NEOCENE STRATIGRAPHY. 275 



is cut by the ocean. Much of the distance from Point 

 Montara to Lobetus, the Quaternary and underlying 

 Miocene form low cliffs. 



From Lobetus to Pescadero Creek the ocean cuts a 

 number of ridges forming high bluffs, the Merced series 

 being exposed, with a small amount of Quaternary over- 

 lying. From Pescadero Creek to Point New Year the 

 flat land occupies a narrow belt from a few hundred feet 

 to a half a mile broad. Between Point New Year and El 

 Jarro Point the mountains are cut in high bluffs, the rock 

 being the White Miocene Shale. 



At El Jarro Point the level belt begins again and con- 

 tinues to the Bay of Monterey, broadening out at Santa 

 Cruz, and extending up the valley of the Pajaro River 

 as a broad plain. At Santa Cruz this horizontal land ap- 

 pears at four distinct levels, the lower two being very 

 noticeable, the highest standing over 700 feet above sea- 

 level. 



The level land, which extends up the Pajaro River 

 and Arroyo de las Llagas, cuts off the range from the 

 Gavilan Range to the south and merges almost imper- 

 ceptably into the broad level of the Santa Clara Valley. 

 At San Jose the Santa Clara Valley has a breadth of 

 about twelve miles, but to the north is largely occupied 

 by San Francisco Bay, so that at San Carlos and to the 

 north the foothills are close to the Bay. 



From South San Francisco to Lake Merced, a low gap 

 cuts off the Santa Cruz Mountains from the San Bruno 

 Mountains and other hills in and about San Francisco. 



The main axis of the range is indicated by the name 

 " Santa Cruz Mountains " on the sketch-map. At present 

 only the northern end of the range has been mapped to- 

 pographically. But in general it may be said that the 

 whole area, within the limits indicated above, is occupied 



