Vou. 111] ANDERSON—NEOCENE DEPOSITS OF KERN RIVER 83 
horizontal, or to dip gently westward at a low angle. In this 
respect they present a strong contrast to their counterparts 
on the opposite side of the Great Valley, where the lowest 
beds of the Neocene usually stand at a high angle against the 
basement series. 
The average dip of the strata across the entire area in the 
vicinity of Poso Creek is less than 4°, and approximates 3° 30’. 
This is about the average along a cross-section nearly 10 
miles in length, and, as shown later, it fairly represents the 
dip in the western side of the developed oil-field. 
The entire series has in many places the appearance of strati- 
graphic conformity throughout, and evidence is often lacking 
of any great disturbance intervening between the beginning 
and the close of Neocene sedimentation. Both to the north 
and to the south of the Kern River, however, there is an 
evident overlap of the younger portion of the series upon the 
older. and even upon the basement rocks to the east. Along 
Caliente Creek and southward, the Neocene beds stand at a 
higher angle than elsewhere; and beds that belong to the 
upper part of the series rest upon the basement rocks. North- 
ward, near White River, there is a similar overlap. Beyond 
the limits of this area the evidence of overlapping is unmis- 
takeable, but within the area it took place by a process so 
gradual that the results are not striking. 
There is no clear proof of an interval of erosion intervening; 
though the assumption of one might offer a convenient explan- 
ation for the comparatively small stratigraphic thickness as 
contrasted with similar beds near Sunset, Temblor and north- 
ward. i 
THICKNESS AND STRATIGRAPHY 
On account of the excellent exposures of the strata, and 
from the fact that deep wells have been drilled in the western 
part of the area, the opportunity for studying the thickness 
and composition of the Neocene beds is exceptionally good. 
Two sections have been made across the area, and two or more 
deep wells have given a fair representation of the stratigraphy. 
One of the sections crosses the area north of Poso Creek ; the 
other extends along the Kern River; and both show some 
peculiarities. The aggregate thickness of the entire series, as 
measured in the outcrop across the strike to the north of Poso 
