Oscillations of the California Coast. — Fairbanks. 'I'l'i 
As in the case of the Pliocene of the northern coast an in- 
terpretation in favor of a period of subaerial erosion seems 
more reasonable. The very fact that the Pliocene has been 
disturbed and tilted is evidence which on its face would call 
for such a period of erosion. 
Whitney* describes the Pliocene strata at Santa Barbara, 
which unconformably overlie the Miocene, as follows : "These 
strata themselves unconformable with the slates below are 
again overlaid unconformably by the recent or modern alluvi- 
al deposits." 
Yates has described the Pleistocene strata of Santa Rosa is- 
land as overlying unconformably the slightly tilted Pliocene. 
This occurrence will be described at length in another place. 
Both Whitneyf and Lawson+ mention the fact that the sup- 
posed Pliocene beds on the upper San Benito river have been 
faulted and tilted. The latter authorg also describes a slight 
tilting and faulting of the Pliocene beds at Carmelo. The de- 
scription given is remarkably suggestive of the post-Pliocene 
disturbance and elevation which I have noted at other points 
He speaks of the '"older" and ''newer" terrace deposits, the 
former being slightl}' tilted and faulted, and formed during 
the Pliocene submergence, the latter deposited during the re- 
elevation in the following Pleistocene. An unconformity is 
noted between the two in the sea cliffs and in the valley of the 
SanMose creek where a sheet of lava occurs separating two por- 
tions, the upper of which is less consolidated and without dis- 
tinct bedding. The recent terraces are also described as hav- 
ing been cut in the older terrace deposits which are faulted 
into the carmeloite lavas. It seems to meclear from these de- 
scriptions that there is good evidence of an extensive disturb- 
ance and uplift accompanied with lava flows marking the line 
of division between the Pliocene and the more recent deposits. 
This disturbance was neither "local" nor is it possible to be- 
lieve that the unconformity was marked by a period of wave 
erosion alone. The Wild-cat series (Pliocene) on the coast of 
northern California is described by professor Lawson as iiav- 
*General Geology of California, Vol. I, p. 134. 
tGeneral Geology of California, Vol. I, pp. 53-54. 
JBull. Dpt. of Geo)., Univ. of Calif., Vol. I, p. 153. 
§Bull. Dpt. of Geol., Univ. of Calif., Vol. I, p. 56. 
