The Daily state register. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1870-1872, 1872-02-29
GEOLOGY OF THE GREAT BASIN.

region which the e~migrants OF lS4s
took more interest ii putting behino
them than in examining. This geo
logical investigation extended along
the 10th parallel from the Sierra Ne
vada to the Rocky Mountains, cover
inc q belt one hundred miles wide,
not far from the line of the overland
railroad. The survey included all
the prominent mining districts of
Nevada from Virginia City eastward
to Salt Lake, and the Green River
coal beds between the Wasatch and
Rocky ranges. We are indebted to
Mr.. Whitehall, State Mineralogist,
for q perusal OF the third volume,
the only portion of the report which
las been received in this neighbor-
hood.
There have been many sketches re-
lating TO the local geology of some
of the mining districts along this
mineral belt, but Mr.. King is the
first to furnish an elaborate, syste-
matte synopsis OF the geological for
nations of the Great Basin. For this
reason his report. under direction of
the Government, is of peculiar in
terest to the people of this State.
Mr.. King regards the Wasatch
range. at Salt Lake, Of peculiar i'm
p~ortance. from its effect upon the
formations of the Great Basin,
stretching from that point westward
to the Sierra Nevada. Long before
the Rocky Mountains had risen from
the ocean bed. this Wasatch range
stood an impregnable wall against
the waves of the ocean that covered
the Mississippi basin, as the Sierra
Nevada withstood the currents of the
Pacific. thus protecting this interior
basin from all the sedimentary for
nations subsequent to the Jurassic
period. There is no evidence Of
marine rocks subsequent to the Ju-
rassic period. While the east side
of the Wasatch range, and the west
side of the Sierra Nevadas, are built
up largely of vast deposits Of creta-
ceous formation. nowhere in the in
terror basin has any trace of creta-
ceous formations been discovered.
The only beds more recent than the
age of the numberless parallel ranges
between these two exterior points
are certain calcareOusan and sandy strata
containing large quantities of fresh
water fossils. both Of mOllusks and
vertebrate life. The mammalian re-
mains found in the eastern portion
OF the Basin indicate a fauna similar
to that exposed on the head waters OF
the Missouri, showing the former eX-
istence of nearly all OF the gigantic
species which roamed the earth dur
ing the Mesezoic period. Suisse
quent to the Jurassic period nothing
is found except late volcanic pro-
ducts. some fresh water Tertiary
deposits, and the usual'' Quartenary
deposits which over the whole west
mark the post glacial period" The
Wasatch range is the westward bar
rier of the cretaceous formation.
1.-The ocean, during the Cretaceous,
never penetrated the region known
as the Great Basin"
The numerous ranges which cross
the Basin, all have a general paral-
lelism, with a north OF northwest
trend: Mr.. King finds that the ma
terials of these mountain masses are
infinitely varied, ranging from the
earliest to the most recent deposits,
and embracing almost all the known
species of sedimentary and eruptlye
The greater part OF the
rock isa series of conformably strait
fled beds. reaching from the early
Azoic I'D to the late Jurasslc period,