Whitter Field EOR

Geology, Petroleum Development,
and Seismicity of the Santa Barbara

Channel Region, California
A. Geologic Framework of the Santa Barbara Channel Region
B. Petroleum Development in the Region of the Santa Barbara Channel
C. Geologic Characteristics of the Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field
D. Seismicity and Associated Effects, Santa Barbara Region
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY
PROFESSIONAL
PAPER
679
Geology, Petroleum Development,

and Seismicity of the Santa Barbara
Channel Region, California
A. Geologic Framework of the Santa Barbara Channel Region
By J. G. VEDDER, H. C. WAGNER, and J. E. SCHOELLHAMER
B. Petroleum Development in the Region of the Santa Barbara Channel
By R. F. YERKES, H. C. WAGNER, and K. A. YENNE
C. Geologic Characteristics of the Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field

By T. H. McCULLOH
D. Seismicity and Associated Effects, Santa Barbara Region
By R. M. HAMILTON, R. F. YERKES, R. D. BROWN, JR., R. O. BURFORD,
and J. M. DENOYER
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY
PROFESSIONAL
PAPER
679
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1969
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

WALTER J. HICKEL, Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
William T. Pecora, Director
Library of Congress catalog-card No. 70-603491
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402
FOREWORD
Southern California is rich in petroleum and natural gas accumulations
both on land and offshore. Over the past century, California has produced
more than 8 billion barrels of oil and more than 23 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The petroleum industry is one of the major economic factors of the State and
involves a capital investment in excess of $7 billion and employs more than
100,000 people. Daily production of petroleum measures in excess of 1 million
barrels of oil, which is about 65 percent of the requirements for the region.
The situation is one of current shortage of production and projected increase
in need. As a natural extension of development of State tidelands, which
began in earnest in 1958, a public sale of Federal wildcat leases in 1968 drew
a surprisingly large total of $603 million.
During normal development of a prospective petroleum-bearing oil pool
on the Rincon structural trend, about 6^ miles southeast of Santa Barbara,
a gas blowout occurred on January 28,1969, during completion of the fifth
well being drilled from Platform A on Federal Tract OCS P-0241. Until
February 7, when the well was killed by cementing, uncontrolled flow led
to local oil pollution on the sea surface. Reservoir,damage during this
period caused a subsequent moderate and steady oil seepage from the
sea floor that has since caused a continual slick on the surface. This seepage,
estimated to be at a daily average rate of 30 barrels in the 4-month period
March through June 1969, was substantially reduced by early September to
less than 10 barrels per day as a result of a drilling and grouting program
authorized by the Secretary of the Interior following recommendations of a
special Presidential Advisory Panel.
The Santa Barbara incident was the first significant oil-pollution experience resulting from drilling or working 7,860 wells under Federal jurisdiction
on the Outer Continental Shelf since 1953. In consequence of this event, by
direction of the Secretary of the Interior, Federal operating and leasing
regulations have been strengthened, and additional safeguards have been
added in all Federally supervised operations.
The purpose of this report is to present specific information that will
help provide a better understanding of the geologic framework of the Channel
region and of the circumstances relating to the oil seepage in the vicinity of
Platform A. The four chapters of this report and accompanying appendixes
have been compiled by staff members of the U.S. Geological Survey. Several
petroleum companies have permitted use of their proprietary technical data
in order to prepare a balanced and complete report. Opportunity to include
these data is gratefully acknowledged.
This report incorporates information upon which the recommendations
of the Presidential Advisory Panel were based as well as information that
subsequently has become available.
W. T. Pecora
Director, U.S. Geological Survey
CONTENTS
Foreword ___________________________________________________
(A) Geologic framework of the Santa Barbara Channel region, by J. G. Vedder, H. C.
Wagner,and J. E. Schoellhamer________________________________
(B) Petroleum development in the region of the Santa Barbara Channel, by R. F.
Yerkes, H.C. Wagner,and K. A. Yenne ___________________________
(C) Geologic characteristics of the Dos Cuadras Offshore oil field, by T. H. McCulloh _ _ _
(D) Seismicity and associated effects, Santa Barbara region, by R. M. Hamilton, R. F.
Yerkes, R. D. Brown, Jr., R. O. Burford, and J. M.DeNoyer ______________
References cited.________________________________________________
Appendix A______________-___________________________-__-_--_Appendix B_ __________________________________________________
Appendix C_ ___________________________________________________
Appendix D_____________________________________________-_____
Appendix E____________________-____________________--_----__-
PLATES
[In pocket]
PLATE 1. Generalized geologic map of the Santa Barbara Channel region.

