Vol. 4] Lawson. — Features of the Middle Kern. 



405 



and the Little Kern are: (1) The extension for twenty miles 

 below the Little Kern of the same high valley system as was 

 formerly noted in the Upper Kern basin. (2) The absence of 

 alluvial cones where the valley terraces prevail. (3) The promi- 

 nence of alluvial cones between Tobias Creek and Kernville 

 where the valley remnants fail. (4) As an inference from these 

 facts a probable rather acute diastrophic distiirbance of the latter 

 stretch of the canon on its west side. 



The geomorphic features of the east side of the Kern Canon 

 from the vicinity of Kernville to the mouth of the Little Kern 

 are in remarkable contrast to those of the west side. In general 

 the east side of the canon is more precipitous than the west side, 

 and it appears to be the edge of a high uneven plateau. The 

 streams are shorter and frequently fall in cascades over the 

 steeper portions of the canon wall in notches of no great depth. 

 The Kern in the first twenty miles of the stretch under consider- 

 ation is crowded to the east side of the canon by the large alluvial 

 cones on the west side and similar cones are only feebly developed 

 on the east side. These facts indicate in themselves a rather 

 striking contrast in the geomorphic aspects of the two sides of 

 the caiion, but the most notable feature of the east side, and one 

 which is entirely absent on the west side, is a series of high and 

 prominent ridges and butte-like peaks which are arranged along 

 the caiion side in an almost straight line. These ridges and buttes 

 extend along the whole length of the caiion from near Kernville 

 to the Little Kern. They lie within the canon and reach in gen- 

 eral from about one-half to two-thirds the height of the canon 

 wall, and they are separated in each case from the main caiion 

 wall by a defile or col which is generally several hundred feet 

 lower than the summit of the ridge or butte. Between these 

 ridges or buttes flow transversely the affluents of the Kern from 

 the notches in the main canon wall. The entire series presents 

 the appearance of a continuous ridge, separated from the main 

 canon wall by an equally continuous narrow defile, which has 

 been dissected by the affluents of the Kern which now pass 

 through it. In attempting to explain these remarkable features 

 the writer has considered several hypotheses. It is possible that 

 they might have originated wholly by the subsequent erosion of 



