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
After the deposition of the borax bed a general subsidence of the region
occurred, the waters of the great Tertiary lake once more covering the
whole country. Again the sands and finer sedimentary material—the
erosion of the mountains—were carried down and found a resting place on
the floor of the lake, the borax bed being finally covered with several
hundred feet of this detritus. Now, as the same formation in which the
borax mine is found, and even the lower members of the rocks of that
age, are seen resting upon the high ridges and on some of the peaks of
the Calico hills, it would seem highly improbable, to say the least,
that these sediments were built up from the ruins of the Calico
Mountains themselves, but their source was in more distant ranges.
Besides the regular vein-like deposit of calcium borate found at the
borax mine, there are numerous small veinlets in other parts of the
district in which calcium borate and gypsum are found filling cracks and
cavities, probably as the result of infiltration. So common are these
small fissures and beds of borax and gypsum that that portion of the
sedimentary strata lying east of the town of Calico is usually spoken of
as the borax formation by the miners of the district. To thoroughly
investigate all the phenomena connected with these wonderful deposits
and their mode of formation would require more time than was at my
disposal.
As has been previously stated, remnants of the sediments are still found
lying high up on the flanks of the mountains, and even far into the
interior of the hills, and there is every probability that the entire
region included in the Calico District, as well as the country for many
miles around, was at one time buried a thousand feet beneath these
stratified rocks.
With the uplift, the strata inclosing the borax mine were tilted and
folded, and now the sheet of white calcium borate which once lay
glistening in the sun on the bed of a desert dry lake stands like a
great vein traversing the country. There are apparently two of these
veins in close proximity to each other, but I believe them to be one and
the same, being repeated as the result of an anticlinal fold. An ideal
cross-section of the borax mine is here given (p. 347), showing the
nature of the folding at that point; it is not drawn to a scale, being a
sketch only.
To the southward of the mine is seen a large mass of liparite, which has
been pushed up from below. I had not the time necessary to trace out the
line of fracture, but I am of the opinion that it occurs on the line of
the great fault shown on the map of the fault system of the region.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account