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GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES.
B Y C H A S . H. H IT C H C O C K A N D W M . P. B L A K E .

G E O L O G I C A L Map giving a broad general view of the extent of the various
geological formations of the country has long been an acknowledged desidera­
tum. The materials have been accumulating from year to year, one government
expedition after another has returned bringing new facts, and State after State has
instituted geological surveys. But all these results have been published independently,
and at different times, without concert or system. The attempts to combine and generalize
these disconnected data have been few, and, in general, unsatisfactory, though, no doubt,
each effort has been of great service to the science, and economically.
The preparation of such a map is one of the most difficult and thankless labors a
geologist can undertake. It is not a work of mere compilation. To a general knowledge
of the whole region must be added critical skill and discrimination, for the data are so
disconnected, diverse, and often conflicting that they must be compared, harmonized,
and resolved into a common expression. There are also blanks, for which the facts are
scanty or wanting, and these must be filled in order to complete the general picture.
Under such adverse conditions, with diverse, and in some regions, only partial mate­
rials, notably in the great and but partly explored areas of the West, the result must
necessarily be imperfect. It will fail to satisfy many who have made special studies of
limited areas in detail, and will afford an inviting field for critics.
Y et such maps, confessedly imperfect, serve a most excellent purpose— they give
broader and more comprehensive views of the geological structure of the country, of the
relative position and extent of the mineral and agricultural regions and of the bases of
indigenous industries. They are important in all discussions of the distribution of plants
and animals and even of population. Further, as regards the progress of geology, they
stimulate investigation and publication, they provoke criticism and corrections and thus
advance knowledge.
It is hardly necessary, however, to explain the reasons for the publication of a general
geological map. Such a map has long been an acknowledged need. A t the meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1872,8 Committee was
appointed to memorialize Congress upon the preparation and publication of a geological
map of the United States, and it is hoped that suitable provision will ere long be made
for one on a scale commensurate with the importance of the subject to the country.
O f the map now presented two editions have already been issued, one for the volume
on “ Industry and W ealth” at the Ninth Census, the other for the Report of the U. S.
Commissioner of Mining Statistics. The third edition now presented contains many
additions and corrections, but it is still claimed to be only approximately correct and to a
great extent hypothetical, particularly west of the Mississippi River, as all maps of the
kind must necessarily be, until accurate measured surveys of the surface and of the out­
crops of the formations have been made.
The topographical or geographical basis of the map is the well-known Engineer’s
map, which has been carefully prepared in the office of the Chief of Engineers at Wash­
ington from the results of official explorations, having been added to from time to time, as
the accumulation of data justified it. The scale of the map is about one hundred miles to
the inch. Upon the parallel of 370 an inch extends over two degrees of longitude. An
area of 25 square miles may be covered by the head of a pin. On such a scale detail must,
of course, be sacrificed, and give place to general representation. The same is true of the
topography. And the topographical features, essential guides in plotting the geology, are,
over a great part of the country, and particularly on the western half of the map, very
defective, and in some extended districts are entirely wanting. Y et for many of these
districts a general knowledge of the geology permits them to be colored with tolerable
accuracy. But the difficulty of successfully representing the geology in the absence of the
usual topographical guides will be readily appreciated. It may be stated, as a general rule,
that in regions where the topography is not known, the representation of the geology is
to be considered as typical, or hypothetical and suggestive, rather than accurate.
For convenience of representation and of printing in colors, the formations are de­
lineated in nine groups. The arrangement is not in every respect the most natural, but
it best accords with the materials in existence, It is as follows:

\

EOZOIC.

-j Eozoic and M etam o rph ic .
i C am brian and S il u r ia n .

PALEOZOIC... - D evo n ian .
f C arbo n ifero u s .

MESOZOIC.. . .
CENOZOIC.. . .

\ T riassic and J urassic .
(C

retaceous .

I T e r t ia r y .
A llu v iu m .
I V olcanic .

W e have traced out and separately indicated each of these divisions as far as possible
in the existing state of our knowledge, but no attempt has been made to trace the dividing
lines of the Paleozoic over the western area, as will be presently explained.
The first group, the Eozoic and Metamorphic, includes the Laurentian, Atlantic,
Labradorian, and Huronian, together with the granites and metamorphic rocks. The few
metamorphic rocks of later age, whether Paleozoic or Mesozoic, in the Appalachian and
Rocky Mountain regions, have been separated from the Eozoic as far as possible.

G E N E R A L O B S E R V A T IO N S
TH E GEO LOG Y OF TH E
STATES.

