The weekly union record., 1864-11-26
The Geology Of California.

( II was matter OF absolute necessity that s
/ geological survey should be made OF Califoruia.
/ The State had mineral treasures 1nexampled,
and formations entirely different from those
which had been studied elsewhere. Our books
could give Us no satisfactory information ard
il would have been folly to trust entirely to tie
researches Of half-educated geologisis, whose
observation had been confined TO small districts
Z The question was not whether the sarvey would
pay in the first or second year but whether the
interest aud the reputation of the State required
that it should be done once for al The ex-
pease viii cesSe in lew years; the informaii iioa
will last forever. California will continue to
/ be mining State fcv hundreds il rot thousands
of years; and the Knowledge now acquired Will
/ form the basis. the incentive aud the example
of future Investigations.
I While we are disposed to believe that the
survey viii prove 10 be a source Of peeuniary
profit TO the State 10 few yeats, and willis We
+ feel confident that the scientific results viii
/ create a decided sensation among geoiosists
/ still We speak without any comprehensive
knowledge Of tbs details Of those results. Some
general facts however. We have learned from
conversation with Professor Brewer.
Ii has been ascertained that the Sieia Ne
/ vada range stood ont Of the ocean u long time
/ before the remainder Of the State became dry
land. Al later period, the most western part
of the Coast Mountains appeared. and with the
Sierra Nevada they inciosei a great lake or
bay. Then the eastern ridges Of the Coas;
Mountains arose, aud fually the interior basin
became dry land. We do not know how long
time elapsed since the changes Of elevation
took place or whether they have yet ceased.
II the coast is now rising, the yise Is very slow
There seems to be reason to believe tsai some
change is taking place. Il is 4 general rule
that countries in which earthquakes are com
mon do change their elevation We know
that repeated changes have taken place here A.
and it has been observed that the earthquake
Of January. 1857. caused 3 rent forty miles
long 10 the neighbo,hood of Tel n Pass. aud
one side of tie rent is now ten feet higher than
the other Whether this differences is owing
TO q rise OF one side or the fall Of the other is
not known, bu, the presumption Is that there
was a rise.
We cannot ascertain how many hundreds Of
thousands or millions of years have passed
away since California rose from the deep but
in geological eras, the country IS new. The
chief means of determining the age Of rocks is
by the fossils which they contain. The earth
has had various kinds Cf animals at various
SBONuci SNNu CtVOii laN laOiA tuIs
the one which preceded it. The fishes lived
before there were apy reptiles; the reptiles
lived before there were any birds the birds
lived before there were any mammals and the
mammalian brutes had existed long before maa
appeared. Each of The later epochs had its
peculiar forms OF animal life and il is bv an
examination of the remains of these animals
that the ages of sedimentary rocks are deter
v,IpaI 1basa ba cr,all hot
the naked eye cannot distinguish them; aud
Prof. Brewer has numerous specimens which
cannot be investigated without the microscope.
None of the large Saurians-those wonderful
lizards as large as wbales-have yet been found
here but oar hills and mountains contain the
bones of the mastodou, the elephant. the rli.
uoceros, the hippopotamus, the horse, the
camel, the whale, and on animal resembling the
tapir These all lived once in California.
Oyster shells fifteen inches long are found near
Corral Hollow, and ammonites abound in
Shasta county-some Of them foot and half
in diameter. Our climate must have beea
tropical in the era Of this extinct fauna ; our
valleys were great swamps; our mountains
were covered with luxuriance of vegetation
which now belongs exclusively 10 lbe equatorial
regions. Man lived at the same time man in
llIS iONGSl VI W utli VIZ utSl
operation of his skill was to make an arrow
head or spear head of flint or obsid:an.
The cretaceous formation which contains all
our valuable coal and quicksilver, extends the
entire lepgtb OF the American coast from San
Diego to Belliugham Bay. About two hun.
dred aud fifty fossils, of which ninety five per
cent are of new species, have been found in
this formation. The fossils found in the Jurassic
gold bearing rocks Of the Sierra have not yet
been worked up.
From Mount Shasta to Mount San Jacinto,
all the high peaks of the Sierra are in straight
line North Of thirty-eight degrees the peaks
are volcanic. From the summit of Lasseus
Peak, thirty craters Of extinct volcanoes are
visible. The evidence of their activity is found
in a body Of lava that covers ten thousand
square miles, which, .ith a shape something
like that of pear, extends from the vicinity
of 0rOville to Mount Shasta which il surrounds
Appearances indicate that the top OF Mount
Shasta for twelve thousand feet from the sum
nit downward is lava. The plateau Of the
Sierra Nevada, or high table land 10 Plumas,
and the eastern part of Shasta county, is COW
cred with lava. which b1ries the gold so deep
that the miner csn reach it at only a few places
where the streams cut down through 1t to the
slate beneath. The auriferous slate is very
narrow in the southern part OF the Sierra Ne
yada, but it widens out regularly as il ap
proaches the north, and the richest diggings
have been found near the edge of the great bed
of lava which hides countless millions Of gold
from the miner
South of latitude thirty eight degrees there
are DO volcanoes active or extinct. in the Sierra
Nevada and the highest points rise bat one
thousand or two thousand feet above the gen
eral level of the range. while at the north the
peaks rise from three thousand to eight thous-
and feet above the surrounding mountains.-
Altd California.
A STORY is related of Turk who married.
His wife, when unveiled, proved to be very
ugly. A few days after the nuptials, she said
to him, My life, as you have many relations, |
wish YOU 70 infoIm me before which Of them |