3 82 



U)iiversity of California. 



[Vol. i. 



and pursues a general southwest course toward Tulare Lake, 

 whereas its normal course, as indicated by the parallelism of the other 

 rivers entering the valley on this side, and by its own intramontane 

 direction of flow, would take it close to the town of Fresno, several 

 miles to the north of the present river. This town appears to be 

 situated on a very low and sloping plateau, and it seems probable 

 that the latter was built up by the Kings River, which has since 

 shifted its course to the south onto a lower portion of its alluvial 

 fan. Without much doubt it is this now deserted portion of the 

 fan, assisted perhaps by that of the San Joaquin River on the north, 

 which has dammed up the waters of Tulare Lake and prevented 

 their free drainage northward. 



This lake lies almost in the middle of the valley, but, like the 

 main San Joaquin River, is nearer its western edge. It is described* 

 as a very shallow body of water, surrounded, particularly on the 

 north, east, and south, by broad tule swamps. Being so shallow, 

 without outlet, and exposed alternately to the spring freshets from 

 the melting snows of the Sierra Nevada and the desiccating winds 

 of the hot summer months, it is subject to great fluctuations in area. 

 According to Blake, "the greater part of the Tulare Valley was 

 formerly submerged by a broad lake," and the region at present 

 appears to be undergoing a gradual desiccation. f 



The crowding over of the lake to the western edge of the valley 

 is plainly due to the encroachment of the beautifully symmetrical 

 fan of the Kaweah River, assisted by the deltas of the Kings River 

 on the north and of the smaller streams to the south. A similar 

 case of displacement can be seen in the extreme southern end of the 

 Tulare Valley, where the two small lakes of Buena Vista and Kern 

 owe their .present positions to the westward growth of the large 

 delta of the Kern River. 



The relation of Tulare Valley to its surrounding mountains is 

 graphically described by Whitney % as follows: "The mountains 

 close entirely around the end of the great plain of the San Joaquin 



* Pacific R. R. Reports, Vol. V, Geology, p. 193. 

 \Ibid. 



X Geology of California, p. 187. 