UPON T H E
R E P R E S E N T A T IO N
OF
E A S T E R N P O R T IO N O F T H E U N IT E D

B y C. H. H itchcock .
T he rocks of the first group form a continuous belt from the northeastern boundary
southwesterly to Alabama. From their broadest expansion at the north, they gradually
narrow southward through New England to New York and then expand southward
through the Southern States. They form the mountain region of the Eastern States, and,
together with the broad development of the same formations in Canada, skirting the Great
Lake region and considerable areas about Lake Superior, form the margin or rim of the
great interior region of comparatively horizontal Paleozoic formations, holding the vast
coal areas of the continent. The natural geological and geographical outlets of this
interior basin, with its stores of wealth in coal, iron, and fertile lands, are on the southwest,
through the open valley of the Mississippi to the Gulf, and on the east, across the nar­
rowest portion of the Eozoic at New York.
These Eozoic and Metamorphic rocks constitute what is generally known as the
granitic region. It is the nucleus of the later rocks, of the Paleozoic on the west, and
the Mesozoic and Cenozoic on the east O f the principal divisions, the Laurentian is
developed along the valley of the St. Lawrence, the Huronian in the west, and the Atlantic
in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
The Atlantic system is first carefully distinguished from the others in the first volume
of the geological report of New Hampshire (1874). It is the same as the so-called White
Mountain series, and has a large development along the Atlantic border. A considerable
portion of the New England metamorphic rocks, particularly in Maine, is now referred
to the Huronian system.
The Silurian and Cambrian systems are made to extend from the Paradoxides beds to
the Lower Helderberg inclusive; in accordance with the general usage of American geol­
ogists. The Calciferous mica schists of Vermont, the Coos group and certain mica schists
of New Hampshire, are provisionally included in this division. Certain schists in North
and South Carolina, largely those called Taconic by Professor Emmons, are excluded, and
referred to the Huronian upon the authority of Professor Kerr. A large area of quartzites
in Minnesota and Dakota, consisting chiefly of the Plateau du Coteau dcs Prairies, are
now for the first time ranked with this division. Heretofore opinion has been divided in
respect to them, whether they should be called Huronian or Cretaceous.
The Devonian system is now separated from the Lower Carboniferous, and is chiefly
developed over the interior of the continent.
The Coal measures are not separated from the Carboniferous, because a map repre­
senting them and other subdivisions is included in this publication. The representation of
the entire Carboniferous system by itself enables one much better to understand the
geological structure of the country. The Permo-Carboniferous strata are not separated
from this division.
The Triassic and Jurassic formations are represented together. They constitute long
lines of sandstone in the east, and Gypsiferous beds west of the Mississippi.
The Cretaceous formation may be traced almost continuously from the northeast end
of Long Island through the Carolinas to Alabama; thence northerly along the Mississippi
valley to the mouth of the Ohio River; thence southwesterly into Mexico, and northerly
to the British Possessions, covering immense areas in the Territories and in the States of
the Pacific coast The formation is perhaps the most extensive of any in the country.
With the approval of Prof. Kerr we have represented a continuous area of Cretaceous,
nearly 200 miles long, from the Neuse River in North Carolina to the farther side of the
Great Pedee basin in South Carolina This area is usually covered by Tertiary or Allu­
vium, but displays Cretaceous sections along all the great transverse river valleys. Large
Cretaceous areas in Minnesota cover Eozoic and Silurian deposits, and are therefore only
partially represented on the map.
The Tertiary rocks lie outside of the Cretaceous along the whole Atlantic coast
south of Cape C o d ; and are immensely developed over the western portion of the country.
The Alluvium lies outside of the Tertiary along the coast, composing the peninsula
of Florida and the Mississippi delta.
No volcanic rocks, properly so called, occur east of 103" west longitude Greenwich
This edition of the map differs in some portions from the first issue for the following
reasons:
A small area of Cambrian has recently been described by the writer as occupying a
part of the Saco River valley in Maine. The granite in northeastern Vermont, and neai
Montpelier, may be partly of Devonian age. Three small outliers of the Catskill forma­
tion are represented in New York upon the authority of Logan’s map. This formation is
everywhere included with the Carboniferous upon the authority of Chancellor YY inchell
The Long Island rocks are still considered as Cretaceous. The ragged edges of thf
Carboniferous rocks in northeastern Pennsylvania are not preserved. In North Carolina
the Eozoic system is expanded to include several isolated patches of gneiss in the low
country. This expansion causes the eastern boundary of this system to harmonize with
that in Y’ irginia, as delineated by Prof. YY’. B. Rogers.
The geology of Georgia is very little known; the Cretaceous outliers are given upon
the authority of Sir Chas. Lyell. The Silurian areas of Ohio and northern Illinois are

G E O L O G IC A L

M AP

OF T H E

U N IT E D

probably connected together across Indiana; the boundaries between the Silurian and
Devonian, as given, being based upon Sir William Logan’s map. The northwest part of
Iowa, here colored as Cretaceous, is said by Pro£ White in his Iowa report to be so deeply
covered bv drift that no rocks appear in situ. The Devonian along the Red River, in
Minnesota, is given upon the authority of Dr. Winchell’s Map. In Texas a few changes
are made upon the authority of a manuscript map furnished by A B. Roessler. The coal
area of Northern Texas is separated from that of the Indian Territory by the overlying
Cretaceous along the valley of Red River. The Tertiary area of the Cross Timbers region
is retained in accordance with the results of this summer’s explorations (1874), specially
communicated by Prof. S. B. Buckley. Improvements will doubtless be made hereafter in
the representation of the copper rocks about Lake Superior. W e have not altered their
delineation from that of the first edition.
A few general statements are suggested by even a casual inspection of the map.
First, there is a wide contrast in color between the east and the w est; indicating that the
former, with its enormous supplies of coal and iron, is adapted by nature to be the manu­
facturing region, while the latter, with its immense plains and its veins of the precious
metals, is more properly an agricultural and mining country. Second, the gradual thinning
out of the Tertiary rocks on the Atlantic, suggests the probability of a considerable
submergence off the coast of New England and the British Provinces in very recent
times, so that the later rocks are entirely concealed. Third, the arrangement of the for­
mations along the lower Mississippi valley indicates a submergence commencing at the close
of the Paleozoic and continuing down to the present era— the sinking of large tracts of
land in southeastern Missouri in conjunction with the earthquake of 1812, shows that
the line is still weak. The successive development of the several divisions of the Creta­
ceous and Tertiary below the mouth of the Ohio, proves that the valley has been gradually
reclaimed from the Gulf of Mexico. Quite recently, also, the western water-shed followed
the Cretaceous outliers from southeastern Arkansas to the “ Five Islands” near the mouth of
Bayou Teche. Fourth, the overflows of lava are confined to the Rocky Mountain region
and westward. There are no evidences of igneous overflows in the east later than the
Jurassic. Fifth, the great plains west of the Mississippi,occupying more than a fourth part
of the country, belong to nearly horizontal deposits of the Cretaceous and Tertiary. Sixth,
the central portion of the main Rocky Mountain range seems to belong to the Eozoic
system; but not to have been elevated extensively so early as the same formation along the
Atlantic border. The principal epoch of Rocky Mountain elevation seems to have been
in the later Tertiary.

