Excerpt from Geologic Guidebook of the San Francisco Bay Counties: History, Landscape, Geology, Fossils, Minerals, Industry, and Routes to Travel The enthusiastic reception of 0111' first geologic guidebook - The Mother Lode Country, Bulletin 141 - prompted us to try another such undertaking in the San Francisco Bay area. The natural features of the two areas are totally different, but each is distinctive and both have contributed heavily to the color and character of the West, and both were closely associated throughout the golden history of the State, now over one hundred years old. The counties treated in this guidebook are the nine (alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano. And Sonoma) which border the shores of San Francisco Bay and three more (sacramento, San Joaquin, and yo10) which follow the delta area of the navigable Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the cities of Sacramento and Stockton. These twelve counties are considered by local Chambers of Commerce to form one large indus trial unit. Historically they were closely related, especially the coun ties of Sacramento San Francisco, and San J oaquin, because of water transportation and economic factors of the Gold Rush. In describing the geology. A much broader scope may be treated if all twelve counties are described rather than only the restricted nine. A geologic section may be followed from the province of the Coast Ranges, across the bl'o'dtl expanse of the. Great Valley to the edge of the gold belt in the Sierra Nevada. Thus three distinct, natural geomorphic provinces are crossed. Diversified in character and clearly recognized by all who traverse this interesting terrain. However diversified the natural features may be, there centers about the lovely sprawling water-body of San Francisco Bay and the rivers which flow into it, a single picture naturally unified by early exploration, industry, economic and cultural development, as well as the story told by the rocks and surface relief. The diversity of char acter which makes this area interesting requires a knowledge of its fundamental geology. This in turn provides explanation of how the rocks and minerals, hills and valleys, streams and broad bodies of water came into being. The varied assortment of natural resources provided material for early exploration and development of civiliza tion. The utilization of natural resources as they were found, the adjustment of man to his_ natural environment, such as the surface physical features, have shaped and controlled the trend of history. With this knowledge as a background it becomes much easier to visual ize the future trends in economic and cultural development. As a bureau of information, the State Division of Mines finds such a study invaluable in its service to people who are interested in developing industries in the state, and in broadening their enjoyment of its natural endowments. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.