diller.] MAEINE DEPOSITS AT CAPE BLANCO. 81 
stage. The total thickness of the beds at Cape Blanco shown in 
fig. 4 is about 600 feet. In detail the section is as follows : 
Section of beds at Cape Blanco. 
Pleistocene (Elk River beds) : 
Gravel 4-12 
Shell bed, sands, and some gravel 7-75 
(Unconformity.) 
Miocene, Empire beds (Cape Blanco beds): 
Argillaceous sands with some calcareous nodules 75 
Conglomerate 25 
Light-gray sand beds ". 50 
Yellowish sandstone 30 
Tuff 20 
Yellowish sandstone 400 
(Unconformity. ) 
Cretaceous (?) : Crushed gray sandstone. 
At the mouth of Elk River the Miocene shale occurs at the water's 
edge, and is overlain by nearly a hundred feet of Pleistocene gravel 
and sand (Elk River beds), near the base of which, close to the Mio- 
cene, is an unconsolidated shell bed rich in the great variety of its 
fossils. Near the mouth of Elk River the Pleistocene appears to rest 
O ,..A 3 . _ lq 
"/ ■■*■■-■ -'•■-' "*" • 3 4 s — " ' 2 
Pig. 4.— Section of beach bluff from Cape Blanco to mouth of Elk River, Curry County, Oreg. 
1, Cretaceous sandstone; 2, yellowish sandstones and, near top, gray shaly sandstone; 3, tuff; 
4, fine whitish sandstone, full of microorganisms; 5, conglomerate (2-5 Empire beds); 6, Pleis- 
tocene shell beds, sand, and gravel; 6a, point of view for PI. IX. 
conformably upon the Miocene, both rising gently toward Cape 
Blanco, where, as shown in fig. 4 and PL IX, the Pleistocene shell 
bed, rich in fossils, rests unconf ormably upon the Miocene. 
Concerning the fossils collected from the Elk River beds, Dr. Dall 
remarks that they "are probably Pleistocene, all the species seeming 
recent, but they may be of the Merced horizon. A larger collection 
is needed to determine this point. They are not older than the newer 
Pliocene." There is considerable difference in the consistency of the 
Cape Blanco and Elk River beds. The former, although generally 
friable in the hand, are in many places hard, and most of the fossils 
occur in calcareous nodules and layers. In the Elk River beds, on 
the other hand, the sand, pebbles, and shells are not cemented. The 
unconformity between the Miocene and Pleistocene possibly repre- 
sents a rather long interval, during which the Wildcat and perhaps 
the Merced series of California were deposited. 
NEAR CRESCENT CITY, CAL. 
From the mouth of Elk River southward along the coast no Mio- 
3ene deposits were found for a distance of over 100 miles. They 
first appear at Point St. George, a few miles north of Crescent City 
