GEOLOGY OF THE SALINAS VALLEY 



333 



this area and dip under it at the southeastern end below Soledad. 

 In addition to this, there is a point of granite projecting through 

 one of the alluvial fans about two and one half miles east of 

 Gonzales in 16 south, 3 east, section 14, southeast quarter. The 

 top of this granite exposure is capped with shale that has all the 

 appearance of 



Sw |-(0oo' 



the diatomace- rC I „.• scale 



ous Miocene 



shale. It seems 



probable that 



the structure of 



this region is ^ 1G> I# — Ideal section across the Salinas Valley showing 



. , , • its probable structure at Chualar. 



that shown in r 



the accompanying section (Fig. 1). 



Beginning near Riverbank on the east, and at a point about 

 six miles southwest of Soledad, on the west, water-worn gravels 

 of Pliocene age begin to crop out from beneath the granitic talus, 

 and gradually rise and form a terrace that extends eastward for 

 about eighteen miles from Kings City to a series of anticlinal 

 valleys which form the eastern boundary of the terrace or pla- 

 teau. 



Serpentine is abundant along the eastern edge of the terrace, 

 though whether or not it forms a continuous sheet as indicated 

 by the accompanying sketch map is not now known, for the part- 



NE 



5 W 



Fig. 2. — Structure of the Salinas Valley and adjoining plateau along a northeast- 

 southwest line through San Lucas. 



ing was not followed continuously, but was visited only at such 

 places as the roads permitted. At these points serpentine was 

 found underlying the Pliocene plateau. The edge of contact 

 between the Pliocene beds and the underlying serpentines 



