RARE old Yosemite geology report: maps: old sites, mines, ANSEL ADAMS PHOTOS oop

Description

Scarce Yosemite Valley geology book & maps
give exact mileages to historic sites, mines
Includes three Ansel Adams photos and two big separate maps
W
ant to know what geologic forces shaped Yosemite National Park and exact mileages to obscure historic sites and mines? Then this rare, first-edition report — with three full-page photos by Ansel Adams — is for you.
Ansel Adams photo from book: "Yosemite Winter Storm."
Not only is this book rare (cover, below right) because it's totally out of print and very hard to find, it's also a very limited printing, produced only once for a field trip by professional geologists, 57 years ago.
This is
not
a tourist publication; even if this was still in print, you would not find this in a Yosemite Park gift shop. It covers geologic aspects not normally addressed in readily available books and reports. Not that the book (
Geologic Guide to the Merced Canyon and Yosemite Valley, California
) is all technical . . .
Exact mileages to historic sites and mines
True, the text and field trips deal mostly with geologic information, but many mining operations and historic sites are pinpointed and discussed, with
exact mileages
to each (some outside park boundaries), making this book useful to history buffs, bottle collectors, rockhounds, prospectors, hikers, photographers — just about anyone interested in Yosemite-area sights and historic old mine locales.
Beautiful, near-fine condition
The book itself is in beautiful, near-fine condition, with the exception of a sticker/stamp on the cover and slightly bumped corners (see scan of cover, below right). In fact, this is by far the nicest copy of this report that I have seen in over 23 years of collecting California mining and geology books. The maps in the rear pocket are also in near-fine shape, bright white without a hint of weakness at any of the folds.
Here are just a few highlights from the field-trip section, which has directions to:
Large piles of gold-mining dredge tailings, between Snelling and Merced Falls (processes used in gold and platinum mining there are explained).
Abandoned grade of the Yosemite Valley railroad.
Old placer diggings in Burns Creek.
Site of the gold rush town of Quartzburg.
Discussion of lode gold deposits near Bear Valley.
Contact between the Mariposa formation and serpentine.
The Pine Tree Gold Mine (and a detailed walking tour of the site once you arrive).
Site of Mt. Ophir Mint.
Waste dumps of the Clearing House mine, plus a discussion of gold mining in the town of Mt. Bullion.
El portal barite mine.
A large unnamed abandoned tungsten mine.
Elephant rock.
Other mining areas, historic sites and geologic points of interest.
One field trip, with six pages of text and photos, takes you on a circuit of Yosemite Valley, explaining and pointing out many of the valley's awesome geologic features, some of which are explained at greater depth in the articles.
Small section of oversize map in pocket: "Geomorphic map and section of the southern part of the Western Sierra Nevada Metamorphic Belt."
Articles in the book include:
"Summary of the pre-tertiary geology of the Western Sierra Nevada Metamorphic Belt, California," by Lorin D. Clark. Explains similarities to the Inyo Mountains; composition of Calaveras formation; and fossil content.
"Granitic rocks of the Yosemite Valley area, California," by Frank C. Calkins and Dallas L. Peck. Contains history of valley; relation to Devils Postpile (Mono County) and Tuolumne intrusive series.
"The geology, geomorphology and soils of the San Joaquin Valley in the vicinity of the Merced River, California," by Rodney J. Arkley.
"Geomorphology of the Yosemite Valley region, California," by Clyde Whrhaftig.
Field trips with exact mileages:
U.S. Highway 50 from Hayward to Tracy, California.
Tracy to El portal via Patterson and Turlock, California.
El portal to Wawona Tunnel and a circuit of Yosemite Valley, California.
Oversize large maps in pocket (black and white):
"Geomorphic map and section of the southern part of the Western Sierra Nevada Metamorphic Belt."
"Guide map to Highway 50, Hayward to Tracey, California."
Ansel Adams photos, all black and white, all full page (
much
better reproductions than the scans show here):
Frontispiece: "Yosemite Winter Storm," from
Portfolio Three (Yosemite Valley)
, 1959.
Frontispiece, Part I: "Winter, Yosemite Valley. Half Dome and the Merced River."
Frontispiece, Part II: "Winter, Yosemite Valley, California."
Book describes geology in detail
Because this is, after all, a book about geology, it covers the topic in minute detail. Metamorphic rocks of the western Sierra Nevada near the Merced River are of Jurassic and Paleozoic age. The rocks in which the Yosemite Valley was carved belong almost wholly to the great Sierra Nevada composite batholith. The rocks of the batholith were intruded into sedimentary and volcanic rocks of early Paleozoic to Mesozoic. The upland surface of the Sierra Nevada has had a long and complicated history. Much of the evidence for this history lies in the northern part of the range, where crystalline bedrock is overlain by a complex of Cretaceous and younger formations, called the superjacent series.
Of course, the text contains far, far more detail about geology — especially how it relates to mineral deposits and their formations — than just the previous two paragraphs. Geology varies widely over an area the size of this quadrangle, so it is impossible to convey but the simplest geologic features in an ad.
The book:
Geologic Guide to the Merced Canyon and Yosemite Valley, California
; Bulletin 182, 1962, California Division of Mines and Geology, Ferry Building, San Francisco; with
road logs from Hayward through Yosemite Valley, via Tracy, Patterson, Truck and Merced falls; prepared for the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists at San Francisco, California, March 26–29, 1962; 8.5 X 11 inches, stapled binding, 68 glossy pages, overall in near-fine condition; maps in pocket are folded but in beautiful fine condition. Only defects are cover sticker/stamp, slightly bumped corners and library pocket. Nicest copy of this rare report that I have seen.
Payment methods and domestic shipping
Paypal only. Free shipping via FAST priority mail, NOT media mail, which takes 3-4 weeks. I pride myself on bulletproof packaging and ship in sturdy cardboard boxes or reinforced padded envelopes.
The fine print:
Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions about the item or terms of sale.
Do not
wait until you have bought the item to ask if it has photos of Elvis Costello's 1978 Yosemite concert. (It doesn't.) I post feedback once a week. Not responsible for typographicull errors.
Good luck and thanks for looking!
Ansel Adam photo from book: "Winter, Yosemite Valley. Half Dome and the Merced River."
Tiny section of oversize map in pocket: "Geomorphic map and section of the southern part of the Western Sierra Nevada Metamorphic Belt."
Where is it?
Part of Yosemite National Park is in Tuolumne County, one of the Mother Lode counties in northern California. The county extends from the eastern border of the Central Valley to the higher peaks of the Sierra Nevada, including the Hetch Hetchy water system. Communities include Chinese Camp, Groveland, Jamestown, La Grange, Long Barn, Miwuk, Sonora, Soulsbyville, Standard, Tuolumne and Twain Harte. Counties adjacent are Alpine, Mono, Mariposa, Merced and Stanislaus. Nearby counties include Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Benito, Madera, Fresno and Inyo.
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