DEPARTMENT OF THE IKTEKIOE

BULLETIN

UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 306

SERIES A, ECONOMIC GEOLOCT, 17

WASHINGTON 

PRIN 

1902

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIKECTOK

KECONJSTAISSANCE

OF THE

BORAX DEPOSITS OF DEATH VALLEY 

AND MOHAVE* DESERT

BY

MARIUS R. CAMPBELL

WASHINGTON

G O V E R N M E N T PRINTING OFFICE 

1902

C 0 N T E N T S.

Page.

Introduction............................................................. 7

General description of the region .......................................... 8

Geology along route traversed............................................. 9

San Bernardino to Pahrump Valley.................................... 9

Cajon Canyon........... ........................................ 9

Mohave Desert or Victor.......................................... 11

Daggett.......................................................... 12

Borate........................................................... 12

South end of Death Valley........................................ 13

Amargosa Valley and Resting Spring .............................. 14

Pahrump Valley to Owens Lake....................................... 16

Amargosa Valley near Ash Meadows............................... 16

Furnace Creek in Death Valley.................................... 16

Mesquite Valley.................................................. 19

Panamint Mountain .............................................. 19

Panamint Valley.................................................. 20

Owens Lake ..................................................... 20

Owens Lake to San Bernardino-....................................... 21

Redrock Canyon ................................................. 21

Mohave Desert................................................... 21

Re"sum6. ................................................................... 21

Index .................................................................... 23

I L L U S T R A T 1 0 N.

PI-ATE J. Sketch map of Mohave Desert and Death Valley, showing location

of known areas of Tertiary lake beds and old sedimentary rocks.. 7

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY" BULLETIN No. 300 PL.I

Based on map used by Death Valley KKirTC'TI \1 VP 

Expedition of Agricultural Department in 1891 O'Vf. 1 l^H MAH

Geology oJ>by M R Campbell 

MO HAVE DESERT AND DEATH VAfT.EY

showing location of known areas of Terliai-y lake beds and old sedimentaiy rocks

I I o s to ao ' *'" e^o ____ -to y miles I - I

Tertiai - KM ut e of travel

JULIUS 8IEN A CO.N.Y
RECONNAISSANCE OF THE BORAX DEPOSITS OF DEATH 

VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESERT.

By MARIUS R. CAMPBELL.

INTRODUCTION.

The occurrence of deposits of borax in the United States, so far as 

known, is limited to the States of California, Nevada, and Oregon. 

The industry has passed through several stages of development since 

its inception in this country. Origin all}r borax was obtained by 

evaporating the waters of Clear Lake, about 80 miles north of San 

Francisco, where it was first produced on a commercial scale in 1864. 

Subsequently the lake water was enriched by the addition of crystalline biborate of soda, which was collected from the alkaline marsh 

surrounding the lake. The industry flourished at this and other lakes 

in California until, in the early seventies, borax in large quantity and 

in a very pure condition was discovered on many of the alkaline 

marshes of western Nevada and eastern California. Refining plants 

were established in the vicinity of Columbus, Nev., and at several 

points in California, the most important of the latter being in San 

Bernardino Count}7 , at Searles's marsh, west of the Slate Range; in 

Inyo .County, near Resting Spring; and at the mouth of Furnace 

Creek in Death Valley. These plants flourished for a time, even 

though the finished product in many cases had to be transported by 

teams to the railroad, a hundred miles distant; but the increased production of borax in this country, together with the importation of 

large amounts from Itaty, so reduced the price that in a few years 

most of the plants were abandoned.

About 1890 it was found that the borax crust on most of the marshes 

is a secondary deposit, being derived from the leaching of beds of 

borate of lime in the Tertiary lake sediments that abound in the 

region. This discover}7 revolutionized the borax industry, for the 

bedded deposits are much more extensive, are more easily accessible, 

and are in a purer condition than the marsh crusts. The marshes 

were abandoned and a mine was established on a bedded deposit at
8 BORAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESERT. [BULL. 200.

Borate, 12 miles northeast of Daggett, San Bernardino County, Cal. 

At the present time this plant, owned by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, is the chief producer of borax and boracic acid in this country. 

The value of this deposit led to extensive prospecting in various 

parts of the territory and to the discovery, in Death Valley, of enormous deposits that far excel those now being worked near Daggett.

The borax of Death Valley, as well as that near Daggett, occurs in 

a regular stratum, interbedded with the semi-indurated sands and clays 

that make up the bulk of the strata. These beds are generally regarded 

as of Tertiary age, and they are supposed to -have been deposited in 

inclosed bodies of water.

Since the bedded deposits of borax always occur in association with 

strata of this character, it is probable that careful study and search 

will reveal deposits of this nature in localities other than Death Valley and Daggett.

For the purpose of locating outcrops of lake beds and studying 

their relations and contents, the writer made a rapid reconnaissance 

across southern California in the spring of 1900. The trip was too 

hastily made to permit of detailed examinations or of observations 

much beyond the line of travel, but many facts were found which have 

a bearing upon the occurrence of borax and its distribution, and these 

are embodied in the following paper. Of necessity the writer does 

not enter into a systematic treatise of the subject, but presents, m the 

form of an itinerary, the data gathered during this trip.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION.

Mohave Desert is located in Kern, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino

counties, Cal. It lies in the angle between the Sierra Madre on the 

south and the Sierra Nevada on the west. From these bounding 

mountain walls it stretches eastward to Colorado River and northward 

to Death Valley.

