UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 



Bulletin of the Department of Geology 



Vol. 1, No. 14, pp. 371-428. ANDREW C. LAWSON, Editor 



THE 



GREAT VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA : 

 A CRITICISM OF THE THEORY OF ISOSTASY. 



IiY 



F. Leslie Ransome. 

 CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 371 



Physiography of the Great Valley 372 



General Features and Subdivisions 372 



The Sacramento Valley 374 



The San Joaquin Valley 380 



The Tulare Valley 381 



The History of the Great Valley 383 



Development of the Theory of Isostasy 390 



The Theory of Isostasy as Applied to the Great Valley 404 



The Hypothesis Not Necessary 405 



Facts Opposed to Isostatic Subsidence 408 



General Discussion of the Theory of Isostasy 417 



The Data upon Which the Theory Has Been Made to Rest 417 



Two Classes of Earth Movements 421 



The Bearing of Recent Pendulum Observations 422 



Facts from the California Coast Bearing upon Isostasy 423 



Mountain Building and the Theory of Isostasy 425 



Reversal of the Movements of Subsidence and Elevation 427 



General Conclusion 428 



INTRODUCTION. 



The following paper had its origin in a review of the literature 

 bearing upon the theory of conservation of equilibrium in the earth's 

 external form, which Dutton has named Isostasy, and which has come 

 into prominence mainly through the labors of that illustrious group 



