Old Mines of Southern California: Desert-Mountain-Coastal Areas Including the Calico-Salton Sea Colorado River Districts and Southern Counties — John Shaqi
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
The first rock met east of Sheckler’s, on the Campo road, is coarse
hornblendic granite, so decomposed that a fresh specimen could not be
obtained. Dikes of fine-grained granite intersect it in every direction.
Three miles west of Potrero, mountains of olivinitic diabase rise on the
north side of the road. This rock is very similar to many large bodies
of intrusives through the mountains between Julian and the Tia Juana
River. It has evidently been intruded into the granite, for dikes extend
out, intersecting the latter rock.
Potrero is located in a valley of several hundred acres in extent, and
surrounded by granite mountains. It has an elevation of 2,400 feet.
South of Potrero, along the boundary line, the mountains show large
areas of the dark dioritic and diabasic rocks. The hills immediately
south of the valley consist of hornblendic gneiss; strike east and west.
Eastward, toward Campo, the rock is chiefly a coarse white granite, very
easily decomposed. It shows a slightly gneissoid structure for a number
of miles. It does not seem to represent the bedding of a sedimentary
rock, but of parallelism of the constituents, induced in the magma by
movement or pressure. Long, drawn out, lenticular inclusions are often
present, and are arranged parallel to the schistose structure. These
consist largely of hornblende, with little feldspar.
In the vicinity of Campo the topography of the country changes from that
of high mountains and deep, narrow valleys, to an elevated mountain
plateau with meadows and rounded granite ridges. The mountains are
covered with brush, while live oaks are numerous in the valleys. The
country maintains these features while gradually rising to the divide 8
miles east of Campo. The granite is so deeply decomposed along the
summit region that no good samples could be obtained. Campo has an
elevation of 2,600 feet. The bare, rounded ridges closely resemble those
left by glacial action, but their slope is produced simply by the
cleaving off successively of the more angular portions in great slabs.
Many fine examples of this manner of decay appear about Campo. The
corners are decomposed faster than the smooth surfaces, and thus finally
a shelly concentric structure results. The fresh massive central portion
weathers out like water-worn bowlders. The presence of rugged angular
ridges results either from a less inherent tendency to decay, or to a
comparative freedom from crushing. Four miles northeast of Campo is an
outcrop of coarse hornblendic granite, with large six-sided mica scales
and numerous yellow crystals of titanite. The height of the divide is
3,800 feet. Near the summit the rocky ridges all disappear and the
country becomes covered with granitic sand. Erosion here is evidently
very slight. The country descends gradually on the east to Jacumba
Valley, being sandy for some distance. This finally gives place to bare,
rocky ridges and cañons. Veins of fine granite, and others of feldspar
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