This desert forms a part of the Great Basin. It is extremely arid 

and has no well-determined drainage lines. The few small streams 

that drain the snow-capped mountains on the border of the desert flow 

toward the interior, and are soon lost in the arid plains through which 

they flow.

The surface is considerably diversified. In the western end it is 

generally regular and nearly level, but in the remaining parts it is 

composed of isolated knobs and short ranges of mountains having no 

noticeable system of arrangement and separating stretches of desert 

composed of vast alluvial fans and playas.

Toward the north the mountains become more prominent, and in 

Inyo County form ranges which have a definite though somewhat complicated system of arrangement. North-south ranges are the most
CAMPBELL.] GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION. 9

prominent in this region, but a second S}7 stem trending northwest and 

southeast unites with the former, giving to the country a peculiar 

crossbarred appearance.

The most noted surface feature of the region is Death Valley, which 

lies 50 miles east of the Sierra Nevada and only a few miles west of 

the Nevada State line. This valley has a length of about 50 miles and 

an average width of from 5 to 10 miles. At the lowest point its floor 

is supposed to be about 480 feet below sea level, while on either side 

tower rugged mountains which reach nearly to the region of perpetual 

snow. Funeral Mountain, on the east, is supposed to have an altitude 

of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet, while Panamint Mountain, on the west, 

rises to an altitude of over 10,000 feet. Death Valley is not only the 

lowest point in the surface of the United States, but it is also regarded 

as the hottest place in the country. At the ranch maintained near the 

mouth of Furnace Creek by the Pacific Coast Borax Conipan}^ the 

summer temperature is reported to reach 137° in the shade; but by 

means of a double roof and running water, habitation is rendered possible even in this intense heat.

Death Valley received its sinister name from the fact that in 1849 a 

band of emigrants wandered into the valle}7 and most of them perished from thirst before an avenue of escape was discovered. Periodically tales of the suffering and death of travelers who have attempted 

to cross the valley are revived and widely circulated, but these, are 

generally exaggerated, and should be accepted with considerable 

allowance.

Mohave Desert and the Death Valley region are desolate in the 

extreme, but wherever sufficient water can be obtained ranches have 

been established, and their brilliant green is a welcome sight to the 

traveler, weary of the interminable desert waste and the dark, forbidding mountains.

GEOLOGY ALONG ROUTE TRAVERSED.

SAN BERNARDINO TO PAHRUMP VALLEY.

After outfitting at San Bernardino the writer proceeded north 

across the range of mountains that separates the valley of southern 

California from Mohave Desert. The route lay up Cajon Canyon, on 

the main road through the pass of the same name.

Cajon Canyon. This caiwon cuts entirely across the range, following, in a general way, fault lines along which extensive movements 

have taken place in recent geologic time. The major fault extends in 

a northwest-southeast direction, cutting across the range at a very 

low angle. This fault apparently bounds the San Bernardino Mountains on the south in the .vicinity of Arrowhead Springs. From this
10 BOBAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESEBT. [BULL. 200.

point it extends in a nearly straight line up Cajon and Lone Pine 

canyons, and finally it reaches the edge of Mohave Desert in the 

vicinity of Rock Creek.

So far as could be determined from the debris brought down the 

canyons, the high mountains south of the fault are composed of darkgreen hornblende-schist, and the low ridges north of the fault are 

made up of coarse gray granite, with occasional outcrops of white 

marble and other highly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks.

North of the granite hills lies an obscurety marked valley, separating the granite range from immense accumulations of gravel which 

lie upon the southern edge of Mohave Desert. The origin of this 

valley is not well understood, but it seems possible that a fault has 

occurred along this line, and that the mountain on the south has 

dropped away from the gravel that formerly rested upon its flanks.

At the intersection of Lone Pine and Cajon canyons the granite 

range is replaced by low hills of sandstone and conglomerate. This 

formation occupies a rudely triangular area on the west side of the 

creek, and at the extremities of the outcrop the beds extend across 

the stream and are visible for a short distance in the eastern wall of 

the canyon.

The beds are made up of granitic debris in which feldspar fragments 

are so abundant as to give the rocks a decidedly pinkish tinge. 

Coarse, well-rounded gravel is abundant, and waterworn bowlders 12 

inches in diameter are of common occurrence at certain horizons. 

Some of the beds are sufficiently indurated to stand up in prominent 

cliffs, but most of them disintegrate readily into coarse sand and 

gravel. The rocks are considerably disturbed, being thrown into 

anticlines and synclines with dips of from 10° to 30°.

The age of this formation is not definitely known. Fossil shells are 

reported as occurring in beds associated with a coal seam near the 

base of the series, but the writer was unable to find the locality, and 

search in another portion of the series was not rewarded by fossils of 

&uy kind. Marine Eocene fossils have been found in similar rocks on 

ROCK Creek, and the fossiliferous beds, according to report, are 

associated with coal/' Similar fossils are reported from other localities in the southwestern end of Mohave Desert. It seems probable, 

therefore, that these various outcrops, which hold similar positions 

relative to the old granitic land mass and are composed of the same 

kind of material, were deposited at the same time and in the same 

body of water.

The data at hand are not sufficient to enable one to determine 

whether the crustal movements which tilted these beds into their present position, and which presumably occurred soon after their deposition, were common to the entire Mohave Desert region or were limited

f'J. E. Spurr, unpublished manuscript.
CAMPBELL.] GEOLOGY ALONG EOUTE TEAVEESED. 11

to this range of mountains. It seems probable that movements so 

profound would have an appreciable effect on sediments lying on the 

southern edge of the desert, but no such effect is seen in the horizontal 

lake deposits 8 or 10 miles north of Cajon Pass. It is therefore probable that the beds in Cajon Canyon were deposited and folded prior to 

the existence of a lake in the desert near Victor.