G E N E R A L V IE W

OF TH E G EO LO G Y OF TH E W ESTERN
O F T H E U N IT E D S T A T E S .
By W

illia m

P O R T IO N

P. B l a k e .

T he following brief notices of the salient geological features of that portion of the
United States west of the 100th meridian are designed to supplement and explain the
Map and to assist in giving a general idea of the geographical range of the principal
formations and their relation to each other. Some of the difficulties of the task of
delineating the geology over such an extended region, as yet but imperfectly known, are
stated in the foregoing joint article by Prof. Hitchcock and the writer, to which reference
is made.
Eozoic

and

P aleo zo ic

Paleozoic formations have been traced to the shores of the Pacific, and their represen­
tation forms a conspicuous feature of the Map from the Rocky Mountains westward
throughout the whole area, and especially in the great interior basin-region where there
are numerous parallel mountain ranges trending from north to south. Over this western
portion of the Map the divisions of the Paleozoic are not indicated by different colors as
they are on the eastern portion. The single blue color represents the whole or any single
member of the Paleozoic, either the Silurian, the Devonian, or the Carboniferous, or all
of them. The divisions have not yet been traced out except in a few limited areas.
The best known member of the system is the Carboniferous limestone, believed in
general to be the Sub-carboniferous, which has a wide extension, having been identified as
far west as the seaward slopes of the Sierra Nevada, in the Humboldt Mountains, the
Wahsatch, and in the Rocky Mountain system of elevation from Mexico to the northern
boundary. It forms the summits of ranges about the Great Salt Lake, and is the prominent
rock of many parallel ranges extending northward into Montana and beyond into
British America. It is believed to constitute an important feature of the Salmon River
ranges of mountains, comparatively unexplored, and of the Blue Mountains in southeastern
Oregon. The formation is, in general, much uplifted, and forms the crest or highest
portions of many mountain ranges up to an elevation of 13,000 feet or more. But in the
broad region drained by the Colorado and its tributaries, the Carboniferous, together with
older divisions of the Paleozoic, and the later formations of Mesozoic time, are compara­
tively undisturbed, and form a broad plateau region of nearly horizontal strata through
which the streams have cut their way and expose unbroken sections of the whole series
of rocks from the early Silurian, resting upon the Eozoic, to the Tertiary surmounted by
volcanic outflows. The Mogollon Mountains of Arizona mark the southern limits of the
plateau region, beyond which the formations are uplifted and extend in parallel ranges
southeastward into Mexico. Thus a deep Carboniferous sea appears to have extended
over the greater portion of the United States. A period of elevation succeeded with
the deposition at the west as well as in the eastern portion of the country of sandy and
clayey deposits, the foundation for the growth of plants and the formation of coal-beds.
Coal measures and thin seams of coal are found in the Rocky Mountains at Santa Fd,
and recently they have been shown to exist as far west as the Pancake range of moun­
tains in Nevada (Lon. 1150) with workable beds of coal. So far as yet observed, coalseams do not exist in the Carboniferous in the northwest

STATES A N D

TE R R ITO R IE S.

7

Devonian beds have been recognized in the White Pine Mining District in Nevada
and probably occur far to the north and south of that point in the same and other parallel
ranges. They have also been identified in the Wahsatch, southeast of Salt Lake City, and
no doubt have a very considerable geographical extension in connection with the Subcarboniferous limestone. Devonian sandstones are reported in the Calitro Mountains,
Arizona; but in a section near El Paso, from the Potsdam upwards, there is a notable
absence of Devonian beds. This section is believed by Mr. Tenney to exhibit the equiv­
alents of the Potsdam sandstone, the Trenton limestone and the Oneida conglomerates
with the Carboniferous resting unconformably upon them. An absence of Upper Silurian
and Devonian beds has also been noted by Hayden in sections about the Black Hills and
the Laramie range. But according to Comstock, the whole Paleozoic series, from the
Lower Silurian to the Carboniferous, inclusive, is found upon the eastern slope of the
Wind River Mountains dipping away from the metamorphic rocks.
Limestones of the Quebec group have been identified by Bradley, near Malade City,
Idaho. The equivalent of the Potsdam sandstone is described by Hayden and others as
existing in the Black Hills and northern ranges of the Rocky Mountains, especially in
the Big Horn Mountains at the head of Powder River and in the range known as the
Tetons. A quartzite underlying the limestones of the Wahsatch and resting unconforma­
bly upon the upturned edges of Eozoic rocks, is referred by the writer to the Lower
Silurian. The Primordial has also been observed by Clayton in southern Nevada (Lon.
116°), and on Schell Creek, seventy-five miles northeast of White Pine.
It may be said, in general, that the prevailing formations in the silver-mining districts
throughout Nevada are made up of limestones and sandstones of Paleozoic age, either
Carboniferous, Devonian, or older, in connection with Eozoic, granitic, syenitic, porphyritic, trachytic, and volcanic rocks. Dikes of porphyry and dioritic rocks are numerous,
but, in general, are too narrow and limited in their breadth to be satisfactorily delineated
on the Map.
The phenomena of uplift and plication of the strata are exhibited on a broad scale
in the Rocky Mountains and westward in all the mountain systems, though, in general,
the folding is not abrupt and steep, and monoclinal ridges are most common. The
principal area of folding lies to the westward of the Wahsatch range in the Great Basin,
where the parallel mountain ranges are numerous and inclose long and narrow valleys
partially filled by the debris and wash from the adjoining ridges, so that the rocks are
covered from view. The region of the greatest lateral compression is the Sierra Nevada,
where most of the strata stand on edge. The Cretaceous and Tertiary formations of the
Coast Mountains are also plicated.
The rifts and fissures of the rocks giving rise to veins and mineral deposits follow, in
general, the lines of easiest fracture presented by the upraised strata, parallel to the general
axes of uplift. A general longitudinal arrangement results, and determines to a great
extent the distribution of population, lines of communication, settlement, and occupation
of the country.
There are evidences in several places of considerable dislocations and breaks in the
strata for great distances; as, for example, along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, and
in the Colorado plateau, where Powell has observed a succession of vertical displacements
extending in a northwesterly and southeasterly direction, one of these lines of break being
nearly under the extinct volcano of San Francisco Mountain and coincident with the edge
of the mesa terminating the plateau on the south.
The wide extension of the Eozoic rocks as the foundation of the western part of the
Continent is well established. They underlie the Paleozoic unconformably, and are in
general crystalline and uplifted at high angles. In the Rocky Mountain system, particu­
larly near Santa F£ in New Mexico, in Colorado, and in Wyoming, gneissic strata are
traversed by veins and dykes of flesh-red granite. Farther west this granite disappears
and gray granite prevails, especially in the Wahsatch, the Humboldt, and the Sierra
Nevada. In the Wahsatch the Paleozoic series rests upon the upturned edges of older
formations now in the condition of compact granite but retaining distinct traces of the
original layers of deposition. This granite is flanked by gneissic beds, and it closely
resembles the granite of the Humboldt range, and of the Sierra Nevada, which two great
ranges may also be regarded as prominent lines of exposure of the most ancient rocks.
The Eozoic is also exposed at many points in the ridges of the Great Basin, at the bottom
of the canon of the Colorado, and southward through Arizona into Mexico. In Montana
Territory the rocks are gneissic, and are traversed by gold-bearing quartz veins.

