Vor. III] ANDERSON—NEOCENE DEPOSITS OF KERN RIVER 89 
feet, including the gravel beds at the top represented in the 
bluffs south of the river. | 
The dip of the beds between the deep wells, Rasmussen 
No. 28 and Grace Well No. 5, is near 3°, and as calculated on 
a section more nearly normal to the strike, it must be as much 
aS} O15). 
ESTUARINE CONDITIONS 
It is clear from the foregoing descriptions that the Neocene 
deposits of the Kern River are largely marine. At least one 
prominent exception to this rule must be noted, and the facts 
presented in this exception are of more than passing interest. 
The pre-Neocene trough of the Caliente Creek, especially near 
the junction of the Caliente and Walker Basin creeks, is filled 
with sediments that are at least not altogether marine. More 
than 2000 feet of strata are exposed along the lower part of 
Walker Basin Creek, nearly all of which are either non-marine 
or brackish-water deposits; and some of the strata near the 
base are plainly of fresh-water origin. The series is almost 
entirely composed of coarse gravel and sand of a greenish 
drab color, partly unconsolidated, but in the main sufficiently 
hard to resist weathering. Much of the material is pumiceous 
and otherwise volcanic. 
Near the base of the series are sandy clays of a soft and 
yielding character and of the usual greenish color, containing 
remains of land and fresh-water mollusca; and, higher in the 
series, similar clays containing leaves and stems of plants. 
Near the top a flow of basaltic lava some 90 feet in thickness 
can be followed for a distance of two or three miles. Above 
the lava, and forming the uppermost beds of the lower group, 
are about 190 feet of marine strata. 
The whole collection forming the lower group dips south- 
ward at an angle of 20°-30°, as exposed on the northern 
border of the trough. The character of the sediments, their 
distribution, the character of their fauna, and the plant-remains 
found at various levels, all indicate that the beds are estuarine, 
and are either of fresh-water or of brackish-water deposition. 
This view is strengthened by the position of the beds within 
a trough in the basement rocks, and also by the fact that, as 
November 1, 1911 