That this region has undergone profound changes since the disappearance of the lake in the vicinity of Victor is shown by the elevation 

of the great mountain mass south of the Lone Pine Canyon fault to its 

present position. ~hy the accumulation of gravel on the southern margin 

of the desert to a thickness of 1,000 feet, and by the depression of the 

granite range several hundred feet below its former level.

Mohave Desert or Victor. The summit of Cajon Pass has an altitude 

of 4,100 feet, and it is formed of the gravel beds just described. In

passing into the desert the road descends over the surface of the gravel 

at the rate of about 100 feet per mile. The gravel grows gradually 

thinner and finally disappears, leaving the surface composed of beds 

of fine material, lying in a horizontal position.

These beds are made up of sand and clay sufficiently indurated to 

stand up in nearly vertical cliffs along Mohave River. They carry 

alkaline salts, but, so far as known, no borax has been found in them. 

The presence of alkaline deposits seems to indicate clearly that the 

body of water in which they were deposited lay in an inclosed basin, 

and that at times the aridity of the climate was so great as to cause the 

water to evaporate, leaving its alkaline constituents on the floor of the 

basin.

No fossils have been found by which to determine the geologic age 

of these beds. They have been classed as Eocene and correlated with 

beds of this age in the western end of Mohave Desert; but the latter 

carry a marine fauna, and are therefore not necessarily of the same 

age as the lake beds at Victor. As previously mentioned, the writer 

feels inclined to correlate the marine Eocene of the western Mohave 

Desert region with the beds in Cajon Can}^on and to refer the lake 

beds of Victor to a later epoch. It seems possible that Victor Lake 

was one of a long string of lakes reaching across the country just east 

of the Sierra Nevada, which Mr. Clarence King" called the Pah-Ute 

Lake of the Miocene epoch; or it may have been in existence during 

the deposition of similar beds north of Owens Lake, in which Mr. 

Walcott discovered fossils of Pliocene age. 6

At Victor the lake beds are confined to the territory lying west of 

Mohave River. According to Mr. Spurr c this relation holds down 

the river at least as far as the point where the course changes from

«U. S. Oeol. Expl. Fortieth Par., Vol. I, p. 454.

i> The post-Pleistocene elevation of the Inyo Range and the lake beds of Waucobi embayment, Inyo 

County, Cal.: Jour. Geol., Vol. V, pp. 340-349. 

c Unpublished manuscript.
12 BORAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESEKT. [BULL. 200.

north to northeast. Be}7 ond this point the conditions are unknown. 

Mr. Spurralso reports that lake beds show at intervals along the road 

from Harper to Raudsburg, nearly as far as Fremont Peak. North 

of the Santa Fe Railwa}^ the beds are disturbed, dipping generally to 

the south from 10° to 15°. Since, the connection between these beds 

and the horizontal sediment about Victor has not been determined, it 

is uncertain whether they are of the same age or whether the tilted 

beds belong to the older or Eocene series.

Daggett. In order to obtain information regarding the eastward 

extent of these beds, the writer crossed from Victor to Daggett by 

the old stage road which runs by Stoddard Wells, 15 miles east of 

Mohave River. For a distance of 28 miles no lake beds were encountered. The country is generally mountainous, the valleys are comparatively narrow, an.d the rocks are either igneous or highly metamorphosed sedimentaries.

From Stoddard Wells the road follows a direct course N. 20° E. 

until it emerges into the valley of Mohave River 5 miles west of Daggett. A belt of Tertiary rocks having a width of about li miles is 

crossed by the road 4 miles south of this bend. The rocks are composed generally of fine clay and sand, containing a large amount of 

gypsum and other salts. Several thick beds of limestone were noted, 

which appear to have been the result of chemical deposition. The 

lower beds are composed of fragmental material; but in the upper 

part of the series occur man}r lava sheets which preserve the beds in 

high, even-crested ridges. This belt of rocks extends in a nearly eastwest direction. The strata have been gently tilted along an axis running in the same direction, so that they now dip to the north about 5°.

The ridge formed by these beds appeared to extend westward for a 

distance of only a mile or two, and then to die out in the even expanse 

of desert which presumably extends to Mohave River. Toward the 

east the lake beds extend indefinitely. The question of the relation of 

these beds to the horizontal strata west of Mohave River is most interesting, and an examination of the western end of the beds just described 

might throw light on the relative age of these deposits.

Heavy deposits of gravel occur on the northern slope of the Tertiaiy 

ridge. They rest upon the lake beds in such a manner as to suggest 

that the northward slope of the surface is a structural feature due to 

the tilting of a block of strata in that direction. If that is true, these 

lake beds probably underlie the Mohave River Valley in this vicinity.

No borax was seen in this deposit, but the presence of other salts 

makes it seem probable that borax also is present. It was learned at 

Daggett that small deposits of borates occur there, but these reports 

were not verified.

Borate. The principal deposit of boron salts occurs at Borate, about 

12 miles north of Daggett, in the vicinity of the old Calico mining 

district The mineral found here is borate of lime, or colemanite,
CAMPBELL.] GEOLOGY ALONG EOUTE TEAVEESED. 13

and it occurs as a bedded deposit from 5 to 30 feet in thickness, 

interstratih'ed in lake sediments. These lake beds are composed of 

semi-indurated clays, sandstones, and coarse conglomerates,.with intercalated sheets of volcanic tuff and lava. The rocks are severely folded, 

the axes of the folds tying in an east-west direction. The lake beds 

extend in the same direction across the mountains for; a distance of 

about 8 miles. It has been supposed that these deposits probably continue westward under the Pleistocene drift of the desert, but there is 

no evidence at hand to prove such an assertion. In fact, the lake beds 

at Bo rate do not come down to the foothills of the mountain; they are 

cut off and infolded with the crystalline rocks of the Calico district. 

