A Thesis Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science In
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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS OF THE AVENAL SANDSTONE OF REEF RIDGE, CENTRAL CALIFORNIA A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geology by Kristine Ann Kappeler May, 1984 The Thesis of Kristine Ann Kappeler is approved: L. Squires Committee Chairman California State University, Northridge ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my family, whose encouragement, help, love, and moral support allowed me to achieve this goal. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks go to the following property owners for allowing access to the study area: John Den Hartog, Ed Kreyenhagen, Jerry and Leslie Sagasar, the Avenal Gun Club, and Darrel Zwang. Without their generosity and cooperation this thesis could not have been undertaken. I am grateful to my father and Donald w. Frames, consulting geologists, for introducing me to the Avenal Sandstone of Reef Ridge, for accompanying me on numerous excursions, and for sharing their knowledge and expertise of the geology of the San Joaquin Valley area. I am further grateful to my mother and brother for assisting as field troopers on numerous occasions. I would like to thank my thesis chairman, Richard L. Squires, for all his help, support, encouragement, and guidance throughout the project, for identification of megafossils, and for critical review of this manuscript. I am appreciative of the help that A. Eugene Fritsche provided which led to interpretation of the depositional environments identified within this thesis, for petrographic assistance, and for review of this manuscript. I am grateful to LouElla R. Saul, University of California, Los Angeles, who aided with documentation of megafossil identifications. Joyce R. Blueford, U. S. Geological Survey, and AI A. Almgren, Union Oil Company, analyzed microfossil samples. S. Tony Reid, Getty Oil Company, provided microfossil analysis by Green and Associates and subsurface data. Dave M. Advocate, Exxon Oil Company, assisted in the field and provided various photographs. Daniel A. Yamashiro, California State University, Northridge, assisted with laboratory procedures. Gary Haunstein, Getty Pipeline in Coalinga, aided with logistics. iv I am especially indebted to Patricia A. Thall for typing the thesis and for her patience with my many revisions. Tony A. Furio, Linda Villareal, Basil Argyroudis, Karl Grundl, Gary Bedrossian, and Alain Bally, all of Getty Oil Company, skillfully drafted the figures and tables. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ...................................................... iii Acknowledgements iv List of lllustrations vii Tables .•••..•.•. ix Abstract X Introduction 1 Previous Work 10 Methods •••••••.•. 11 Age and Correlation 26 Geologic Setting 29 Structure •. 29 Stratigraphy 30 Lithosomes and Depositional Environments 33 Fluvial Lithosome ••••.•.•••.••••• 34 Fluvial Description 34 Fluvial Interpretation •• 38 Sand-Flat Tidal-Channel Deposits . 38 Tidal-Channel Conglomerate Description .••••••...•.•••••. 39 Tidal-Channel Sandstone-Fill Description 39 Sand-Flat Tidal-Channel Interpretation .•••. 44 Sand-Flat Lithosome •.••••• 45 Sand-Flat Description 45 Sand-Flat Interpretation 47 Upper Shoreface Lithosome 48 Upper Shoreface Description 48 Upper Shoreface Interpretation 49 Lower Shoreface Lithosome ••.••• 52 Lower Shoreface Description 52 Lower Shoreface Interpretation 54 Transgressive-Lag Lithosome 55 Transgressive-Lag Description 55 Transgressive-Lag Jnterpreta tion ••.•.. 56 Avenal-Kreyenhagen Unconformity 57 Provenance 59 Paleogeography 62 References •.••••••• 65 Appendix 1 74 Appendix 2 80 Appendix 3 82 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Index map of study area and vicinity showing major 2 physiographic features and surface exposures of the Avenal Sandstone. 2. Summation of names and age assignments of formations 3 on Reef Ridge. 3. Generalized geologic map of Reef Ridge showing areal 5 distribution of the Avenal Sandstone, major faults of the area, and megafossil localities. 4. Location of measured sections through the Avenal 6 Sandstone at Reef Ridge, Kings and Fresno Counties, California. 5. Location of oil fields and structures within the 7 vicinity of the study area. 6. Type E-log for Jacalitos oil field, H.C. Lillis No. 1 8 ~ec. 28, T21~ R16E). 7. Explanation for measured stratigraphic sections. 12 8. Stratigraphic section of the Avenal Sandstone measured 13 along the north side of Big Tar East, NEi of section 20, T23S, R17E, Garza Peak quadrangle, California. 9. Stratigraphic section of the Avenal Sandstone measured 14 along the south side of Garza Canyon, Ni of section 10, T23S, R16E, Garza Peak quadrangle, California. 