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Subsurface Geology of the South Cuyama Oil Field and Adjacent Areas, Southern Coast Ranges, California

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Subsurface Geology of the South Cuyama Oil Field and Adjacent Areas, Southern Coast Ranges, California AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Hans Frederick Schwing for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Geology presented on May 6, 1983 Title: SUBSURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE SOUTH CUYAMA OIL FIELD AND ADJACENT AREAS, SOUTHERN CO SA RAlitE$2 CAIWORNIA Redacted for Privacy Abstract approved: Dr. Robert eats 071 Subsurface mapping was used to determine the structure and geologic history of the South Cuyama dome and part of the Russell fault in the South Cvyama oil field area. Deformed Late Cretaceous and/or early Tertiary marine strata are unconformably overlain by the late Oligocene to early Miocene Vaqueros Formation (Quail Canyon Sandstone Member, Soda Lake Shale Member, and Painted Rock Sandstone Member) northeast of the Russell fault. Rapid subsidence abruptly downdropped shelf deposits in the transgressive Quail Canyon Sandstone, ending shallow-marine deposition. Warping of the Quail Canyon shelf formed elongate west-northwest-trending submarine troughs and highs at the same time as the basinal Soda Lake Shale Member was deposited. Locally, the Soda Lake Shale ponded in topo- graphic lows floored by Quail Canyon Sandstone. In addition, pro- grading turbidites of the Soda Lake Shale Member and shelf deposits of the Painted Rock Sandstone thinned over the highs, including the proto-South Cuyama dome. Renewed subsidence during the late Saucesian accompanied deposition of the Saltos Shale Member of the Monterey Formation. Late Saucesian-early Relizian movement along the northeast-trending Cox normal fault set in part controlled further growth of the proto-South Cuyama dome and thinning of the Saltos Shale over structural highs. Shelf and shallow-marine deposits of the Branch Canyon Sandstone and overlying undifferentiated Branch Canyon Sandstone-Santa Margarita Formation (BCSM) prograded across the basin during the middle andlate Miocene. Major right- slip along the Russell fault juxtaposed contrasting coeval strati- graphic sections prior to deposition of the Pliocene(?)Morales(?) Formation. Northeast-trending normal faults and northwest-trending strike-slip faults formed across the dome during deposition ofthe BCSM in response to right-lateral wrench faulting onthe Russell fault. The Morales(?) Formation conformably overlies the BCSMand probably represents the transition from marine to nonmarinedepo- sition; the uppermost part possibly includesPleistocene alluvial deposits. Right slip along the Russell fault was accompanied by folding of at least the lowermost Morales(?) into thepresent-day South Cuyama elongate dome subparallel to the Russellfault. Right-stepping en echelon axial culminations on thedome were off- set 4,500 feet right-laterally by the Russellfault. The south-dipping South Cuyama thrust fault tectonically over- rode the Russell fault, South Cuyama dome, andPleistocene alluvial deposits, folding and thrusting Eocene and younger strata of the Sierra Madre Mountains northward. The north-dipping Morales fault thrust Paleocene to Miocene strata of the Caliente Range southward over Pliocene(?)-Pleistocene alluvial deposits during the late Pleistocene. Between these two thrust faults is the present-day Cuyama Valley. Structures in the South Cuyama oil field and adjacent areas formed in response to recurrent right-lateral wrench tectonism along the Russell fault during the middle to late Miocene and possibly from latest Oligocene to Pliocene time. The complex faulting and folding associated with wrench tectonism are obscured by the Pleistocene-Holocene contractile regime. SUBSURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE SOUTH CUYAMA OIL FIELD AND ADJACENT AREAS, SOUTHERN COAST RANGES, CALIFORNIA by Hans Frederick Schwing A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Completed May 6, 1983 Commencement June 1984 APPROVED: Redacted for Privacy Professor and Chairman of G(o ogy in charge of major Redacted for Privacy Dean of Graduate School (7 Date thesis is presented May 6, 1983 Typed by Therese Belden for Hans Frederick Schwing ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Robert S. Yeats forintroducing me to the Cuyama basin and for his guidance andadvice throughout the course of this project. William J. M. Bazeley and Thom Davis of Arco Exploration Company deserve special thanks fortheir coopera- tion, advice, and discussions of Cuyama basin geology. Barb Nevins of Oregon State University discussed the subsurfacegeology of the Cuyama Valley with me and provided many useful suggestions. Karla Urbanowicz and Bill Gilimore of Oregon State helped construct some of the cross sections. I am extremely grateful to Edwin Howes for his superb draftingand extreme patience. I would like to thank my colleagues at Oregon StateUniversity, especially Dan Olson, for their friendship and discussionsduring my stay at Oregon State. Therese Belden provided