2. Map showing oil and gas fields, leased areas, and seeps in the Santa Barbara
Channel region.
3. Structure of the Dos Cuadras oil field and contiguous parts of the Rincon trend.
Page
III
1
13
29
47
69
71
73
73
75
76
Geologic Framework
of the Santa Barbara
Channel Region
GEOLOGY, PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT, AND SEISMICITY OF THE
SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION, CALIFORNIA
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY PROFESSIONAL
PAPER
679-A
CONTENTS
Page
Regional setting-___________________________________________
Stratigraphic summary ________________________________________
Cretaceous marine rocks _____________________________________
Paleocene and Eocene marine rocks _____________________________
Oligocene marine and nonmarine rocks ___________________________
Miocene marine rocks ______________________________________
Lower part __________________________________________
Middle part __________________________________________
Upper part_ _ ________________________________________
Miocene volcanic rocks ______________________________________
Lower and upper Pliocene marine rocks__________________________
Lower and upper Pleistocene deposits ____________________________
Holocene deposits ________________________________________
Generalized structure of the Santa Barbara Channel region._______________
Geologic history.___________________________________________
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
5
5
5
11
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURE 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Index map showing major geomorphic provinces of southern California- ____________

Selected stratigraphic sections of the Santa Barbara Channel region.______________
Onshore structure section, Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez fault- _ _________________
Interpretive drawing of acoustic subbottom profile, Santa Barbara to Anacapa Passage-__
Schematic structure contour map of the Rincon trend_________________________
IX
365-228 O - 69 - 2
2
6
8
9
10

GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION
REGIONAL SETTING
The Santa Barbara Channel region forms the

westernmost part of the Transverse Range province,
which is one of several large geomorphic and structural provinces of southern California (fig. 1). As
here defined, the channel region includes the Santa
Ynez Mountains to the north and the Channel Islands
to the south; Point Conception and San Miguel Island
lie near the west margin; the town of Ojai and
Hueneme Canyon are situated near the east edge
(Pi. 1).
The west-trending topographic features of the
elongate Transverse Range province transect the
dominant regional northwest structural grain of
California. The high terrain in the eastern part of
the province is composed primarily of crystalline rocks
that are older than most of the exposed rocks in the
Santa Barbara Channel region. The channel region
forms the western part of the province; it is the
partly submerged extension of the Ventura basin, a
topographic and structural depression that contains
more than 50,000 feet of Cretaceous and Tertiary
strata. The bordering mountain ranges and islands
consist of complexly folded and faulted sedimentary
and igneous rocks that are underlain by a basement
complex, part of which is equivalent in age and lithology to that exposed in the high ranges to the east.
The characteristic west-trending structural grain
of the Transverse Range province is clearly reflected
in the channel region by the Santa Ynez Mountains,
which rise to heights of more than 4,000 feet to form
the picturesque backdrop for Santa Barbara, and by
the Channel Islands, which culminate in the 2,450-foot
Devils Peak on Santa Cruz Island. The channel itself
has a length of nearly 80 miles, a width of about 25

miles, and an area of about 1,750 square miles. The
deepest part, about 2,050 feet below sea level, lies
about midway between El Capitan Beach on the mainland and Carrington Point, the northernmost promontory on Santa Rosa Island. The configuration of
this sea-floor topographic basin is illustrated by the
bathymetric contours on plate 1.
STRATIGRAPHIC SUMMARY 1
Strata in the western Ventura basin and Santa

Ynez Mountains range in age from Early Cretaceous
to Holocene and unconformably overlie, or are faulted
against, basement rocks that are pre-Cretaceous(?) in
age (pi. 1). The basement rocks consist of three
distinct assemblages, one of which occurs in fault
slivers along the Santa Ynez fault and the other two
as belts of outcrops on the south half of Santa Cruz
Island. In the Santa Ynez Range, the so-called basement rock consists of discontinuous pods and lenses
of sheared graywacke, shale, and chert that commonly
are assigned to the Franciscan Formation. These
severely deformed strata are intruded by greenstone
and serpentine. On Santa Cruz Island, metamorphic
rocks, in part schistose, are intruded by hornblende
diorite and may be related to similar rocks that form
the basement complex in the eastern Santa Monica
Mountains. The location of the subsurface boundary
between Franciscan-type basement rocks of the Santa
Ynez Range and the crystalline rocks that underlie
the Channel Islands is not known.
!^he stratigraphic nomenclature used in this report is from many sources and may
not entirely conform to Geological Survey usage.
1
GEOLOGY, PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT, SEISMICITY, SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL, CALIF.
BASIN AND RANGE