Lake beds are present west of Calico Valley, and a bed of colemanite 

has been struck in a shaft in this locality at a depth of 200 feet." 

Although the colemanite is interbedded with sand and clay, it is not

coextensive with these strata. As a traceable bed it probably extends 

for a distance of a mile and a half; beyond this limit it is very thin, 

and in many places it is wanting in the section. At the Borate mine 

there are two outcrops of colemanite, either on parallel beds or on one 

bed that has been so closely folded as to give two parallel layers 

about 50 feet apart. The beds strike approximately east and west, 

and dip to the south from 10° to 45°. A railroad connects the mine 

with the mill, which is located on the west side of the mountain, and 

also with the Sante Fe Railway at Daggett.

South end of Death Valley. From Daggett the route lay to the 

northeast, along the old Amargosa borax road and through a part of 

the country not heretofore described in any geologic report. The 

rocks are generally granitic, with here and there small areas of highly 

metamorphosed sedimentary beds. In the descent from Cave Wells 

into Death Valley, lake sediments were seen on the left of the road. 

These are identical in composition with the beds near Daggett. Many 

of them are strongty alkaline, but no beds of colemanite were seen. 

.Later it was learned at Resting Spring that these sediments contain a 

bed of pure rock salt about 60 feet in thickness.

The beds composing this series strike northwest and southeast, and 

dip about 20° toward the northeast, or toward.Death Valley. The 

northwestward extent of the deposit is not well known. As seen from 

Saratoga Spring, the rocks in the Owls Head peak resemble lake sediments with intercalated sheets of dark lava. The distance is too great 

to determine this with certaint}^; but it is, in a measure, corroborated 

by the occurrence, reported by Mr. Spurr,& of similar beds on the 

flanks of the Panamint Range at Wind}7' Gap.

At many points in the Panamint Range south of Emigrant Canyon 

there are traces of recent and profound movement, and it seems altogether possible that the lake in which these sediments were deposited 

occupied a valle}r trending in a northwest-southeast direction across

« California Mining Bureau Report, Vol. XII, p. 35. b Unpublished manuscript.
14 BORAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESERT. [BULL. 200.

the southern end of the Fanamint Range. Structure lines following 

this direction are common in the Death Valle}r.region, and they will be 

discussed more fully in connection with the Furnace Creek deposits of 

the northern end of the valley.

The rocks composing the southern end of Funeral Mountain are well 

exposed at Saratoga Spring." They strike north and south, and dip to 

the east about 50°. They are limestone, shale, and quartzite, presumably of Cambrian or pre-Cambrian age. Several hours were spent in 

searching for fossils in these beds, but none were found.

The road to Resting Spring runs diagonally across this mountain to 

the northeast, following a fault that has sheared across the ends of the 

tilted strata forming the end of the mountain. North of the fault line 

similar rocks strike N. 60° E., and stand nearly vertical. Funeral 

Mountain was examined carefulty through a strong glass to see if any 

Tertiary rocks exist in the southern part of the range, but nothing was 

seen that suggested their presence. Strata resembling that exposed at 

Saratoga Spring could be traced northward for several miles into L he 

high summits, where they appeared to be broken and replaced by 

intrusive masses that form the bulk of the mountain.

The summit of the pass through which this road runs is at an altitude of about 1,700 feet above Saratoga Spring, which is probabl}7" not 

far from sea level. The pass is deeply covered with gravel, which 

extends down the eastern slope, complete!}7 concealing the bedded 

rock on this side of the mountain.

Amargosa Valley at Resting Spring. Lake sediments fill the Amargosa River Valle}7 in the vicinity of Resting Spring. These beds are 

composed of sand and clay, but there are no .beds of volcanic tuff or 

sheets of lava such as are found in many areas of similar beds. In this 

respect they resemble the lake beds in the vicimt}7 of Victor, and it 

seems possible that they are of the same age. These beds are approximately horizontal, and in this respect the}7 also resemble the Victor 

sediments..

The lake in which these beds were deposited was limited on the 

south by a rock barrier across the valley 3 or 4 miles south of the 

old borax works. The northern extremity was not seen, but lake sediments are reported to extend in that direction for a distance of only 

6 or 8 miles. Toward the east the water reached be}7 ond Resting 

Spring, and a narrow arm of the lake existed in the valley at the base 

of Kingston Mountain.

Although these beds are not folded, they bear evidence of considerable crustal mo\7 ement since their deposition. The eastern margin 

that rests against the foot of the Kingston Range is 800 feet higher 

than the uppermost beds of the same series at the foot of Funeral 

Mountain. This indicates a depression toward the west in the direction of Death Valley. There seeins to have been a local subsidence in

aSee section by Gilbert in U.S.Geog. Surv. W.One Hundredth Mer., Vol. Ill, 1875,pp. 34,170.
CAMPBELL.] GEOLOGY ALONG ROUTE TRAVERSED. 15

the middle of the lake also, for a small island shows the uppermost 

lake beds at a lower altitude than the}7 appear on the western side of 

the basin.

The lake basin was apparently silted up to the level of the outlet, 

and since then Amargosa River has cut its way through, .the rocky 

barrier on the south and trenched the sediments to a depth of 150 feet. 

