*v> & • i LIBRARY? >* (? if !z & (j \j > I I t~ I B R £V v i SPOKANf,. A /i n H 9 i <l I JIN 31971 o . Geology of the (M M enutifi s Q if 8R A S If S.eS Oh eS o Los Angeles Basin 00 co «*=<03 o p-> ' ►» <33 l CQ California—an V -I © <S 523 o Introduction u> o 03 Eh •a GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 420-A 823 <1 3 * • 523 03 TO o//V/i/, 5m', \\70l 3 l-ls / ! t/> /■ r//V>r o \p\ 30 a :i>'U ft- CQ g?p i» n * >i £0*a OQ • < A f j ; &a '" ‘-*sa W K; » 523-3 CQ ® Mb* IS ',:•<,■> r,, i-3 ft? cb ® ®i-3 ' 03 • ©e a© OQ© t-i © GEOLOGY OF THE LOS ANGELES BASIN ms % X.'. f' K mv: xf* X, ^<0 : Y Xj7j Y, : -<x V , / \ *1... *. s few /'X~ ■-is. ~7?\ i\ > ' -XXX >» :.-r. ;■: X^Ti ». Stel • X r Jr / X x' r%-l ,/Y' as \j ; 2^ N \ * »’ .X-Wv" X" . klA rffyX x)/ ; \L /X X; Av :£; /\ X. ' i yyx —X X, Xl j-- >r'\. -i } X£~ :v-'> - -'X'X: ! ~x: [ sXv V -C --X C ~~: *g A-, -•: w •;, ; Xx m P XXX v: A -5 .y ■ O' •“TVx \ \ . -X:X. : X,X .y ,x 1 ./> ft X* r 'r***f~ '' IX' v \X X 'X X; ..X \vs.. X X. Y ix‘1 X X "■ ! , xy -■ ■ X ,/ \ i - X X XX 'X X' X .< xX x„ X X 'X ’X^ '■'X, ■'X T 5fi- X.. X X. ^ X "X. X, * X >y X. \ Xx^ y x <X ,X' vx Xs 'X . StX YX X <a x< +> K4 1 A o c Xtf* <x>. X <<w>X/.-X— Yj XO x" s- / C ,-y -y sO~ x «3, \\? /' J XX '■ Isometric block diagram, basement surface of the Los Angeles basin. Contour interval is 1,000 feet; exposures of basement rocks are patterned; fault surfaces are hachured. Geology of the Los Angeles Basin California—an Introduction By R. F. YERKES, T. H. McCULLOH, J. E. SCHOELLHAMER, and J. G. VEDDER GEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN LOS ANGELES BASIN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 420-A The evolution of a most prolife oil district and the framework for omm*\\\r* 150 <S)| lo several detailed reports on its [O' '*31 geology and gravitational aspects UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1965 OBRARY SUfffAU OF MlNtl uiBRARY SPOHaNI. wash. JUN 31971 ptMSt #fT0«H 50 UBH **< UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government. Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Page Abstract........... ............................. ......................................... A1 Stratigraphy of the basin—Continued Introduction____ ________________ _____ __________ 1 Superjacent rocks—Continued Los Angeles basin—definition....................................... 1 Eocene rocks______________________________ A28 Acknowledgments_____________________________ 2 Upper Eocene(?) to lower Miocene rocks______ 28 Stratigraphic nomenclature_______ _______ _____ 3 Middle Miocene rocks______________________ 30 Nomenclature of faults_______ _____ ____ ______ 3 Lower sequence........................................... .. 30 Bibliography of previous work................................... .. 3 Upper sequence________________________ 32 Regional setting of the basin_____________ __________ 12 Intrusive rocks________________________ 34 Peninsular Ranges province_____________________ 13 Upper Miocene rocks________ _____________ 34 Transverse Ranges province____________________ 13 Eastern facies_________________________ 34 Geographic and geologic elements of the basin________ 14 Western facies_________________________ 37 Southwestern block____________________________ 14 Intrusive rocks________ _______________ 37 Northwestern block____________________ _____ 14 Pliocene rocks_____________________________ 37 Central block_____ _________________ ____ _____ 15 Lower sequence________________________ 38 Northeastern block____________________________ 15 Upper sequence________________________ 41 Evolution of the basin_____________________________ 16 Lower Pleistocene deposits.......................... .......... 44 Predepositional phase—rocks of the basement com­ Upper Pleistocene deposits__________________ 44 plex________________________________________ 16 Recent deposits___________________________ 46 Probasin phase of deposition—Upper Cretaceous to Structure of the basin_____________________ ________ 47 lower Miocene rocks_________________________ 16 Southwestern block_________________ _____ _____ 47 Basin-inception phase—middle Miocene rocks_____ 17 Newport-Inglewood zone of deformation.................... 47 Principal phase of subsidence and deposition—upper Central block_________________________________ 48 Miocene to lower Pleistocene rocks_____________ 17 Whittier fault zone_____________________________ 50 Basin-disruption phase—upper Pleistocene to Recent Northeastern block____________________________ 50 strata______________________________________ 19 Santa Monica-Raymond Hill-Sierra Madre-Cuca- Stratigraphy of the basin___________________________ 20 monga fault zone____________________________ 51 Basement rocks__________________ ____ ________ 21 Northwestern block____________________________ 51 Southwestern block. ______ ________________ 21 Conclusions___________________________________ 52 Northwestern block_______ ____ ___ _______ 21 Oil in the basin__________________________________ 52 Central block.......................................................... 