__ -
FIGURE 1. Index map showing major geomorphic provinces of southern California.
CRETACEOUS MARINE ROCKS
An enormous thickness of Lower and Upper Cretaceous marine sedimentary rocks lies in the San
Raf ael Mountains to the north of the Santa Ynez
Mountains, and it is possible that similar thick successions may also be widely distributed deep in the
subsurface beneath much of the Santa Barbara
Channel region. South of the Santa Ynez fault (pi. 1),
Lower Cretaceous strata crop out in the western
Santa Ynez Mountains, and fragmentary sections of
Upper Cretaceous strata are scattered along the fault
throughout its length. Middle Cretaceous rocks have
not been found in the channel region. Much of the
western part of San Miguel Island is formed by Upper
Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, and equivalent strata
have been penetrated by wells on Santa Cruz Island
and farther east on the mainland. An exploratory
well near the middle of the channel between More's
Landing on the mainland and Diablo Point on Santa
Modified from Yerkes and others (1965).
Cruz Island is reported to have bottomed in Cretaceous rocks. In general, the Upper Cretaceous sequences are composed of interlayered sandstone, silty
claystone, and small amounts of pebble and cobble
conglomerate that contain fossil faunas that range
from the Campanian Stage to the Lower Maestrichtian
Stage (Popenoe and others, 1960). On San Miguel
Island the Upper Cretaceous succession is about
10,000 feet thick (Kennett, in Redwine and others,
1952); north of the Santa Ynez fault the combined
Lower and Upper Cretaceous formations are more
than 20,000 feet thick. Jalama is the formation name
commonly applied to the Upper Cretaceous rocks and
Espada to the Lower Cretaceous rocks (Dibblee, 1950).
PALEOCENE AND EOCENE MARINE ROCKS
Paleocene rocks are very limited in extent within

the Santa Barbara Channel region. They are known
from a narrow belt of sea-cliff exposures on San
Miguel Island, where they consist of about 1,600 feet
of interlayered sandstone, claystone, and conglomerate

(Kennett, in Redwine and others, 1952), and from a
single small area in the southwestern part of Santa
Cruz Island (Bremner, 1932 [as Martinez Formation]).
At San Miguel Island the base is faulted against
Upper Cretaceous rocks and on Santa Cruz Island it
is not exposed.
Many of the resistant strata that form the crest
and south face of the Santa Ynez Mountains are
marine sandstone beds of Eocene age. Similar Eocene
rocks are exposed on San Miguel and Santa Rosa
Islands and south of the Santa Cruz Island fault.
They have been penetrated at depth beneath the
central part of the channel and in the subsurface
section in many of the oil fields along the north and
east margins. Several relatively persistent formational units have been differentiated in the Santa
Ynez Mountains. These units consist primarily of
clayey siltstone or sandstone and small amounts of
conglomerate; locally, a distinctive algal limestone,
which is unconformable on Cretaceous rocks, occurs
at the base. North of Santa Barbara these formations have a composite maximum thickness of nearly
15,000 feet. The entire succession ranges in age from
early to late Eocene and includes fossil faunas that
are assigned to Mallory's (1959) Bulitian, Penutian,
Ulatisian, and Narizian Stages. Commonly used formation names (Dibblee, 1966) in ascending order are
Sierra Blanca Limestone, Juncal Formation (or Anita
Shale), Matilija Sandstone, Cozy Dell Shale, and Coldwater Sandstone (or Sacate Formation).
OLIGOCENE MARINE AND NONMARINE ROCKS
Variegated strata, including red beds, that disconformably overlie the Eocene succession from the
vicinity of Goleta eastward are composed chiefly of
nonmarine conglomerate, sandstone, and claystone.
These nonmarine strata are as much as 5,000 feet
thick in the Carpinteria district, but westward they
thin, tongue into, and are underlain by marine sandstone and siltstone beds that have an aggregate thickness of about 3,500 feet. The western limit of the
red-bed section is in the vicinity of Gaviota Pass.
Nonmarine beds also crop out on Santa Rosa Island
and are present in the subsurface sections in deeper
parts of onshore and offshore oil fields. East of the
area of plate 1, the nonmarine section thickens to as
much as 8,000 feet and incorporates both older and
younger rocks, so that both late Eocene and early
Miocene strata are included at the base and top. The
marine beds, which extend westward at least to the
vicinity of Point Conception, contain mollusks and
foraminifers that are assigned to the Refugian Stage
(Schenck and Kleinpell, 1936). Nonmarine beds east
of the channel region have yielded vertebrate remains
that range in age from Uintan to Arikareean (Wood,