M ESOZOIC.

The most widely distributed and recognized member of the Mesozoic series is the
Cretaceous, which underlies the Great Plains westward from the Missouri, forms the table­
lands of Texas known as the Llano Estacado, and appears all along the eastern base of
the Rocky Mountains. Beyond this chain it is spread over the great plateau region of
the Colorado River, finding its principal limit on the north and west in the Wind River,
the Uintah, and the Wahsatch Mountains. Farther west it reappears east of the Cascades
in Oregon, is heavily developed about Puget’s Sound and Vancouver’s Island, and, together
with uplifted Tertiary beds, forms the bulk of the ranges of the Coast Mountains in
California.
In southwestern Texas the lower members of the formation consist of thick beds of
compact limestone, forming cliffs hundreds of feet in height along Devil’s River and the
Rio Grande, while the higher members forming the Llano become more clayey and sandy.
Coarser materials also prevail in the formation upon the western coast, where sandstones
and shales prevail and pass upwards conformably into the Eocene and Miocene Tertiary.
East of the Rocky Mountains the Cretaceous is underlaid by Jurassic and Triassic
strata, the latter being largely developed and exposed at the surface in northern Texas, the
Indian Territory and Kansas. This member of the Mesozoic consists chiefly of red shales,
marls and sandstones, with an abundance of gypsum. The Triassic beds are also found
throughout the Colorado Basin and extend west of the Virgen. They have been identified
in several of the uplifts of the Great Basin area, particularly in the Virginia and Pine Nut
ranges near the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, associated with syenitic and other

G E O L O G IC A L

8

MAP

OF T H E

U N IT E D

plutonic rocks, and also in the west ranges of the Humboldt Mountains, notably at Star
Mountain, rising to a height of 9000 feet and largely made up of Triassic strata.
Jurassic, and probably Triassic beds, highly folded, form a part of the western slope
of the Sierra Nevada of California, and are the chief repositories of the gold-bearing veins
and of the copper ores. With these beds the Cretaceous formations are not conformable.
Thus the great uplift of the Sierra Nevada, and of many parallel ranges in the Great
Basin, appear to have taken place at the close of the Jurassic period, introducing a great
change in the topographical and physical conditions of the Continent
The relations of the Mesozoic, in the Sierra Nevada, to the Paleozoic, have not been
satisfactorily shown. The Carboniferous has been identified near Fort Reading by Trask,
and in the Map the limestones of the range to the southward have been considered as
belonging to that system. But of whatever age, they as well as other and apparently
older strata, in a metamorphosed condition, are all conformable with the Mesozoic.
C enozoic .

