159

and in many places reefs and chains of rocky islands fringe the coast and
make navigation dangerous. At intervals of approximately 40 miles, this
bold shoreline is broken by fiord-like indentations which, with their
finger-like extensions, radiate for many miles into the heart of the island.
These indentations, chief amongst which are Port San Juan, Barkley,
Clayoquot, Nootka, Kyuquot, and Quatsino sounds, provide splendid
anchorage and shelter from the turbulent seas and low-hanging fogs that
are of frequent occurrence during the winter months. This coast, there-
fore, which has been known for years as the “Graveyard of the Pacific’,
on account of the large number of wrecks for which it is responsible, pre-
sents some unusual difficulties in the way of the solution of the problem of
ore transportation by water, except during the summer months.

Without a single exception the iron deposits herein described are
found either within the sounds or in very close proximity to them. They
vary in altitude from 70 to 2,000 feet above sea-level, and with the exception
of the deposits of the San Juan district are less than 5 miles from tide-
water. The country in which they occur is very difficult to traverse and
full of natural obstacles for the geologist or explorer. The relief is not
great, but the heavy rainfall for seven or eight months of the year,
accompanied by prevailing high winds, has given rise to a very dense
barricade of underbrush and an abundance of fallen timber, which in the
words of one geologist makes “geological investigation wholly secondary
to the problem of progression.”

GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE WEST COAST

In 1886 Dawson (2) established the fundamental facts and principles
of the bedrock geology of this coast. These were elaborated and revised
by Clapp (17) in 1908-1910 for that part of the island southeast of Barkley
sound; and by Dolmage (26, 27, 28) for the remaining part of the coast-
line in 1918-1920.

The following table, based on the work of Clapp and Dolmage, sum-
marizes the most recent information on the bedrock geology.

Table of Formations

|
Moantiamyeeecee ee mae race series Lower Miocene.............-- Conglomerate, sandstone _
Lower Oligocene............-- Sooke gabbro and anorthosite
Upper Hocene...............-. Metchosin basalt, tuff
Unconformity
Thayafan (Gigi ait hashes su ungbupse@ns||\acn o> osc odenes bs eqHbonepUooEd Sandstone, shale, conglom-

erate, coal

Unconformity

Wpper Jurassic (?)......-5.+-2225<- Coast Range batholith........ (Eanes Brpbodionte
eale diorite

TE PSGHON) -onipen dae arnoapagoaede Vancouver group...........-++ {Andesite, tuff, tuffaceous
\ argillite, limestone
Malahat volcanics
Leech River slates

RalsozOlG meectaarie mercer icc Carboniferous...........+++-++