Evidently drainage conditions changed about the time the basin was 

filled, giving to Amargosa River sufficient fall or sufficient volume 

to trench its barrier at least 150 feet. It seems possible that the 

change was due to the sinking of Death Valley to its present position 

below sea level and 1,200 feet below the level of the lake near Resting 

Spring. The tilting of the sediments of this lake toward the west presumably was effected by the subsidence of Death Valley, and since 

this downward movement evidently postdates the period in which the 

lake beds of Death Valley were folded, it seems probable that the lake 

in Amargosa Valley was of late Tertiary age, and that it constituted 

one of the chain of lakes to which reference has been made.

The sediments deposited in this lake are strongly alkaline, but no 

deposit of borax was seen, nor are any reported from this locality. 

The borax works which flourished for a time in this basin depended, 

according to report, upon the marsh of Amargosa River for their 

supply of crude material. The borax on the marsh is probably derived 

from, erosion of beds of colemanite in the northern end of Funeral 

Mountain, and since this erosion was presumably in progress during 

the deposition of the sediments about Resting Spring, it is altogether 

probable that beds of this mineral occur intercalated with the sediments of the lake. The occurrence of the borax in regular beds or its 

dissemination through the clay doubtless depend* upon the degree of 

aridity of the climate during the existence of the lake. From the 

large amount of alkaline salts now visible in these sediments, it seems 

probable that the climate was sufficiently arid at times to cause the 

water to be largely evaporated, leaving its mineral contents as a crust 

on the bottom of its basin. It would not, therefore, be surprising to 

find in these sediments beds of borax derived from the great deposits 

of Funeral Mountain. Before the discovery of the bed of colemanite 

near the railroad the Amargosa works were of considerable importance. A wagon road was built between this point and Daggett and 

wells were dug and relay stations were established along the route, 

but the opening of mines on the bedded colemanite put an end to operations in Amargosa Valle}r .

So far as known, lake sediments do not occur east of this point. If 

a lake ever existed in Pahrump Valley its sediments have never been 

exposed by crustal movements., and they lie undisturbed in the bottom 

of the valley.
16 BOKAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESEET. [BULL. 200. 

PAHRUMP VALLEY TO OWENS LAKE.

Amargosa Valley near Ash Meadows. Near the California-Nevada 

State line Amargosa Valley was occupied by another lake, the sediments of which are to be seen on the road from Pahrump Valley to 

Furnace Creek in Death Valley.

The beds are similar in composition to those about Resting Spring, 

but the stream has not succeeded in cutting away the barrier thatponded the water, and the beds are only slightly dissected. The barrier at the lower end of the lake was presumably on\y a few miles 

south of the road, but to the north the water may have extended far 

into Amargosa Desert.

The easternmost exposure of these beds is at an altitude (barometer) of about 2,200 feet. From this they descend westward to about 

1,850 feet at Amargosa River. This inclination is about the same as 

that which marks the beds near Resting Spring; hence the movement that produced it was probably common to the region east of 

Death Vallej7 . These beds are not visible west of Amargosa River, 

but it is altogether probable that they rest against the foothills of 

Funeral Mountain. Since in this locality the mountain is composed 

of folded Tertiary rocks striking northwest and southeast;, it is apparent that the two series are of different ages, and that the lakes which 

occupied Amargosa Valley came into existence after the disappearance 

of the lake in the north end of Death Valley and after the folding 

and elevation of its sediments into Funeral Mountain. This coincides 

with the statements heretofore made that lake-forming conditions 

appear to have prevailed at least during two distinct periods, the first 

of which may have been in the Eocene period and the last in Pliocene 

time.

furnace Creek in Death Valley. By far the greatest exposure of 

lake beds, and also the largest deposits of borax that are known, occur 

in Funeral Mountain, or, as they are more generally described, on 

Furnace Creek in Death Valley. These sediments lie diagonally across 

Funeral Mountain, in a belt whose reported width is 12 or 15 miles. 

On the north they are limited by an abrupt mountain wall of Paleozoic 

limestones, shales, and quartzites, which stand from 3,000 to 4,000 feet 

above the general level of the Tertiary hills on the south. The Paleozoic strata comprising this mountain front strike at right angles to 

the direction of the mountain face, and dip generally to the southeast 

from 30° to 60°. So far as could be determined without climbing, 

this escarpment extends in a straight line across the mountain, and it 

coincides in direction and presumably is continuous with the foot of 

the mountain which bounds Death and Mesquite valleys on the northeast. It undoubtedly marks the position of one of the great faults of 

the region, which extends parallel with the great structural features 

of central California.
CAMPBELL.] GEOLOGY ALONG EOUTE TEA VERSED. 17

From the character of the Tertiary sediments it seems probable that 

they were largely derived from the Paleozoic rocks composing the 

escarpment, consequently the movement that produced the scarp antedated the lake, and it is altogether possible that the valley in which the 

waters accumulated was formed by this movement. There are also 

some indications that recent movements have occurred along the same 

line; in fact, the general tilting of the Tertiary rocks to the northeast 

may be due to a recent depression on the south side of this fault line, 

or to the tilting down toward the northeast of the block of strata that 

original^ formed the floor of the lake. The southern edge of these 

deposits has not been examined. It is reported, on what seems to be 

good authority, that the lake beds extend south from the forks of 

Furnace Creek for a distance of only 8 or 10 miles; it therefore seems 

highly probable that the territory occupied by these beds is narrow, 

and that originally it was the southeastern extension of Mesquite 

Valley.

