath the 
two older formations. All the phenomena shown here point to 
the deposition of the Miocene on the eroded surface of the 
Chico. 
CONCLUSION, 
The correct determination of the age of the Golden Gate 
series is one of the most important questions in Coast Range 
geology. The accumulating evidences are strongly in favor of 
the view of its Upper Jurassic age. There can no longer be any 
doubt as to the unconformable position of the series beneath the 
Knoxville, and the fauna indicates that it is not older than the 
Jurassic. 
If future detailed examinations should prove that the Horse- 
town beds are absent from the southern Coast Ranges, there 