Tertiary deposits over the western part of the Continent are found, in general, nearly
coincident in geographical distribution with the Cretaceous, there being no break in the
continuity of the deposits from below upwards. Along the Pacific border, the Eocene,
Miocene, and Pliocene divisions have been recognized and are all of marine origin and
attain a great thickness. They partake, in the Coast Mountains, of the plications of the
Cretaceous, but are, in general, nearly horizontal along the base of the Sierra Nevada.
Between the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River, on the Great Plains, extensive
areas are covered with Tertiary beds through which the rivers have cut their way to the
underlying Cretaceous. So also in the Green River basin, north of the Colorado plateau
in Wyoming, there is a wide area covered with horizontal Tertiary deposits eroded by
streams to a great depth. These are not only of marine origin but are mingled with
brackish and fresh-water deposits which, as well as extended basins in the Tertiary of the
Upper Missouri region, were deposited in shallow lakes partially or wholly shut off from
the sea These deposits in Wyoming overlie unconformably an earlier series of Eocene
beds, characterized at the base by the general presence of workable seams of lignitic
coal, found not only along the Rocky Mountains and in the Green River basin but in
California and Oregon; thus showing that at the close of the Cretaceous epoch the greater
part of this western area had emerged from the sea and was covered with a wide-spread
luxuriant vegetation.
In coloring the Map no effort has been made to discriminate between these Tertiary
formations of different periods. The yellow coloring is comprehensive, including all the
sedimentary formations later than the Cretaceous, excepting, only, certain areas of alluvium
and modem lacustrine deposits. It is to be particularly noted that in the region of the
Great Basin, and in a portion of Montana, Idaho, and Oregon, this color represents not
only the Tertiary but the most recent deposits washed down by rains and streams from the
adjoining mountains, and spread out in gentle slopes.
The modem lacustrine deposits, to which reference has been made, constitute one of
the most interesting records presented to us in the whole series of formations. They show
the former extent of immense fresh-water lakes, now either wholly or partially dried up,
leaving behind them floor-like beds of fine clay and well-marked terraces and water-lines.
The largest of these ancient lakes may be designated as the Humboldt, the Timpanogos
(of which the present Great Salt Lake is the remnant), the Tulare, and the Coahuilla, the
last having occupied the long valley at the head of the Gulf of California now a desert.
V

olcan ic .

Lofty extinct volcanoes with enormous outpourings of lava form a striking feature of
the geology of the western portion of the United States. The extent of the igneous
outbursts is shown approximately by the vermilion coloring. The broadest area covered
by lava is in the valley of the Columbia River, and of the Snake River in Oregon. The
principal field extends in a nearly unbroken plain over five degrees of longitude and three
of latitude. There is a continuous line of extinct cones and lava outflows along the Sierra
Nevada of California, and the Cascade Range of Oregon, from latitude 36° to the northern
boundary. A large part of the Cascade Range is made up of the outpourings of volcanoes,
and at the gorge of the Columbia the superimposed lava beds attain a thickness of
between 3000 and 4000 feet, resting upon horizontal Miocene or Pliocene deposits.
The interior region east of the Sierra Nevada is studded at intervals with extinct
cones and lava streams, many of them looking as fresh as if they were now cooling. Some
of the more important of the extinct volcanoes of the interior have poured floods of lava
out over the Cretaceous and more recent formations of the Colorado plateau. Lava plains
of great length and breadth are found along the Gila River and in New Mexico. Another
great center of igneous action exists upon the head-waters of the Yellowstone and the
Snake River, from which lava appears to have flowed throughout the whole length of the
Snake River valley, joining the lava fields of the Columbia. The great geysers of the
Yellowstone region show that thermal action has not yet wholly ceased, and similar
evidences of volcanic heat are exhibited at intervals along the eastern base of the Sierra
Nevada, and in the Coast Mountains of California.
G laciers

an d

E rosion .

There is no extensive drift formation corresponding to the great northern drift of the
Eastern States, nor has there been such a wide-spread and deep erosion of the whole surface
as that which scooped out the valleys of the great lakes and swept away a large portion of
the Paleozoic strata from Maine to Alabama. The erosion of the western area has been
comparatively local, being confined chiefly to river valleys, but is exhibited on a stupendous
scale in all the mountain ranges, especially on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada,
where transverse valleys have been cut out of the rocks to a depth of 3000 feet or more.
Farther in the interior the Great Canon of the Colorado is the grandest example known
of river erosion, this stream having cut out a channel a mile or more in depth through the
horizontal strata of all ages.
Enormous accumulations of bowlders and gravel deposited bv streams are found upon
the flanks of the Sierra Nevada, and are the chief repositories of the placer gold. The

STATES A N D

T E R R IT O R IE S.

deposits appear to be in part the result of ancient systems of drainage, and in part to
be due to glacial action. The Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and the high ranges of
the Rocky Mountains have all been the theatre of enormous glaciation by local and
wide-spread glaciers. These glaciers have left lateral and terminal moraines of great
extent, particularly in the region above the Yosemite Valley, California, where the ice-sheet
must have been of unusual thickness, and at the head-waters of Kern River about Mount
Williamson. The effects of glaciers have been traced as far south as latitude 350, and
remnants of glaciers are still to be found in the deep and protected valleys of the higher
mountains in California and Oregon, increasing in magnitude to the northward until, in
Alaska, they are of magnificent proportions, filling broad valleys and descending to the
sea-leveL
The geology on the whole is much more intricate and complicated than at the east
The transitions from one formation to another are rapid and sudden. It is a region of
great disturbance, of broken, irregular topography, of high mountains, deep valleys, and
of great variety in climate, soil, and productions. The coast is precipitous and the good
harbors are few. The chief geographical outlets from the interior are the Columbia River
in the northwest, the Golden Gate at San Francisco, and the Colorado Valley on the
south, leading to the Gulf of California; but this drains a comparatively inaccessible and
barren region. Practically the outlet of the interior basin is by railway to San Francisco,
all the longitudinal valleys north and south being tributary to one great east and west
line. For the Rocky Mountain region, the Rio Grande and the valleys tributary to the
Mississippi excavated in the later and yielding formations of the Secondary and Tertiary
period, give the most direct and advantageous means of communication.
G eological M aps

an d

P u blication s .

