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186 University of California Publications in Geology [Vol- ~ 



in preference to the Topatopa, and it would seem that here, too, 

 unless a good reason for a different arrangement were forth- 

 coming, the line should be drawn where the distinct and charac- 

 teristic change in sedimentation takes place, — that is, at the base 

 of the red beds. 



This idea is strengthened when the present state of our knowl- 

 edge of the fauna of these formations is taken into account. 

 Fossils are very rare in the "red beds," — in fact, have not yet 

 been reported in any of the red or reddish brown colored strata. 

 Elridge and Arnold report 13 that "In Sespe Canyon fragments 

 of grayish-yellow sandstone, coming either from some horizon 

 unrecognized but well up in the red beds or from a horizon 

 corresponding to that of the rusty beds just described, have 

 been found bearing well marked Eocene fossils among which 

 are the forms Venericardia planicosta Lamarck and Turritella 

 uvasana Conrad. Beds of a similar nature, with an abundance 

 of Tejon (Eocene) fossils, also occur along the northern edge 

 of the Silver Thread oil field, west of Santa Paula Cayon, over- 

 lying certain pink and gray sandstones that are believed, on 

 lithologie grounds, to belong to the Sespe." The list of fossils 

 given includes at least nine characteristic Tejon forms found 

 at the type locality. The available evidence is to the effect, 

 therefore, that the Sespe is a phase of the Tejon (Eocene). If 

 this be so, then the Topatopa and Sespe are two local deposi- 

 tional facies of the Tejon. It seems peculiar that with the type 

 locality for the Tejon only 20 or 25 miles away, and with a good 

 supply of characteristic Tejon fossils, the term Tejon was not 

 used for the rocks of this district. 



Upper Part op " Vaqueros-Modelo " Series 



Region North of Santa Clara Valley. — If we pass up from 

 our newly established base of the Vaqueros ("upper Sespe") 

 and compare the depositional types with those of the correspond- 

 ing series along the Monterey- San Luis Obispo-Santa Barbara 

 coast region, we find the sandstone, 500 feet, which would cor- 

 respond to Fairbanks' Vaqueros, followed by dominant terrig- 



13 Bull. 309, p. 11. 



