240 The American Geolofjlst. October, 1897 
tension hmdward of the deep siiljinai-ine valley forming the 
southern side of Curmelo bay. I cannot conceive of the con- 
ditions under which a fault might occur which would give the 
bottom the character shown, without a period of subaerial 
erosion. Tiie Carnielo river is spoken of by Lawson as base- 
leveled only in its lower stretches. On the contrary its broad 
sandy bed extends back 15 miles. Lawson holds also that be- 
cause the mouth of the Carmelo river lies between granite 
outcrops not more than one-eighth of a mile apart the bed- 
rock can be only a short distance below, and that consequent- 
ly the elevation of the coast never could have been mucii great- 
er. Tliis conclusion does not necessarily foljow for the bed- 
rock may be much deeper than supposed, and besides there is 
another possibility. During the early Pleistocene elevation, 
and before the formation of the modern terraces the river may 
have emptied into the ocean north of Abalone point. The 
general character of the river bottom is most suggestive -of a 
very considerable elevation during the early Pleistocene.. 
If professor Le Conte is correct in supposing that at one 
time tlie outlet of the great valley of California was into 
Monterey bay, ths size of the submerged valley at that point 
is easily accounted for. The Salinas river, however, is of no 
mean size, and during a portion of the year carries a large 
bod}'^ of water. There can be no doubt whatever that at the 
moutli of this river the Miocene bedrock is at a great depth, 
and consequently the post-Miocene disturbance could not 
have been the origin of the submarine valley, as professor 
Lawson tliinks. He* considers the Salinas valley to be 'a 
valley of erosion along a fault line and cut out in pre-Plio- 
cene times. With the latter thought I am in accord, but that 
would necessarily demand that the pre-Pliocene elevation 
should have been much greater than the present, which con- 
clusion is contrar}' to the opinion of the author Just referred 
to. A deep well has been bored near the town of Salinas, 
which lies in the centre of the valley a few miles from the 
ocean. The material passed through is quite similar to that 
in some of the other large valleys, which is considered to be 
of Pleistocene age. With the Pliocene de])ression the valley 
must have been partly filled, and with the following early 
*Bull. Dpt. of Geol. Univ. of Calif., Vol. I., p. 155. 
