PUYALLUP SANDS. 147 
At Orting the east bank of the Puyallup valley is undercut by Carbon 
river, and the steep hillside is traversed by a road grade which exposes the 
strata up to 640 feet (195 meters) above sea. Above that point is coarse 
Vashon drift. From an elevation of 640 feet (195 meters) down to 410 
feet (125 meters) the hill is composed of incoherent sands with occasional 
small pebbles; below 410 feet (125 meters) and down to 340 feet (104 
meters) above sea the sands include lenses of fine incoherent gravel. The 
exposes are rendered doubtful by the looseness of the material, which 
slides, but there is no doubt that the hill is a body of delta sands capped 
by Vashon drift. Considered in relation to the older topographic masses 
to the east, this delta may be attributed to a former course of White river. 
The deposit may be divided by an unconformity, but I think it consistent 
with the occurrence of the Puyallup sands on Carbon river 4 miles (6 
kilometers) east of Orting to associate the two bodies of sand as parts 
of onedelta. If that be so, the whole mass near Orting is of the Puyallup 
sands. The mass lies higher than other occurrences. It thus indicates 
the highest level of the water into which the sands were discharged, and 
may be supposed to have presented a somewhat steep delta front to the 
west. 
The west bank of the Puyallup valley 4 to 5 miles (6 to 8 kilometers) 
north of Orting presents a vertical face at several points. The cliff is 
maintained by a stratum of friable sandstone of exceedingly fine and 
uniform character. The bed is 40 feet (12 meters) thick above the talus 
slope which conceals the base. It extends from 200 to 240 feet (60 to 
73 meters) above sea. The deposit is devoid of fine lamination and pre- 
sents the massive appearance of an accumulation in a depth of water 
beyond the reach of currents. Variation of material from fine sand to 
shaly or clayey layers brings out an even horizontal bedding. Its color 
is grayand bluish. A layerof white clay 3 feet 1 meter) thick near the 
middle of the exposure contains minute bits of carbonaceous material. 
The sand is locally cemented by calcareous tufa, deposited probably from 
hot springs, as was the more extensive tufa bank a mile eastward on the 
eastern side of the valley. 
This occurrence of the Puyallup sands on the west side of the valley 
may be considered typical, and the deposits occurring at other localities 
and described under the same name are correlated with it with more or 
less certainty. 
Orting gravels—Throughout the Puyallup valley coarse gravel deposits 
underlie the Puyallup sands. In heterogeneous composition and vary- 
ing structure they resemble the Vashon drift, particularly where the latter 
has been distributed by water. These gravels beneath the Puyallup 
sands are called the Orting gravels. 
