Washington Department of Natural Resources Geology and Earth Resources Division Bulletin No. 72 Washington Coastal Geology between the Hoh and Quillayute Rivers Weldon W. Rau

Cover

THE GIANTS GRAVEYARD is part of a large group of offshore islets and reefs extending between Toleak Point and Taylor Point. They constitute a segment of the earth's crust composed of massive and stratified sandstones and siltstones known as Hoh rocks. Intense forces and stresses generated by the shifting of the earth's crust over millions of years of time have resulted in complex folding and faulting of these strata.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I—ROCK FORMATIONS AND GEOLOGIC PROCESSES

Part II—GEOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS ALONG THE COAST

References

Figure

FRONTISPIECE Looking southwest at Taylor Point

1. Geologic time chart

2. Steeply dipping overturned sedimentary rocks

3. The major plate systems of the world

4. Block diagram showing the plate tectonic concept

5. How rocks of the Olympic mountains and coastal area are believed to have been formed

6. Hoh head, looking northward from the air

7. Microscopic fossils "Foraminifera" from sedimentary rocks

8. The coastline, showing numerous coves and headlands

9. A tectonic melange rock outcrop

10. A generalized cross-section of a piercement structure

11. A generalized cross-section showing relations between Pleistocene deposits and land surfaces

12. Pleistocene sediments resting on Hoh bedrock at Quateata

13. Flat-top islets in the "Quillayute Needles" group

14. Wave-cut terrace forming south of Jefferson Cove

15. Closeup view of windblown deposits

16. Windblown deposits exposed in bluffs at Taylor Point

17. Drilling operations along the Hoh River during recent times

18. Drilling operation near Jefferson Cove during the 1930's

19. Plank road to the Jefferson Oil Seep during the 1930's

20. Landslide debris near the mouth of the Hoh River

21. Oil City in the 1930's

22. Oil well remains from drilling operation of the 1930's

23. Jefferson Cove

24. Route map—Hoh River to Toleak Point

25. Geologic map of the area between the Hoh, Quillayute, and Bogachiel Rivers

26. Middle Rock

27. Looking northward along the beach in the Mosquito Creek area

28. North Rock

29. Conglomerate, south of Jefferson Cove

30. Boulder Bay

31. Hoh Head and coastal area

32. Fault zone in the Secret Cove area

33. Large sandstone block in Hoh melange outcrop

34. The mouth of Goodman Creek

35. Conglomerate cliffs north of Goodman Creek

36. The mouth of Mosquito Creek

37. Alexander Island viewed from the beach

38. Southwest side of Alexander Island

39. Blocks of breccia eroded from Hoh melange

40. Waterfall of Falls Creek

41. A large sandstone block forms a nearshore island south of Goodman Creek

42. Rocks off mouth of Goodman Creek

43. Goodman Creek gorge

44. Conglomerate of the Goodman Creek area

45. Route map—Toleak Point to La Push

46. Third Beach viewed from Taylor Point

47. Kitchen middens at Toleak Point

48. Sandstone islets off Toleak Point

49. The Giants Graveyard, looking southward

50. Graded bedding shown diagramatically

51. A typical landslide

52. Taylor Point, as viewed from the south

53. An erosional remnant of sandstone off Taylor Point

54. Ice age deposits on Taylor Point

55. Large blocks of conglomerate on south end of Third Beach

56. Waterfall on northside of Taylor Point

57. Remains of machinery from early well drilling near Third Beach

58. Volcanic block on Third Beach

59. Remains of a steam boiler near Third Beach

60. A natural arch at the north end of Second Beach

61. Teahwhit Head as viewed from the air

62. A shipwreck at Teahwhit Head

63. Contorted bedding, north end of Second Beach

64. A fretted sandstone surface

65. Red beach sands

66. "The Quillayute Needles" as viewed from the air

67. The Quillayute Needle

68. James Island

69. Massive fractured sandstone in the Teahwhit Head area

70. Quateata viewed from First Beach

71. The inner bay of James Island

72. "Little James Island"

73. The James Island group as viewed from the air

74. La Push Harbor, 1909

STATE OF WASHINGTON

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
BERT L. COLE, Commissioner of Public Lands
RALPH A. BESWICK, Supervisor

DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES
VAUGHN E. LIVINGSTON, JR., State Geologist

Bulletin No. 72
Washington Coatal Geology
Between
The Hoh and Quillayute Rivers

Part I. —Rock Formations, Geologic Processes, and Events
Part II.—Geologic Observations and Interpretations Along the Coast

A review of geologic processes and events as revealed by the rock formations and deposits of the Washington coast—with historical notes and hiking information.

BY
WELDON W. RAU
Research Geologist

1980

BACK COVER PHOTO—THIS JAGGED ROCK projecting from the sea near Alexander Island is one of the many sandstone blocks strewn along the Washington coast. Due to its greater resistance, it remains as an erosional remnant from a mixture or melange of broken rock material from a major fault zone of the earth's crust.