THE GEOLOGY OF CARMELO BAY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



There are several references to the rocks of Carmelo Bay, or its 

 immediate vicinity, in the literature of the geology of California. 

 No statement can, however, be found which clearly sets forth, in a 

 connected discussion, the relations which may there be observed. 

 Many of the single observations which have been made are correct 

 and valuable in themselves, but they are for the most part incom- 

 plete and unsatisfactory records ; and inferences have been drawn 

 which, if correct, would have a very important bearing on the entire 

 geology of the Pacific Coast, but which, according to our own ob- 

 servations, are entirely erroneous, and therefore should be corrected. 



The circumstance which attracted the attention of the writer to 

 this locality was the description by Whitney in his Geology of 

 California, Vol. I, of the intrusion of granite into the Miocene strata 

 and the consequent alteration of the latter at the contact. This 

 was deemed a very important fact in the geology of this coast, and as 

 the locality was easily accessible, the writer, shortly after his arrival 

 in California, conducted a class of students to the place, Whitney's 

 volume in hand, with the object of demonstrating to the class, and 

 familiarizing himself with, the interesting phenomena exhibited by 

 the invasion of the Miocene rocks by a mass of granite as described 

 and illustrated in the book. Much to the astonishment of the class 

 in field geology, no evidence of the intrusion of the granite could 

 be found. On the contrary, beautifully clear cliff sections were ob- 

 served showing the sandstones and shales resting upon the worn and 

 eroded surface of the granite. An important lesson was learned as 

 to the difference between the il geological record" and recorded geol- 

 ogy. In the same section of our guidebook very interesting meta- 

 morphic rocks were described as occurring near Pescadero ranch 

 house, and the class was conducted thither expectantly. Again 

 were we astonished to find nothing whatever to warrant the state- 