As previously stated, the mountains and valleys of the Death Valley 

region appear originally to have trended northwest and southeast, and 

at a later date crustal movements operated in a north-south direction, 

dropping- or tilting large blocks of strata and forming a new set of 

features at an angle of about 60° from the original lines.

The range of mountains on the east side of Death and Mesquite 

valleys is separated into two parts by the low gap formed on the lake 

beds. The mass tying north of these sediments is known as Grapevine Mountain, and that to the south, including the lake beds, is called 

Funeral Mountain.

The lake sediments of this region are similar to those previously 

described. They are composed of clay, sand, and gravel, with many 

beds of volcanic tuff and intrusive lava sheets toward the base of the 

series. Coarse gravel abounds near the contact between these beds and 

the Paleozoic rocks of Grapevine Mountain, showing that at the time 

of deposition this was a shore or boundary wall of the valley in which 

the lake was located. The strike of the beds is parallel with the northeastern margin, and the dip is 20° to 45° toward the northeast. The 

beds maintain this attitude on both sides of the range, and they do not 

dip under the valleys on either side, as they have been supposed to do.

Interbedded with the rocks of this series is a bed of colemanite 

(borate of lime), which, though probably not continuous, shows in outcrop in a number of places across the mountain, a distance of at least 

25 miles. This constitutes the largest deposit known in this country, 

and presumably the largest in the world. The bed has been opened 

low in the foothills on the east side of the mountain 4 or 5 miles south 

of the Ash Meadows road. At this point the bed is visible for several 

hundred yards, and in the prospect pits it has a thickness of from 

4 to 10 feet. It is said to exceed these figures, but no thicker sections

Bull. 200 02 2
18 BORAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESERT. [iu-u,.200.

were seen. The bed is composed of a mass of crystalline colemanite 

which mines readily and with little waste.

In the western foothills of Funeral Mountain a bed of this mineral 

is exposed in the ravines for a distance of a quarter of a mile, and 

along this outcrop it varies in thickness from a few inches to 20 feet. 

At no point is it a solid regular bed, but it consists of irregular masses 

and stringers of colemanite embedded in claj7 . The crystals are small, 

seldom exceeding a quarter of an inch in diameter, and the large 

masses are nearly pure. According to Superintendent Roach, of the 

Pacific Coast Borax Company, the largest mineral deposit occurs about 

9 miles up Furnace Creek on a nearly direct line between the outcrops 

just described. At this point he reports a bed of boracite 60 feet in 

thickness. This was not seen by the writer, but there are strong indications of the presence of minerals of this character, and it is probable 

that large deposits occur in this locality.

Borax was once manufactured 2 or 3 miles north of the point where 

Furnace Creek emerges from the hills into Death Valle3r. The plant 

was situated on the margin of the alkaline marsh, and the crude material was derived from a certain part of the marsh where colemanite 

accumulated. It is now known that the mineral is derived by solution 

from the bedded deposit described above, and that its accumulation on 

a certain part of the marsh is due to the solution being carried to that 

place by a small stream.

Death Valley contains an immense salt field, which may in time 

become valuable. It extends south from above the old borax works 

at least 30 miles. At the place where it is crossed by the road from 

Furnace Creek to Bennett Wells it is nearly 3 miles wide, and it probably varies from 2 to 4 miles in different parts of the basin. The salt 

is not white, like the marsh at Sal ton, in Colorado Desert, but it is 

brown with dust and sand that is constantl}7 being blown upon it. 

The salt stands in pinnacles 2 to 3 feet in height, making a surface 

so rough that it is impassable for a horse until the projections are 

pounded down with a sledge. With the implements at hand the 

thickness of the crust could not be determined, but it can not be less 

than 1 foot of solid salt. A sample collected in the middle of the field 

on this road shows that the salt is composed of chloride of sodium, 

94.54 per cent; chloride of potassium, 0.31 per cent; sulphate of 

sodium, 3.53 per cent; sulphate of calcium (hydrous), 0.79 per cent; 

moisture, 0.14 per cent; undissolved residue (gypsum and clay), 0.50 

per cent; total, 99.81 per cent. The presence of the large amount of 

mechanical impurities, as well as the large percentage of sulphate of 

soda, would render refining necessary before the salt could be placed 

upon the market, a process that would be veiy expensive under 

present conditions of great scarcity of fuel and water and lack of railroad transportation.
CAMPBELL.] GEOLOGY ALONG EOUTE TRAVEKSED. 19

Mesquite Valley. In the northern end of Death Valley proper no 

lake beds were seen. The bottom of the valley is covered by an alkaline marsh, and this is surrounded by a sloping surface composed of 

the debris from the mountains. The. line dividing Death Valle}7 from 

Mesquite Valley is composed of low cliff's of lake sediments which 

appear to reach back under recent deposits, forming the floor of Mesquite Valley. These beds strike northwest and southeast and dip 

toward the northeast, as do the sediments on Furnace Creek; in fact, 

they appear originally to have been continuous, but with the connecting part in Death Valley now depressed below the drainage level, 

leaving the two outcrops separate but with similar strike and dip. No 

borax beds were seen in this region, but the strata have much the same 

appearance as the Furnace Creek beds, and careful search mny reveal 

similar mineral contents. The available area of outcrop, however, is 

small, and hence extensive deposits need not be anticipated.

Panamint Mountain. The route from Mesquite Valley lay to the 

south, up Emigrant Canyon, which divides the Panamint Range into 

two parts that are structurally and topographically separate and distinct. At an altitude of about 2,700 feet above sea level great accumulations of well-rounded gravel were encountered, which are a common feature from this point to the summit of the mountain, that stands 

at an altitude of about 5,200 feet. The origin of these deposits is a 

puzzling question. The}7 are distinctly bedded, and the bedding planes 

dip 10° toward the east. They are interstratified with lava sheets 

which dip in the same direction, and with beds of white volcanic ash. 