H. E., 2d, and others, 1941). The names "Gaviota
Formation" and "Alegria Sandstone" are commonly
used for the marine units, and "Sespe Formation" is
used for the nonmarine sequence (Dibblee, 1950,1966).
MIOCENE MARINE ROCKS
The diverse Miocene stratigraphic succession can

be divided conveniently into lower, middle, and upper
parts, which, in turn, can be subdivided into relatively
persistent map units along the coastal side of the
Santa Ynez Mountains and on parts of the Channel
Islands. Similar units are recognized in the subsurface sections in onshore and offshore oil fields.
Lower Part
Thick-bedded shallow marine sandstone lenses, in

part conglomeratic, form the bulk of the basal formation of the Miocene succession along the south
flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains from the vicinity
of Point Conception to Santa Barbara. This unit is
disconformable on the underlying red-bed section, and
it forms a persistent narrow belt of outcrop. At
places in the western Santa Ynez Mountains these
coarse-grained strata are as much as 600 feet thick,
but elsewhere, they average about 300 feet in thickness. A few hundred feet of stratigraphically equivalent beds crop out on the southern part of Santa
Rosa Island. Fossil mollusks from both the island
and the mainland suggest an early Miocene age, and
the unit is assigned to the Vaqueros Formation
(Vaqueros Sandstone; Dibblee, 1950, 1966).
Conformably overlying the basal sandstone unit is
a sequence of concretionary claystone, mudstone, and
siltstone beds that have a total thickness of as much
as 1,800 feet along the coast west of Santa Barbara
and 2,500 feet in the Ventura area. Somewhat similar
strata crop out on San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands,
but generally they are coarser grained and are more
than 2,000 feet thick. Zones of bentonitic clay occur
in the upper and lower parts of the section along the
mainland coast. Foraminifers diagnostic of Kleinpell's
(1938) Zemorrian and Saucesian Stages are present in
this fine-grained unit which is called the Rincon Shale
(Dibblee, 1950,1966).
Middle Part
Sedimentary breccia beds and associated sandstone

and siltstone interbeds that are genetically unrelated
to any of the adjacent mainland Miocene rocks attain
a thickness of about 2,000 feet on the southern part
of Santa Cruz Island. These distinctive strata include
lenses of glaucophane schist breccia that are similar
to the San Onofre Breccia of the northern Peninsular
Range province. A unit having similar lithology and
stratigraphic position is interbedded in the volcanic

sequence on Anacapa Island.
The bulk of the middle part of the Miocene succession along the mainland coast is a remarkably uniform
siliceous shale that includes diatomaceous and phosphatic beds as well as chert and limestone. Rhyolitic
tuff and bentonite are present at the base westward
from the vicinity of Gaviota Canyon. Exposures of
this formation extend along much of the shoreline in
the sea cliffs between Point Conception and Santa
Barbara and between Carpinteria and Rincon Point.
At most places this formation gradationally overlies
the Rincon Shale and is as much as 2,300 feet thick
just west of Santa Barbara; its foraminiferal assemblages span most of the Relizian, Luisian, and Mohnian
Stages (Kleinpell, 1938). Laminated units of the same
age and lithology are present on San Miguel Island
and north of the main faults on Santa Rosa and
Santa Cruz Islands. Assignment of these stratigraphic
sequences to the Monterey Shale is widely accepted.
Upper Part
Along parts of the mainland coast an indistinctly

bedded unit composed predominantly of diatomaceous
mudstone, claystone, and siltstone gradationally or
disconformably overlies the hard laminated shales of
the middle part of the Miocene succession. At some
places these beds contain dolomitic concretions and
lenses. The sand content of the unit increases eastward. This fine-grained formation varies in thickness, but is more than 2,000 feet thick east of Carpinteria; in the vicinity of Santa Barbara it has been
eroded completely. Diagnostic fossils are sparse, but
microfaunal assemblages are assigned to the upper
Mohnian and Delmontian Stages of Kleinpell (1938).
On the mainland the names "Santa Margarita Shale"
and "Sisquoc Formation" are used interchangeably
for this formation. Lenticular sandy siltstone and
tuffaceous sandstone beds more than 3,000 feet thick
are associated with volcanic agglomerates north of
the Santa Rosa Island fault. The island beds disconformably overlie the Monterey Shale and are assigned
to the "Santa Margarita Formation" by Kennett (in
Redwine and others, 1952).
MIOCENE VOLCANIC ROCKS
Extrusive and intrusive sequences of basaltic,

