Old Mines of Southern California: Desert-Mountain-Coastal Areas Including the Calico-Salton Sea Colorado River Districts and Southern CountiesFairbanks, Harold W. (Harold Wellman)
History
Old Mines of Southern California: Desert-Mountain-Coastal Areas Including the Calico-Salton Sea Colorado River Districts and Southern Counties
Fairbanks, Harold W. (Harold Wellman)
Geology -- California, Southern; Mines and mineral resources -- California, Southern
Coal is reported to outcrop above the water at very low tide somewhere
along this stretch of cliffs. It of course must occur in strata of
Tertiary age. The coal vein struck in a boring at La Jolla must be
Cretaceous. About 3 miles up the coast from La Jolla, there appears a
dike of basalt cutting the Tertiary shales. At high tide it is nearly
covered by the ocean. It has a course about 30° east of north, and
stands vertical. It begins on the north, close in under the high cliffs,
but does not extend into them, the only signs being a fault in line with
the dike. It is not more than 2 feet wide at the northern point where it
is exposed. It is dark and compact and so decayed as to be easily taken
for an argillite. The walls of the dike are very smooth and regular,
except near the southern point, where it runs into the water. Here it
swells to a width of 30 feet. The edges of the dike are compact, while
the vesicular portion is in the center, where there is often a flowage
structure developed. The central portion is more or less laminated
parallel to the wall, and thus is generally a well-pronounced columnar
structure developed the whole width. The columns lie horizontally across
the dikes and are 12 to 15 inches in diameter. The cavities are wholly
or in part filled with calcite. Metamorphism of the adjoining shales is
apparent for 2 feet away, but the sea water has so decomposed the shale
that it is not so strongly marked as it would otherwise be. The dike
projects above the water in places for a distance of 1,000 feet, making
its total exposed length about 1,800 feet. In the mesa southeast of Rose
Cañon, and along the San Diego River, and back of San Diego, the
formation belongs almost wholly to the late Tertiary. It is not certain
whether the Miocene is present or not. A number of Miocene fossils have
been found in the county, but perhaps the most of them have come from
Carrizo Creek. Many fossils are given in Dr. Cooper’s list, as being
found in the Pliocene of San Diego, which are more characteristic of the
Miocene in other localities. I see no reason for doubting that the
Miocene is present, but so intimately related to the Pliocene as to be
stratigraphically inseparable from it. In the region between Rose Cañon
and the northern boundary of the county, I do not know that Miocene
fossils have been found, but in Orange County they are well
characterized.
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