The Pre-Cretaceoux of California. — Fcdrhanlf<. 81 
leras. but since the deposition the former was not raised, while 
the latter was Shouhl this observation prove correct, it follows 
that the Cordilleras are of a later age than the Sierra Nevadas; 
: a view which 1 think the correct one, though opposite to the one 
taken by Mr. Marcou. Nothing appears easier to trace than the 
relations of connection and continuity between the middle of 
the Coast ranges (San Jose and point Finos) and San Emilio, 
and between San Emilio and the Cordilleras, a fact now for the 
first time stated and brought to light by the exploration of this 
surve}', by which there has been traced a continuous granitic 
chain from point Pinos, at Monterey baj-, to the northwestern 
edge of the Cajon pass, terminating at the Kikal Mungo moun- 
tain."* He speaks of the sandstone being deposited on both 
ranges and then that one range dates from the post-Miocene 
upheaval, evidently a contradiction. 
Jules Marcou, the eminent French geologist, who spent some 
time in southern California as geologist of the Facific railroad 
surve}'. and later with Wheeler's surve}'. sums up his opinion 
with regard to the mountains of a portion of southern California 
as follows : 
I. "Sierra Madre. of the Primordial epoch, anterior to the 
Silurian. 
II. Coast Range, of the close of the Eocene. 
III. Sierras of San Fernando and Santa Monica, of the close 
of the Fliocene. "■ He says farther that nearly all the ranges of 
southern California belong to the Primitive formation, and con- 
siders the Sierra Madre as simply a continuation of the Sierra 
Nevada, t His reasons for classifying the Coast ranges as Terti- 
ary are the same as those of Prof. Blake. 
Prof. Whitne}' in discussing the relation of the Sierras to the 
Coast ranges says : '-As we skirt the base of the Sierra, how- 
ever, in the region where this chain turns to the west, toward 
Fort Tejon, we pass at once from undisturbed Tertiar}' to strata 
of the same age which are elevated at a high angle, and, in so 
doing, we leave the system of the Sierra and pass over to that of 
the Coast ranges. This change takes place about midway be- 
tween the Cajon pass and the Canada de las Uvas : hut. no hreak 
in the mountain ranges indicates this transition. The great lines 
*Pacific Railroad Survey, Vol. 7, p. 90. 
t Geographical Surveys. Wheeler, 1876, page 172. 