These beds are traversed by man}7 vertical faults, which can be seen 

distinct!}7 where there is local induration of the gravel or where there 

occurs a bed of foreign material, as lava or volcanic ash.

From the traces of bedding in the gravel itself and from the bed of 

volcanic ash resting conformably upon the gravel beds, it seems probable that the deposit was laid down in water, and that its present altitude and disturbed condition are due to elevation and tilting of the 

block of strata upon which they rest. Since the dip of the Paleozoic 

strata composing this block, as well as of the gravel resting upon it, 

is toward the east, it seems possible that the block may have turned 

on a horizontal fulcrum, the eastern edge sinking and forming Death 

Valley and the western edge rising and forming Panamint Mountain. 

This hypothesis receives some support from the character of the 

topography of the mountain top. On the east side of the summit, 

at an altitude of about 4,700 feet, there is a wide flat. The basin is 

several miles in extent, and it looks like an ordinary stretch of desert 

transplanted to the summit of a rugged mountain. This topography 

does not resemble that of other mountains in this district. It appears 

to be old, and certainly leads to the belief that it was very recently 

elevated to its present position.
20 BORAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESERT. [BULL.200.

Panamint Valley. Evidences of recent movement are also to be 

seen in Panamint Valle}7 . Near the mouth of ^^7 ild Rose Canyon 

occur alkaline lake beds which have a thickness of 130 feet and an 

altitude above the bottom of the valley of about 1,000 feet. These 

were visible at only one point, presumably being generally covered 

by immense deposits of water-laid gravel several hundred feet in 

thickness. A similar deposit of gravel 500 feet in height occurs at 

Bellerat; it rises toward the east, and at the base of Telescope Mountain reaches an altitude of 1,000 feet above .the valley floor. From 

the latter point wave-cut terraces extend south along the flank of the 

mountain for a distance of several miles. These shore lines and 

gravel deposits slope distinctly northward, while those at Wild Rose 

Canyon descend sharply toward the south. These facts seem to agree 

with the evidence already presented in showing that Panamint Mountain has recently been considerably elevated, at least at its extremities, but they also seem to indicate that its middle part has remained 

stationary or has recently subsided.

In this valley there is a small salt field, in the vicinity of Hot Spring, 

which is similar in appearance to that already described. The salt 

from this locality is said to excel that of Death Valle}r, but no tests 

were made and the report can not be verified.

Owens Lake. Owens Lake lies in the great vallejr at the eastern 

foot of the Sierra Nevada. That this valle}7 has been occupied by a 

much more extensive lake than exists at present is readily shown by 

a belt of lake sediments which extends from near Cerro Gordo Peak 

on the north, around the western flank of Coso Mountain, nearly as far 

as Little Owens Lake. Where they are crossed by the Darwin road 

these beds have a width of 8 or 10 miles. In composition they resemble the lake sediments of Funeral Mountain, except that the sand}T 

portion is composed almost exclusively of debris from the coarse, 

gray granite which abounds in this region. As seen from the road, 

the uppermost beds are generalty fine and wholly clastic, but near the 

lake an anticline brings to view sheets of black lava and great beds of 

volcanic tuff. Many of the finer beds show traces of alkaline constituents, but no borax was seen. North of the Darwin road the hills seem 

to be composed largely of volcanic tuffs, and they are capped by 

immense sheets of lava, which presumably have been extruded since 

the uplifting of the lake sediments.

On the eastern margin of this belt the rocks are nearly horizontal, 

but near the lake they are bent into sharp folds whose axes extend 

in an approximately north-south direction. In the southern end of the 

basin the beds rest unconformably against the rocks on the east side 

of the valle}7 , and they generally dip from 10° to 25° to the west, or 

against the Sierra Nevada. From the topograplry in this valley it 

seems probable that after the lake beds were flexed they were beveled 

down to a regular surface, in which the present topography is carved.
CAMPBELL.] GEOLOGY ALONG EOUTE TRAVERSED. 21

Colemanite is reported as occurring at Lone Pine, north of Owens 

Lake, in a bed 1 foot in thickness, but the exact locality was not made 

public, hence the report could not be verified. Similar beds are also 

reported near the Darwin road, but nothing definite could be learned 

regarding them.

OWENS LAKE TO SAN BERNARDINO.

Redrock Canyon. From Owens Lake the route lay south along the 

foot of the Sierra Nevada to Mohave station, and thence across Mohave 

Desert to the foot of the high mountains bordering the desert on the 

south.

No lake beds were seen on this route after passing Rose Spring, 

which is located at the southern extremity of the sediments of the 

Owens Lake basin, until Redrock Canyon was entered west of El Paso 

Peak. The}7 are well exposed along this canyon for a distance of 6 

miles, and dip to-the west at an angle of about 20°. The basal portion 

of the series is composed of coarse, indurated sand, gravel, and volcanic tuff, with intercalated lava sheets. The upper portion is free 

from volcanic material, and fine clay predominates. Little alkaline 

material was seen. The beds have the appearance of being deposited 

near the shore of a large body of water, where such material was not 

abundant. It seems probable that these beds are connected with the 

Tertiary beds of El Paso Peak, which, from their contained fossils, are 

regarded as of Eocene age. It is therefore probable that the series 

exposed in Redrock Canyon also belongs to the Eocene period.