The sources of information from which we have drawn in the preparation of the Map
are very various. The numerous reports of State Geological surveys have been freely
used. Space does not permit a presentation of the full list of geological reports and
other publications upon the geology of the Eastern States. A s might be expected, the
materials accessible have been found to be of very unequal value. In some of the States
very satisfactory work has been done, and this has been properly recorded without difficulty ;
but the adjoining territory perhaps has not been examined, and it has been very difficult to
continue the representations into the unknown region. Different authorities have not
used the same classification, and it has been necessary to make divisions where the author
has given a single color.
In the extreme west it has repeatedly been found impossible to locate recorded
observations, from the fact that rivers or natural boundaries mentioned are not to be found
on the maps. Again, the extent of formations is seldom so described as to permit of
accuracy in plotting except at a single point. It would be well if our explorers should
keep constantly in view the importance of so tracing out the boundaries of formations,
and recording them on maps or sketches on a large scale, that they can be used in the
preparation of reduced maps. Some of the exploring parties of late have been more
interested in the science of palaeontology than in structural geology, and while collecting
fossils have failed to obtain information of the extent and distribution of formations.
The great work of geological exploration of the west (west of the 100th meridian),
may be said to have fairly commenced in 1853, when geologists were appointed to accom­
pany each of the Pacific Railroad explorations and the survey of the Mexican boundary.
The results thus obtained form the basis of that portion of the map.
For the Upper Missouri and the Rocky Mountain region we are chiefly indebted to
the labors of Prof. Hayden; for the northwestern boundary region, to the map of Prof.
Bell; for the White Pine region in Nevada, to the Survey of the 40th parallel; for the
Cafion of the Colorado, to Prof. Newberry and to J. W. Powell; and for the Uintah
Mountains, to Prof. Marsh of the Yale Exploring Expeditions. These more recent con­
tributions to our knowledge of the geology of the West have been supplemented by
personal explorations.
The earliest publication of a general Geological Map of the United States was by
Maclure in 1809, in a Memoir before the American Philosophical Society. It was
separately published in a small volume in Philadelphia in 1817. The coloring does not
extend westward beyond the mouth of the Kansas in the Missouri. He adopted the
Wernerian classification— the Primitive, Transition, Secondary, and Alluvial.
Featherstonhaugh, in 1835, gave a colored geological section extending from the
Atlantic Ocean across New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, through the Western
States to Missouri, and thence southwestward to Texas.
Sir Charles Lyell, in 1845, published a Geological Map of the United States and
Canada, compiled chiefly from the results of the State surveys. The coloring did not
extend much beyond the meridian of 950.
In 1853, Prof Jules Marcou published a Geological Map of the United States and
British Provinces of North America, with an explanatory text, geological sections, etc.,
and in October of the same year Prof. Edward Hitchcock published a Geological Map of
the United States and Canada accompanying an “ Outline of the Geology of the Globe
and of the United States in particular.”
Another map by Prof Marcou appeared in Peterman’s Journal in July 1855. It was
presented at the May meeting of the Geological Society of France and was published in
March 1856, and again in the Geology of North America in 1858.
Prof W. B. Rogers, in 1855, compiled a map for A. Keith Johnston’s Physical Atlas,
published in 1856.
After the return of the Pacific Railway exploring expeditions in 1854-55 a map of
the region west of the 100th meridian was prepared by one of the writers. It was com­
piled in the Engineer’s office, W ar Department, from the results of various surveys, and it
was exhibited with explanations at the Albany meeting of the American Association in
1856, but it was never published. Shortly after, the map illustrating the General Geological
Features of the country west of the Mississippi River, compiled from the surveys of
W. H. Emory and from the Pacific Railroad Surveys and other sources, by Prof. James
Hall assisted by J. P. Lesley, Esq., was published in the Report of the United States and
Mexican Boundary" Survey, 1857.

