in the Transverse Ranges Province. Cermeno merely noted that it provided no anchorage and sailed on. California provided other harbors but they merely served as stopovers for ships making journeys from East Asia to Mexico. It was not until Spain sent out expeditions from Mexico that the region's geology was mentioned again. In 1769 a Spanish soldier, Pedro Fages, noted that "terrifying earthquakes" made the expedition suspect that there were volcanoes in the region, and this was confirmed for them by the "pools of bitumen bubbling out of the ground" that were found at "the foot of the range which runs to the west" (quoted by Carter 2).
California's geology assumed its first great importance with the discovery of gold in the early 1840s. In response to this economically overwhelming event, J. B. Trask was appointed the state's first geologist and proceeded to investigate the Coast Mountains. He noted that, in effect, the Transverse Ranges made "each and every natural p
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