Mohave Desert. From Mohave station to the south edge of the 

desert there are no beds of this character exposed. Buttes of crystalline rock occur at intervals along the route, but there seems to be no 

opportunity for lake beds to be present, unless they underlie the alkaline flat north of Lancaster. This seems possible from the fact that 

near this place flowing wells are obtained which probably have their 

origin in gravel beds from 200 to 300 feet below the surface.

From Lancaster the foot of the mountain was followed to the east 

as far as Sheep Creek Canyon. Throughout most of this interval the 

foothills are composed of coarse gray granite, against which rests the 

Pleistocene gravel that covers and conceals the desert floor.

At Sheep Creek the road crosses the mountain to the head of Lone 

Pine Canyon. It follows the latter to its junction with Cajon Canyon, 

where it unites with the road traversed at an earlier date.

RESUME.

From the observations noted above and from descriptions of other 

geologists, it is apparent that lake sediments occur throughout a wide 

extent of territory in the Great Basin region. Some writers have 

supposed that the various outcrops are parts of one extensive sheet of 

sediment which was deposited in a widespread but shallow lake, and 

consequently that the}7 are all of the same age,
22 BOKAX OF DEATH VALLEY AND MOHAVE DESERT. [uuu.200.

The data gathered during the present reconnaissance shows that 

such is not the case. From the character and arrangement of the 

material composing these beds, it is apparent that most of the lakes 

occupied valleys, the bounding walls of which may be seen to-day with 

the coarse detrital material of the lake beds at their feet. As previously mentioned, the lakes undoubtedly existed at different geologic 

epochs, and from data now at hand it seems probable that lakeforming conditions existed practically throughout the Tertiary period 

(Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene); but sedimentation was interrupted 

at intervals by violent crustal movement that tilted the earlier sediments and materially changed the topography of the country.

The conditions which led to the formation of many lakes in the past 

were certainly climatic. The climate was less arid, for at the present 

time lakes exist in this region only where they receive drainage from 

extensive mountain masses that receive more moisture than the average for the region. The aridity of the climate appears to have varied 

from time to time, producing variations in the character of the sediments being deposited. At times the water seems to have evaporated, 

leaving its mineral constituents in the form of beds of salt, soda, 

gypsum, and borax. Again, the lake" was filled and beds of sand or 

mud covered the mineral deposits and preserved them for future use. 

It is possible that the existence of such mineral deposits does not 

mean the complete evaporation of the lake, but the conditions were 

similar to those prevailing to-day about Owens Lake and Great Salt 

Lake, where extensive alkaline deposits are accumulating.

The conditions which prevailed in this region during Pleistocene 

time have not been satisfactory determined. They are evidently 

recorded in the great accumulations of iinconsolidated gravel that

occur at many points in Mohave Desert and the Death Valle}7 region. 

These deposits have been regarded as indicative of lake conditions, as 

have also the salt fields of Death Valley and adjacent localities, but the 

evidence is far from conclusive.

.It is well known that large lakes, like Bonneville and Lahontan, 

existed in the Great Basin in Pleistocene time, but these lakes, although 

transient, left unmistakable evidence of their existence in the form of 

sediments and terraces around the margins of their basins.

In Death Valley no such features have been recognized. If they 

were formed they have been so masked and disarranged b}^ recent 

earth movements as to have escaped detection. It seems possible to 

explain the salt field of this valley by the evaporation of saline water 

brought in by Amargosa Kiver in the period of floods which occasionally affect that stream, but which are not of so frequent occurrence as 

to produce a lake in Death Valley.

The evidence at hand is too meager to warrant the writer to attempt 

to present an outline of the Pleistocene history of this region; it can be 

done only after a more detailed study of the geology and physiography 

of the region.
INDEX.

Page. 

Arnargosa Valley, geology near............ 14-16

Ash Meadows, geology near................ 16

Borate, geology near ....................... 12-13

Borax industry, development of........... 7

Cajon Canyon, geology of.................. 9-11

Cajon Pass, altitude of..................... 11

Cave Wells, rocks near..................... 13

Colenianite, occurrence of .............. 13,17-18

Daggett, geology near...................... 12

Death Valley, geology of................... 16-18

location and origin of name of......... 9

map of.................................. 7

salt in ...........'....................... 18

south end of, geology of................ 13-14

Funeral Mountain, altitude of.'............ 9

colemanite in .......................... 18

rocks of................................. 14

Furnace Creek, geology near .............. 16-18

Gilbert, O.K., cited........................ 14

King, Clarence, cited ....................... 11

Mesquite Valley, geology of................ 19

Mohave Desert, location and topography of. 8 

map of ................................. 7

geology of........................... 11-12,21

Page. 

Owens Lake, geology between Pahrump

Valley and ......................... 16-21

geology between San Bernardino and,.. 21

geology near ........................... 20-21

Owls Head peak, rocks of.................. 13

Pahrump Valley, geology between Owens

Lake and........................... 16-21

geology between San Bernardino and . 9-15 

Panamint Mountain, altitude of........... 9

geology of....................... A ..... 19

Panamint Valley, geology of............... 20

Redrock Canyon, geology of............... 21

Resting Spring, rocks near................. 14-15

Roach cited............................... 18

Salt, occurrence of......................... 18

San Bernardino, geology between Owens

Lake and........................... 21

geology between Pahrump Valley and. 9-15 

Saratoga Springs, rocks exposed at......... 14

Spurr, J. E., cited ....................... 10,11,13

Stoddard Wells, geology near .............. 12

Victor, geology near ....................... 11

Walcott, C. D.,cited........................ 11

23

O