G E O L O G IC A L

M AP

OF

T H E U N IT E D

1806.— Abstracts of Public Documents relative to the late discoveries in exploring the
Missouri, Red, and Washita Rivers. 8vo. Washington.
1809.— L e w is and C l a r k e .— The Travels of Capts. Lewis and Clarke; performed in
1804, 1805, and 1806. 2 vols, 8vo. Philadelphia.
1811.— P ik e , Z ebulon M ontgom ery .— Exploratory Travels through the Western Terri­
tories of North America, in the years 1805, 1806, and 1807. 4to. London.
1823.— J am es , E dw in .— Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Moun­
tains, in the years 1819 and 1820, under the command of Major Stephen H.
Long. 2 vols., 8vo. Philadelphia
1843. — N icollet, J. N.— Report intended to illustrate a map of the hydrographical basin
of the Upper Mississippi River. 8vo. Washington.
W ie d , N e u w ie d , M a x im il ia n de.— Voyage dans l’lnterior de l’Am<?rique du Nord
(1832, 1833, and 1834). 3 vols, 8vo, with a folio Atlas of Plates. Paris.
1844. — G regg , J osiah .— Commerce of the Prairies. 2 vols., 8vo. Philadelphia
1845. — F rem ont , Brevet Captain J. C.— Report of the Exploring Expedition to the
Rocky Mountains in the year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the
years 1843-44. Appendix A, Geological Formations; B, Organic Remains. By
James Hall. 8vo. Washington. With Plates and a Map.
W islize n u s , A — Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico connected with C o l
Doniphan’s Expedition, in i846-’47.
A bert , Lieut. J. W.— Reports of his Examination of New Mexico in the years
i 846-’47.
Notes by Prof Bailey on the minerals and fossils. 8vo. Washington.
1848.— F rem ont , J ohn C harles .— Geographical Memoir upon Upper California in illus­
tration of his map of Oregon and California. 8vo. 1848. pp. 67.
E m ory , W. H. (Brevet Major).— Notes of a Military Reconnoissance from Fort
Leavenworth in Missouri to San Diego in California, including parts of the
Arkansas, Del Norte, and Gila Rivers. 8vo. Washington, 1848.
185a— M il it a r y R econnoissances in Texas, New Mexico, and the Navajo Country.
Routes from San Antonio to El Paso. By Lieut. Col. J. E. Johnston, Lieut. W.
F. Smith. Lieut. F. T. Bryan, Lieut. N. H. Michler, and Capt. S. G. French.
Fort Smith to Santa F6, by Capt. R. B. Marcy. Navajo Country, Lieut. J. W.
Simpson. Western Frontier of Texas, Lieut. W. H. C. Whiting. 8vo. Wash­
ington, 1850.
D a n a , J am es D.— Geology of the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-42.
Chap, x v ii , Oregon and Northern California. Washington. 4to and Atlas. 1850.
T yson , P h il ip T.— Geology and Industrial Resources of California (with maps and
sections). 8vo, pp. 74 and xxxiv. Baltimore, 1851. Also in Senate Ex. Doc.
No. 47, 1st Session 31st Congress. Washington, D. C.
W illiam so n , Lieut. R obert S.— Upper Sacramento and Pitt Rivers, and Analysis
of Limestone of Mt. Diablo. Senate Ex. Doc. 47, 1st Session 31st Congress.
F razer , J ohn F.— Analysis of Celeetz (Salitz) coal, and limestone of Mt. Diablo.
Senate Ex. Doc. 47, 1st Session 31st Congress. Washington, 1851.
T alb o t , Lieut T heodore .— In a Report to Gen. P. F. Smith. Senate Ex. Doc.
No. 47, 1st Session 31st Congress.
S impson , J. H.— Report and Map of the route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to
Santa F<5, New Mexico. 8vo. Washington.
M a r c y , R. B.— Exploration of the Red River of Louisiana in the year 1852.
Geology by Edward Hitchcock and George G. Shumard. Paleontology by B. F.
Shumard. 8vo. Washington.
1852.— S t a n s b u r y , H ow ard , Capt. Topographical Engineers.— Exploration and Survey
of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake of Utah, including a Reconnoissance of a
new route through the Rocky Mountains. Appendix E, Geology and Paleon­
tology, by Prof. James Hall. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1852.
T r a sk , J ohn B.— Geology of the Sierra Nevada or California Range. State As­
sembly Document, Session of 1853. 8vo, pp. 31 (First Report).
T r a sk , J ohn B.— Report on the Geology of the Coast Mountains and part of the
Sierra Nevada. Assembly Document No. 9, Session of 1854. 8vo, pp. 95.
T r a sk , J ohn B.— Report on the Geology of the Coast Mountains. 8vo, pp. 95.
Assembly Document No. 14. 1855.
P a tt o n , W il l ia m .— Geology of a Portion of Calaveras County, December, 1854.
In a Report to the Surv eyor General of California. Doc. No. 5, Assembly Session
of 1855. Sacramento.
1854.— S itg r eav e s , Capt. L.— Report of an Expedition down the Zuni and Colorado
Rivers. 8vo. Washington.
B a r t l e t t , J ohn R ussell .— Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in
Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua. 2 vols., 8vo. New York.
M arcou , J ules .— Sur la Geologie des Montagnes Rocheuses entre le Fort Smith
(Arkansas) et Albuquerque (Nouveau Mexique). Extract from Bulletin de la
Soc. Geol. de France, (2* serie, Vol. XI.) 8vo. Paris.
M arcou , J ules .— Resume! dune section geologique des Montagnes R)cheuses;\
San Pedro, sur la cote de l’Ocean Pacifique. (Extract from Bulletin de la Soc.
Geol. de France, 2e serie, Vol. XI.) 8vo. Paris.
E x plo r atio n s and S u r v e y s to determine a Practicable Railroad Route from the
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, in the years 1853 and 1854. 12 vols.,
4to. Washington, 1855.
L f. C o n te , Dr. J.— Colorado Desert, etc. Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. xix [2], No. 55,
January, 1855.
S c h ie l , J am es , M. D.— Geological Report of the Country explored under the 38th
and 41st parallels of north latitude in 1853-54. Pacific Railroad Surveys.
Vol. II. pp. 96.
B l a k e , W m. P.— Report of a Geological Reconnoissance in California, made in
connection with the expedition to survey routes in California, to connect with the
surveys of routes for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean,
under the command of Lieut. R. S. Williamson, Corps Top. Eng’rs in 1853.
4to. New York, 1858, pp. 370— xvi and xm, with maps and sections; and in
Vol. V of Pacific Railroad Reports.
B l a k e , W. P.— Geological Map of the Route explored by Lieut. A . W. Whipple,
near the parallel of 350 N. latitude from the Mississippi River to the Pacific
Ocean. U. S. Pac. R. R. Explorations and Surveys, Vol. III.
B l a k e , W. P.— Report on the Geology o f the Route near the thirty-second parallel.
With Map and Section. Washington, 1856. 4to. Also in Vol. II of U. S.
Pacific R. R. Explorations and Surveys.
B lake , W. P.— Observ ations on the Physical Geography and Geology of the Coast
of California from Bodega Bay to San Diego. 4to, pp. 23, with four Maps. Coast
Survey Report for 1855. Prepared for Prof. A. D. Bache, Superintendent of the
United Coast Survey, 1855.
1856.— A n t is e l l , T homas , M. D.— Geological Report— Route near the 32d parallel
between the Rio Grande and the Pimas villages, also in the Coast Ranges of
California, 1854 and 1855. Pacific R. R. Reports. 4to, VoL V II. Washington,
1856.

STATES

AND

T E R R ITO R IE S.

9

W arren, Lieut G. K.— Explorations in the Dacota Country in the year 1853.