invaluable help in the completion of this project. The 26th St. Beanery was instru- mental in the writing of the thesis. Lamar and Isabelle Johnston generously provided lodging at their ranch in CuyamaValley during the summer of 1980. I would especially like to thank my wife Maryand son Hans for their continuous support and love. I would also like to thank my parents, brothers, andsisters, especially Katrina, for their encouragement and support during my studies. This project was funded by a grant from theNational Science Foundation (4! EAR-8022271) and a grant from theAtlantic Richfield Company for field work during the summer of1980. This project could not have been completed without the support and cooperation of William J. M. Bazeley and the Atlantic Richfield Company, who provided well data, basemaps, and aerial photos for the study. Dr. K. F. Oles and Dr. J. G. Johnson of Oregon State University reviewed the thesis and deserve special thanks. Cathy Hiebertof Union Oil Company of California helped with some of thefinal typing. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Regional Setting 1 Objectives 5 Methods 6 Previous Work 7 STRATIGRAPHY 9 General Statement 9 Unnamed Pre-Oligocene Marine Sedimentary Rocks 11 Simmler Formation 12 Vaqueros Formation 14 Monterey Formation 19 Branch Canyon Sandstone 22 Santa Margarita Formation 24 Branch Canyon Sandstone-Santa Margarita Forma- 28 tion Undifferentiated Morales(?) Formation 29 Alluvium 34 STRUCTURE 36 General Statement 36 "Vaqueros" Structure 36 Cox Faults 41 Russell Fault 43 South Cuyama Fault 51 Morales Fault 55 Tectonic Ridges 57 GEOLOGIC HISTORY 59 CONCLUSION 66 REFERENCES CITED 67 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Index map 2 2. Tectonic map of the Cuyama basin 3 3. Generalized regional geologic map of the Cuyama 4 basin area 4. Generalized stratigraphy of the Cuyama basin 10 5. Isopach map of the Johnston sand 25 6. Isopach map of the Branch Canyon Sandstone- 30 Santa Margarita Formation Undifferentiated 7. Isopach map of the basal Morales(?) Formation 33 claystone 8. Tectonic map 37 9. Evolution of the "Vaqueros" Structure 40 10. Offset isopachs along the 72-1 fault 48 LIST OF PLATES Plate Pocket I Well base map and cross section locations II Well base map of South Cuyama oil field and cross section locations III Geologic map of the South Cuyama area IV Stratigraphic correlation chart across western Cuyama Valley V Composite Type E-log for the South Cuyama oil field VI Isopach map of the interval from electric log marker 17 in the Saltos Shale Member to the base of the Vaqueros Formation VII Vaqueros Formation stratigraphic correlation section VIII Cross section A-A' IX Isopach map of an interval in the Saltos Shale Member of the Monterey Formation X Cross section B-B' XI Cross section C-C' XII Cross section D-D' XIII Cross section E-E' XIV Cross section F-F' XV Structure contour map of electric log marker 17 in the Saltos Shale Member of the Monterey Formation XVI Structure contour map of electric log marker 17 in the Saltos Shale Member of the Monterey Formation in the South Cuyama oil field XVII Structure contour map of the Russell fault Page Pocket XVIII Structure contour map of electric log markers near the base of the Morales(?) Formation XIX Structure contour map of the South Cuyama fault SUBSURFACE GEOLOGY OF THE SOUTH CUYAMA OIL FIELD AND ADJACENT AREAS, SOUTHERN COAST RANGES, CALIFORNIA INTRODUCTION Regional Setting The South Cuyama oil field is located approximately 45 miles west of Bakersfield, California in the Cuyama basin in the southern Coast Ranges (Figures 1 and 2). The basin lies north of the west- trending Transverse Ranges and west of the Great Valley. The Cuyama basin contains a sequence of middle and late Cenozoic age which unconformably overlies and is superimposed on a Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary sedimentary succession (Figure 3). The Cuyama basin is part of the Salinian block, a region between the San Andreas and Rinconada faults which is characterized by granitic or gneissic basement. East of the San Andreas fault and west of the Rinconada fault non-granitic Franciscan Formation com- prises the "basement." There is no direct evidence for the nature of the basement beneath the Cuyama basin. However, in the La Panza Range northwest of the Cuyama basin, Late Cretaceous strata are underlain by a Mesozoic granitic terrane (Ross, 1978). Furthermore, the Barrett Ridge area north of the Cuyama basin and the Mount Abel area east of the basin are characterized by a gneissic terrane at least in part of Precambrian age (Ross, 1978; Kistler, 1978). The granitic and gneissic terranes are separated by the north-northwest- 2 Figure 1. Index map. 1 42° 0 38° O -.6 0 be. 0 0 o- 0 (3. Figure 2 ee.\/Figure 3 f 11\ Bakersfield \ a Cs* -t ,scp,t\O Mojave \ Desert CO I B1 PoNe*\\.// 0/1 CMICI 60 34°N Transverse Little a Los Son Bernardino 411 Angeles Mountains O 100 200 300 Km O 100 200 Mi 1124° 1120° 1116°W 120° \ 119° 35° C.) GREA 0 V A t.1 E RAZIER SAN GABRIEL Frkklk,.. M TN SAN RANGE T ABEL ANDREA MT PINOS 1... FO RILLILLSLS FAULT SO -.1 /44s CPARR..120 .:( ...------ c _.
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