TOPOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES 455 



is disproved by the absence of extensive volcanic material. Choice be- 

 tween the second and third hypotheses is not wise at this time, but there 

 are fewest difficulties in the acceptance of the third hypothesis, that the 

 drainage results from the doming of a peneplain. 



THE COASTAL REGION 



The coastal region of the peninsula consists essentially of an elevated 

 terrace. Into this the encroaching waters of the ocean and strait have 

 eaten their way, forming precipitous cliffs along the shore. With the ex- 

 ception of low stretches between Tree bluff and Pillar point and in the 

 immediate vicinity of Clallam and Neah bays, the platform varies in ele- 

 vation from about 50 to 250 or 300 feet. The Terrace is by no means 

 level, being cut by numerous streams and only in a general way conform- 

 ing to a plane surface. Prominent ridges rise above the general level of 

 the terrace, notable examples being that between Freshwater and Crescent 

 bays and that between the mouths of the Pysht and Clallam rivers. The 

 western border of the peninsula is also a terrace which, in some places, is 

 over 200 feet in altitude. In occasional regions along the ocean, however, 

 lowlands skirt the shore, as, for instance, at the mouth of Queets river. 

 From Point Greenville to Grays harbor the border land is all low. 



Figure 1 of plate 55 illustrates the usual conditions where no bluffs 

 skirt the shore. Timber comes down to high-tide level and the beaches 

 are strewn with huga logs which have been undermined and finally washed 

 loose where the sea has cut into the timbered terrace region. 



The coast traversed presents an unusual number of interesting 

 physiographic features, mostly those resultant from an encroaching sea. 

 A wave-cut platform skirts nearly the whole shoreline from the vicinity 

 of Freshwater bay to cape Flattery and thence down the coast to point 

 Greenville. Its surface is approximately horizontal and is usually largely 

 exposed at low tide, in some places extending out over half a mile from 

 the shore (see plate 55, figure 2, and plate 58, figure 1). 



In certain localities along the strait of Fuca where the terrace trun- 

 cates, soft shale interbedded by occasional hard thin layers of sandstone, 

 the latter, in fragments varying from cobbles to blocks of considerable 

 size, forms a most effective protecting cover of shingle over large areas of 

 the platform. Even where the rocks of the coast form extremely resistant 

 cliffs, the waves have made their impression, the result often being a nar- 

 row terrace with a cave or niche cut into the base of the cliff. An excel- 

 lent illustration of this latter phenomenon is exhibited at the mouth of 

 the Pysht river and is shown in plate 56, figure 1. At the base of the 

 island in figure 2, plate 56, is another example of a wave-cut niche. 



