Oscillations of the Calif ornia toast. — Fairbanks. 215 
An elevation above the present during the Glacial period is 
denied for much of the continent by some eminent geologists 
who believe that the events of that time were not so simple, 
3'^et, it seems to be admitted hy all tiiat a very considerable 
uplift was characteristic of the time immediately preceding 
glaciation, that during glaciation oscillations of level occur- 
red, and at its close a depression, with an elevation in more 
modern times. Can the Pliocene movements of eastern North 
America be correlated with those on the Pacific coast occur- 
ring in the corresponding geological period? Thisis atpres- 
ent a doubtful question. The opinion seems to prevail that 
glaciation in the Sierra Nevadas was more recent than in the 
east. It is quite possible that with the general movements 
of higher latitudes there may have been independent orograph- 
ic movements, or the epeirogenic changes may have partaken 
of the nature of a wave-like progression. It is certain that 
on the Pacific coast of the United States, and probably far- 
ther north, a subsidence was taking place during much of the 
time determined as Pliocene by professor Lawson, but whet- 
her this subsidence was synchronous with the upward move- 
ment of the Atlantic coast is not definitely known. Although 
it would appear from present knowledge that the two events 
were contemporaneous, yet there seems to be evidence that 
from the beginning of the Pleistocene to the present the im- 
portant epeirogenic movements recognized in eastern North 
America have had their counterparts on the Pacific coast, al- 
though possibly not taking place on both sides of the conti- 
nent simultaneously. 
Eaklieii Opinions Concerning the Movements of the 
California Coast, 
Professor Le Conte was the first geologist to call attention 
to the facts bearing upon a former elevation of the coast of 
California, although Mr. R. E. C. Stearns a number of years 
earlier, in speaking of the tooth of a fossil elephant which had 
been presented to the California Academy of Sciences said : 
■'It proved that the island (Santa Rosa) was formerly a por- 
tion of the mainland." Professor Le Conte's views* are based 
*Bull. C'al. Acad, of Sci., Vol. II, No. 8, p. 515. 
American Geologist, Vol. I. p. 76. 
Bull. Geol. Soc. of Am., Vol. II, p. 323. 
Am. Jour, of Sci., Vol. 34, p. 157, 1887. 
