Tombstone Rocks South of Sutter Creek
Amador County

Schist Tombstone Rocks

By the third day the weather had changed to rain. As we drove northward and throughout the area of San Andreas and Sutter Creek, we found many examples of the tombstone rocks. We had also seen others, especially driving from Merced to the Mariposa. These appear to be upright like tombstones but they originated horizontally in the ancient inland sea and were pushed upright through time.

As you travel in various parts of the Gold Country, you will see rocks that appear to be gravestones. The definition, as given in Geology of the Sierra Nevada, is a "Term used to refer to nearly vertical outcroppings of metamorphic rock in the foothills of the Sierra. From a distance, a group of outcroppings may resemble a cemetery." As to the cause, the author states, "Tombstone rock, metamorphosed volcanic rock that crops out as isolated slabs in the gold country. It is the product of undersea volcanoes of 140 million years ago, now upended and changed by mountain-building forces. A field of such slabs reminded early minors of an untended cemetery, hence the names tombstone rocks, gravestone slate, or gravestone schist."

Schist Tombstone Rocks South of Sutter Creek (Photo #1)	Schist Tombstone Rocks South of Sutter Creek (Photo #2)