23 Production___________________________________ 52 Northeastern block..................... ......... ......... ........ 24 Occurrence____________________________________ 53 Superjacent rocks--------- ------------------------------------ 24 Reserves____________________________________ 53 Upper Cretaceous rocks------------------------------- 24 References cited____________________ ____ __________ 55 Paleocene rocks............................... ........... ........... 26 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates are In pocket] Frontispiece. Isometric block diagram, basement surface of the Los Angeles basin. Plate 1. Correlation chart of stratigraphic units, Los Angeles basin. 2. Diagram of composite sections, Los Angeles basin. 3. Panel diagram of the Los Angeles basin. 4. Generalized structure sections, Los Angeles basin. Page Figure 1. Map of area covered by this investigation_________________________ A2 2. Map of major structural features and contours on the basement surface 4 3. Key to major structural features_________________________________ 5 4. Outline map of southern California showing geomorphic provinces____ 12 v VI CONTENTS Figure 5-11. Distribution maps of rock units: Page 5. Basement rocks_________________________________________________________________________ A22 6. Upper Cretaceous rocks----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 7. Paleocene and Eocene rocks-------------------------------------- ---------- ---------------------------------------------- 27 8. Upper Eocene (?) to lower Miocene rocks----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 9. Middle Miocene rocks_______________________ ______ _____________________________________ 31 10. Upper Miocene rocks____________________________________________________________________ 35 11. Lower Pliocene rocks____________ — --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 39 12. Map showing lithofacies and thickness relations of lower Pliocene rocks________ _______________________ 40 13. Diagram showing relation between thickness, water depth, and time during deposition of superjacent rocks- 42 14. Map showing distribution of upper Pliocene rocks----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43 TABLES Page Table 1. Relation between thickness, water depth, and subsidence during deposition of the superjacent rocks in the deep part of the central block, Los Angeles basin_____________________________________ _____ ______ A41 2. Crude-oil production data and estimated reserves and ultimate recovery for the Los Angeles basin and the State of California_________________________________________________ ,__________________________ 53 3. Crude-oil production data and estimated reserves and ultimate recovery, by geologic age of reservoir rocks, for 46 known Los Angeles basin oil fields________________________________________________ __ 53 GEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN LOS ANGELES BASIN, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY OF THE LOS ANGELES BASIN, CALIFORNIA—AN INTRODUCTION By R. F. Yerkes, T. H. McCulloh, J. E. Schoellhamer, and J. G. Vedder ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION The present-day Los Angeles basin is a northwest-trending LOS ANGELES BASIN—DEFINITION alluviated lowland plain about 50 miles long and 20 miles wide on the coast of southern California approximately between The present-day Los Angeles physiographic basin lat 83°30' and 34° N. and long 117°45' and 118°30' W. On the (index map, fig. 1) of coastal southern California is north, northeast, east, and southeast, the lowland plain is an alluviated lowland, sometimes called the coastal bounded by mountains and hills that expose Mesozoic or older basement rocks and sedimentary and igneous rocks of Late plain (Mendenhall, 1905, p. 11), which is bounded on Cretaceous to late Pleistocene age. the north by the Santa Monica Mountains and the The physiographic basin Is underlain by a deep structural Elysian, Repetto, and Puente Hills and on the east depression; the buried basement surface has relief of as much and southeast by the Santa Ana Mountains and San as 4.5 miles In a distance of 8 miles. Parts of this depression Joaquin Hills. The lowland surface slopes gently have been the sites of discontinuous deposition since Late Cre­ taceous time and of continuous subsidence and deposition since south or seaward, but