Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-06
ALL ABOUT DIATOMS
Curious Facts About RedOndO
Beach Earth.
The DiatOmaceOus Deposit and
Its Peculiar History.
Theories About the Celebrated Find
Off Santa Monica.
Interesting Statement About Peculiar
Deposit Near RedOndO-A Fisher
mans Find Some GeolOg-
ical Facts.
BY SARAH p. MONKS.

TIES apOUO NdludOlO hCiuS VI dluululuul
and gold near Redondo Beach, the
following article will be found of inter
est. 1t was read by the author before
the Historical Society OF Southern Cali
fornia on June 9th:
There is white or light-colored earth
found in many parts OF the world that
IS very fascinating to all who look
Through microscopes. 1t is called dialo.
snaceous earth. Large deposits occur
ander under the city of Richmond, Va.
NEAR Berlin, in Sweden, at Redondc
Beach, and in various parts of Califor.
mia. 1t is also found in Spain, Sicily,
Japan, Australia, and in many states ol
North America. 1t belongs to different
geological times. 1t is most common in
the tertiary period. Its specific gravity
as less than that of kaolin, or any other
light-colored clay, from which it also
differs in being mainly siliceous. When
thrown into water it floats. 1t has a
commercial value due to its absorptive
power and polishing properties. AS an
absorber it is used for soaking up nitro
glycerine, thus forming dynamite, and
an this condition the dangerous explo-
sive can be transported with more
safety. As powder it is the
basis of most "silver polishes." But its
interest to scientists depends on the
<act that it is mainly composed of the
,siliceous shells of microscopic plants
called diatoms. These tiny beings that
are found in fresh and in salt water, in
recent and in geologic times, differ from
most plants in having delicate vitreous
shells and in possessing, when alive, the
spOwer OF locomotion. The shells are of
most beautiful shapes, are sculptured,
embossed, or decorated with spines and
points and some by means of their tracery
pane ures, or strise break up white light
into all It's rainbow tints. No more ex-
aaaisiIs forms enter the microscopic field.
me sc1lpsuring is 50 delicate and lace
RIks that sOne di2toms are used as tests
Ct 1hs p0Eer and elearness OF micro
sc9Esss To7 richness OF diztomaceous
-sk-1A depends On the number and variety
-1si sE,ei1ks- and N this respect that iron
AsaaH0a0 Bsseh ranks among the first.
f1ss deposit i1IDs 1ns greater part OF
z5az l,Ezu1 OF land about three miles
ssu1h ID 8s3aDdO Beach wharf Ii
harms Ihs shore line 5oT hundreds OF
6zss1- In k;ol15r TINS earth ls pure white.
g'Tssssll ssh. yssllvE1sh, grBy CT hght brown,
7Ea i s1T1.. granular. OF tough and eom-
FskEl n structure. Portions are dscid-
ely EtrEmfsa- with nzSr0E LAYERS OF
kfgA1 brown and ysllOwish white.
PI9oas oi Tins striped earth are resonant.
In number OF places masses have
.cr&eks6 loose from the main bed and
have been eroded so as to form pima
-cles. They have become pure white
and pOEdery from the action of the
weather. More than one hundred
species and varieties have been cleaned
and mounted from Redondo earth. |
hope within a few months 70 finish
identifying them and have a final re-
port prepared.
One fascination about the Redondo
deposit is the belief, held by all who
know the earth!well, that it is the origin
OF the famous Santa Monica find This
piece OF diatomaceous earth, weighing
about two pounds, was found by fish
-erman in 1876, floating off Santa Monica,
and proved to be one of the richest
specimens ever examined. No one has
discovered its home ledge. All the ro-
mance of totsam clings to it. Floating,
foamlike, unique and solitary, this waif
-from some forgotten prehistoric sea has
giaddened the eyes and stimulated tue
scientific zeal of the microscopists of
two continents. 1t may have drifted
from Redondo about twelve miles away.
The mesas of this part of the coast
terminate in abrupt sea walls, and be-
ing largely composed of loose soil, the
bluffs fall an easy prey to the sea. The
pounding surf, the force and seepage of
winter rains, loosen the soil so
that during each rainy season all
along the shore line huge bulks of
adobe, loan and gravel go crashing
down to the ocean. At Redondo the
&iiatomaceous bluffs show marks of Just
such losses in cracks, in smooth per-
pendicular places, in fresh exposures
and tottering pinnacles. On the. high
sspring tides portable pieces have hoated
of and are found as rounded masses of
all sizes strewn for miles along the
shore. These floats are especially
marked in winter, for. in summer, un-
less deposited above tide mark, they be-
come pulverized and mixed with shore
sand. The Santa Monica find may have
been one of these estrays that drifted
out to some ocean current and was car
ried further than its kin. The particu-
Early rich deposit whence it came may
all have been scattered by the same
winter storm, but there are reasonable
hopes of finding the home of this earthly
IpIeiad, or at least of discovering some
spot at Redondo that contains forms
equally rich and rare.
In connection with most diatomaceous
beds in California there is an interest
ing elliceous rock. 1t seems to be met
amorphic diatomaceous earth. Rounded
pieces are among the commonest shore
stones Of Southern California. Some
specimens are finely stratifed and ap.
pear like siliciied wood, others like
brown and white agate, and still others
are uniform brown or black. From the
connection of this rock with the depos-
its at Redondo, l thought it was diato'
maceous in origin, because in some
places the strata of earth graded into
layers Of fIinty rock. So far no remains
of diatoms have been found in the rock
The occurrence of this flinty material
adds new interest to the study of an
extensive deposit like that of Redondo
The circumstances under which it be-
came hardened, and its connection, or
one hand, with the diatomaceous earth
and, on the other with the oily clays
or the semi-solidified clays, called btu
.ninous shales, when fully understood
and written out, will form an exceeding
iy readable page in geological history.
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