68 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY 



THE PACIFIC AND DESERT SIDES 

 Again let the State be divided into two great divis- 

 ions, north-south extending and somewhat artificial, the 

 Desert and the Pacific sides, each separated from the 

 other for much, but not all, of their lengths by the 

 crests and scarps of several master highlands, which 

 latter, for convenience, will be arbitrarily included with 

 the Pacific side. These highlands constitute most of 

 the length of the divides between the drainage of the 

 Pacific Ocean on the west and the desert regions on 

 the east. 



One who tries to follow this latter classification too 

 literally will find difficulties and inconsistencies which 

 cannot be easily explained without a knowledge of the 

 Transverse Belt. 



GREAT BASm FEATURES 

 All of the desert portion of Eastern California 

 north of the Transverse Belt is the western part of 

 the Great Basin Province of the Cordilleran Region, 

 a province which lies east of the east-facing, north- 

 south-extending fault escarpment of the Sierra Ne- 

 vada of California. The region is characterized by 

 altenations of long and narrow, belt-like, north-south 

 extending ranges and valleys, which largely accom- 

 pany great faults or rifts of similar directions. These 

 features suddenly end to the south in the little under- 

 stood portion of Eastern California, along a fault zone 

 which runs from near Randsburg southeast to the 

 Colorado River near Blythe where it is crossed 

 out and succeeded by the structures and relief features 

 of the east-west and northwest-southeast systems of 

 trends. 



