The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1908-12-13

of monocline of considerable dip, at
the base Of which the oldest beds of the
formation are exposed OVERLAPPING the
volcanic rocks Of the mountains. The
summit of the anticlinal fold, which
probably once arched over toward the
west into the southwest dipping strata
of the Verdi region, and which would
have afforded the best conditions for
the accumulation of oil, has been COM
pletely removed by erosion. The
tilted, OCCASIONALLY truncated and intri-
rcately faulted condition of the strata
would favor the diffusion and escape
of the oil, if any were present rather
than its accumulation in large guam
titles.
REGION EAST OF wABUSIxA
The examination was confined chiefly
to the basin like valley in which the
Yerington Oil and Gas company is
drilling a we'll, north of the great
northerly bend of the Walker river and
about eight miles eastward from Wa
buska- This valley is fairly typical of
number OF similar basins in this
region that form elbows in the valley
Of the Walker river.
The basin is surrounded by noun
tains formed chiefly of lava and vol
canic fragmentary matter, and has q
of loose sand and compact clay. Hori-
zontal strata of unconsolidated sand
and clay. and detritus from the noun
tains have accumulated in this basin
within comparatively recent (quater-
nary) period of geological time prob
ably nowhere to a depth exceeding a
few hundred feet. The shallow and
local nature of this filling is indicated
by the fact that little knobs of the
lava that forms the bed rock of the
valley occasionally rise above the floor,
in some cases very near the river. The
chance of finding oil in this vicinity
must be considered very slight for the
reason that there is no evidence Of
the presence of any strata that might
be looked upon as probable oil pro-
ducers.
OF SMITH VALLEY
The portion of Smith valley that was
visited was the northern part, extend
from a line drawn eastward across the
valley from Kinds hot springs north
ward TO Buckskin. The mountains on
the east of Smith valley are formed
chiefly of much altered limestone in
truded by granite and rhyolite and
capped with andesite lava; those on
the west chiefly of granite and por>
igneous rocks. The valley itself
SoAldiuS d ming OF -nOrlZOnIal lake BEDS
OF unconsolidated clay and sand which
are exposed in low bluffs at the edge
of terrace on the side of the valley.
These beds probably belong to the
tertiary period, when a lake must
have covered the valleys of this region.
The beds do not date so far back as
these in the vicinity of Reno. They are
locally overlain by talus and .alluvial
fan deposits at the base of the noun
tains. and by a comparatively thin
coating of recent sand and clay de-
posits that have been laid down over
the floor OF the basin.
No definite estimate can be made of
the depth of the sediments in this
valley, but it may be said that they
are probably underlain at a depth of
not very many hundred feet by the
rocks or older bed rock series.
The geologic character of the region
Is not such as to favor its selection IS
a possible petroleum producer.
SOUTH OF PALISsDE
brief examination was made of an
asphalt prospect in northeastern Ne
vada, about Is miles south of Palisade.