34th Cong. Sen. Ex. Doc. 76. 8vo, with maps, pp. 79.
1856. — W arren, G. K.— Explorations in the Dacota Country' in the year 1855. Appendix
E, Geological Note on section in ravine of l’Eau qui Court River,Jbv W . P. Blake;
Geological Notes, eta, on Nebraska, by F. V. Hayden. 8vo. Washington.
M arcy, Capt R. B.— Exploration of the Big Wichita and Headwaters of the
Brazos Rivers, 1856. 34th Cong. Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 60.
M arcou, Prof. J ules — Geology of North America, with three geological maps
and seven plates of fossils. 4to. Zurich, 1858. This publication contains a
very complete list of works on American Geology up to i 856-’57.
H ayden , F. V., M. D.— Notes explanatory of a Map and Section illustrating the
geological structure of the country bordering on the Missouri River, from the
mouth of the Platte River to Fort Benton. By F. V. Hayden, M. D. 8vo.
Philadelphia, 1857. With Map and Section.
P arry, C. C., M. D.— Reconnoissance to the mouth of the Gila River, from San
Diego, California. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, VoL I, p. 125. 1857.
Also, same volume, General Geological Features of the Country.
1857. — S chott, A rthur.— Geology of the Lower Rio Bravo del Norte. U. S. and Mex.
Boundary Survey, Vol. I. 4to. Washington, 1857.
M arcou, J ules.— Geology of North America, with three geological maps and
seven plates of fossils. 4to. Zurich, 1858. pp. 144.
B lake , W . P.— Notes of a Geological Reconnoissance in Texas, New Mexico,
and Kansas, in 1857. (Inedited.)
1858-59.— E n g e l m a n n , H.— Preliminary' Report on the Geology'of the Country' between
Fort Bridger and Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, and southwest of the latter place
along Capt. J. H. Simpson’s routes, 1858; by H. Engelmann, Geologist of the
party. December, 1858. In Wagon Routes in Utah Territory. 35th Congress,
2d Session. Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 40. pp. 45.
H all , Dr. J ames.— Geology and Paleontology'of the U. S. and Mexican Boundary.
U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey Report, Vol. I.
N e w be r r y , J. S., M. D.— Report upon the Geology of the Route explored in Cali­
fornia and Oregon in 1855. pR- Surveys, Vol. V I.
N ewberry, J. S., M. D.— Geological Report of the Colorado Exploring Expedi­
tion, 1857-58. 4to. Washington, 1861. (In the Report of J. C. Ives.)
F orbes, C harles, Esq., M. D., R. N. — Vancouver’s Island, its Resources and
Capabilities as a Colony. A Prize Essay. Published by the Colonial Govern­
ment, 1862. 8vo Pamphlet, pp. 63 | 19].
G ibbs, Dr. G eorge.— Cretaceous Fossils of the Coal Formation, Vancouver’s Island.
R ichthofen, Baron F erdinand.— The Comstock Lode, etc. 8vo pamphlet. San
Francisco, November, 1865.
L e C onte , J oseph.— Geological Notes on the Survey' for the extension of the
Union Pacific R. R., Eastern Division, from Fort Wallace to the Rio Grande.
Philadelphia, March, 1868.
L yon, S idney S.— Carboniferous Formations at Pah-rock and Vicinity. Letter to
Authors. December, 1868.
H ayden , F. V., M. I).— Geological Report of the Exploration of the Yellowstone
and Missouri Rivers, i 859~’6o. Washington, 1869. 8vo, pp. 174, with Map.
M eek and H ayden.— Various Memoirs and Reports upon the Geology of the
Upper Missouri Region.
K imball, J. P.— Cretaceous Limestone and the “ Cantcra ’” at Santa Eulalia, Mex.
Am. Jour. Sci., 1870, No. 146. (The same formation is noted at a point 70 miles
west.)
U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories, F. V. Hayden, U. S. Geologist in charge.
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Reconnoissance of the Basin of the Upper Yellowstone in 1871. Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1872. 8vo, pp. 43, with Map.
C ondon, Rev. T hos.— Geology of Oregon. Overland Monthly and in Prof. Ray­
mond’s Report for 1870, p. 205.
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1871-72 (Vancouver's Island Coals, etc., by James Richardson). 8vo.
H ilgard, E ugene W., Ph. D.— On the Geology of Lower Louisiana, and the Salt
Deposit on Petite Anse Island.
4to, pp. 34. June, 1872.
Smithsonian
Contributions.
1872. — H ayden , F. V.— Geological Survey of Wyoming. Washington, 1872.
H ayden , F. V.— Preliminary Report of the United States Geological Survey of
Montana and Portions of Adjacent Territories, being a Fifth Annual Report of
Progress. 8vo. Washington, 1872. pp. 538.
B radley , F. H.— Quebec Group, Idaho. Amcr. Jour. Sci., IV , p. 133 and p. 230.
B radley , F rank M.— Notice of the Geological Explorations of the Snake River
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V I, p. 194. 1873.
1873. — P owell.— Geological Structure of a District of Country lying to the north of the
Grand Canon of the Colorado. Amer. J our. Sci., V. 456.
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1873. 426.
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Nevada, for the years 1871 and 1872. 8vo. Carson City, 1873.
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Cheyenne, 100 miles) Amer. Jour. Sci., V II , January, 1874, p. 29.
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Jour. Sci., V II, April, 1874.
B rown, A. J.— Carboniferous Coal, Nevada, Pancake Mt. Engineer’s and Miner’s
Journal, July 4, 1874.
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G ilbert.— Geologist Explorations and Surveys west of 100th meridian, Corps of
Engineers, U. S. Army.
W heeler, G eo. M., Lieut. U. S. Engineers.— Explorations and Surveys west of
the 100th meridian, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, Brig. Gen’l A. A. Hum­
phreys, Chief of Engineers