10. Stratigraphic section of the Avenal Sandstone measured 15 along the south side of Canoas Canyon, SEi of section 32, T22S, R16E, the Dark Hole quadrangle, California. 11. Stratigraphic section of the Avenal Sandstone measured 16 along the south side of Reese Canyon, NEt of section 31, T22S, R16E, Garza Peak quadrangle, California. 12. Stratigraphic section of the Avenal Sandstone measured 17 along Arroyo Pinoso, NEt of section 35, T22S, R15E, Garza Peak quadrangle, California. 13. Stratigraphic section of the Avenal Sandstone measured 18 along the south side of Zapato Canyon, NEt of section 21, T22S, R15E, Kreyenhagen Hills quadrangle, California. vii 14. Ternary diagrams showing composition of sandstones of 20 the Eocene Avenal Sandstone and Cretaceous Panoche Formation. 15. Correlation chart of various authors for comparison 27 of the age assignment of the Avenal Sandstone. 16. Fluviallithosome with interbedded lenses of conglom- 36 erate and sandstone exposured at the base of the Garza Canyon section. 17. Fluviallithosome with interbedded lenses of 36 conglomerate, sandstone, and shale rip-up clasts exposed at the base of the Garza Canyon section. 18. Scour-and-fill erosional contact of the tidal-channel 37 lag lithosome into parallel laminated sandstone of the tidal-channel sandstone-filllithosome exposed in Zapato Canyon. 19. Tidal-channel lag deposits range in thickness between 2 40 to 15 em thick interbedded with tidal-channel sandstone-fill deposits. 20. Bidirectional crossbedding of the tidal-channel 41 sandstone-filllithosome, pencil is 17 em long. 21. Crossbedding of the tidal-channel sandtone-filllithosome 41 preserved in concretions near the basal contact in Canoas Canyon. 22. Asymmetrical ripples of the tidal-channel sandstone-fill 42 lithosome exposed in Garza Canyon. 23. Climbing-ripple cross-lamination of the tidal-channel 43 sandstone-filllithosome exposed in Canoas Canyon. 24. Boxwork pattern of Ophiomorpha burrows characteristic 47 of the sandflat lithosome exposed in Zapato Canyon near the top of the section. 25. Bioturbated fine-grained sandstone of the upper 50 shoreface lithosome exposed in Canoas Canyon. 26. Paleogeography during deposition of the Avenal 63 Sandstone. viii TABLES Table 1. Petrology and field location of rock samples. 19 2. Heavy mineral analysis of five samples from the Avenal 21 Sandstone at Reef Ridge. 3. Composition of conglomerate samples from the Avenal 22 Sandstone at Reef Ridge. 4. Megafossils from the Avenal Sandstone, Reef Ridge, 24 Fresno and Kings Counties, California. ix ABSTRACT DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS OF THE AVENAL SANDSTONE OF REEF RIDGE, CENTRAL CALIFORNIA by Kristine A. Kappeler Department of Geological Sciences California State University, Northridge Northridge,. California The late early through early medial Eocene age Avenal Sandstone crops out along the west side of San Joaquin Valley, near Avenal, California. The formation has a maximum thickness of 130 m and rests unconformably on the Upper Cretaceous Panoche Formation. Northwest of Garza Peak, the Avenal grades vertically upward through fluvial-deltaic, sand-flat tidal-channel, sand-flat, and upper shoreface deposits. Fluvial-deltaic deposits are channelized, matrix-supported, pebble conglomerate, which is interbedded with lenses of coarse-grained sandstone and which locally contains megafossils. The sand-flat tidal-channel deposits consist of tidal- channel lag deposits, which are pebble-conglomerate stringers, and tidal-channel sandstone-fill deposits, which are dominated by bidirectional tabular and trough cross-bedded, parallel-laminated, ripple-laminated, and convolute-bedded, well sorted, fine-grained sandstone, that locally contains beds with grading. Sand-flat deposits are characterized by Ophiomorpha-burrowed (up to 50%), moderately to X well sorted, fine-grained sandstone. Upper shoreface deposits are fine-grained sandstone defined by an increase in burrowing to between 50% and 90%. Southeast of Garza Peak, the Avenal consists of lower shoreface deposits, which are structureless (90% to 100% bioturbated), silty to fine-grained sandstone with scattered molluscan- and discocyclinid-bearing lenses. Sedimentary structures are rare. Degree of bioturbation increases upsection. Megafossils, including leaf debris and wood fragments, suggest deposition in a nearshore-marine environment, and the mollusks and discocyclinids are indicative of warm temperate to subtropical waters. Following uplift and erosion of Cretaceous strata, an eastward-sloping tidal-dominated delta and sand flat formed north of Garza Peak, while to the south a headland existed. Continued transgression brought lower shoreface sedimentation to the whole area. Absence of transition and locally shoreface deposits to the north indicates that the area was slightly uplifted and eroded during the early medial Eocene