andesitic, and rhyolitic composition form a significant
part of the rock sequence on the Channel Islands, in
the western Santa Monica Mountains, and in the
westernmost Santa Ynez Mountains (chiefly outside
the map). On Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands, the
Monterey Shale separates the volcanic sequence into
lower and upper units. In the western Santa Monica
Mountains east of the Channel Islands, these volcanic
rocks are more than 15,000 feet thick; on Santa Cruz

Island the lower volcanic unit alone aggregates more
than 6,000 feet in thickness. The name "Conejo Volcanics" has been applied to the basaltic and andesitic
rocks in the middle part of the Miocene succession on
the mainland southeast of the Montalvo oil field and
in the western Santa Monica Mountains. On the
islands the name "Conejo" has been used informally
for the lower volcanic unit, and andesitic and rhyolitic
rocks higher in the Miocene section have been assigned
to the "Santa Margarita Formation" (Kennett, in
Redwine and others, 1952). Both units of volcanic
rocks seem to thin rapidly northward; they are not
present in the coastal section near Santa Barbara.
The rhyolitic extrusives at the west end of the Santa
Ynez Mountains are as much as 1,200 feet thick and
are named "Tranquillon Volcanics" (Dibblee, 1950).
LOWER AND UPPER PLIOCENE MARINE ROCKS
Outcrops of interbedded siltstone, sandstone, and

thin lenticular conglomerate form the lower part of
the Pliocene succession and conformably overlie the
marine Miocene rocks in the coastal area near Rincon
Point and just offshore. Within the onshore part of
the map area, exposures are restricted to the Rincon
Beach-Ventura area and to the sea cliff near Goleta,
where only the upper part crops out. Pliocene strata
are not present in the Santa Ynez Mountains or on
the Channel Islands; if they ever were deposited on
those margins of the Pliocene basin, they have been
eroded completely. However, great thicknesses of
Pliocene rocks are present along the basin axis onshore and presumably are widespread beneath the
channel floor. In the vicinity of Ventura, the upper
part of the Pliocene stratigraphic sequence is composed
of interlayered and intertongued mudstone, siltstone,
sandstone, and conglomerate. Eastward, these strata
become increasingly coarse and lenticular. A thin
bed of vitric tuff occurs in the uppermost part; the
source probably was far distant, for there is no other
evidence for a center of Pliocene volcanism in or near
the Santa Barbara Channel region.
A few miles northeast of Ventura, the Pliocene
sequence has an aggregate thickness of more than
12,000 feet, thus forming one of the thickest marine
Pliocene successions in the world. This remarkable
section thins westward beneath the channel; it is not
represented on the Channel Islands. Fossil foraminifers and mollusks indicate that most of Pliocene
time is represented in this extraordinarily complete
section.
Throughout much of the Ventura district the lower
part of the Pliocene section contains a deep-water
foraminiferal facies and is designated "Repetto Formation." In the basin the name "Pico Formation"
has two connotations; in the eastern part it is applied

to most of the marine Pliocene sequence, but in the
western part (area of pi. 1) it is commonly restricted
to the upper portion. The names "Repetto" and
"Pico" are here used in the latter sense to correspond
with common usage.
Thin belts of marine conglomeratic sandstone beds
that have been assigned a Pliocene age (Dibblee,
1966) also are exposed along Santa Ynez Valley north
of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
LOWER AND UPPER PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS
Limited exposures of marine sandstone, siltstone,

and small amounts of conglomerate unconformably
overlie Pliocene and older strata in the Santa Barbara
area. However, at places between Santa Barbara and
Rincon Point these isolated remnants of poorly consolidated marine deposits grade upward and laterally
into nonmarine clayey sandstone and conglomerate
beds that are lenticular and indistinctly stratified.
Near Ventura these deposits appear to be gradational
with upper Pliocene strata.
In the vicinity of Santa Barbara both the marine
and nonmarine lower Pleistocene deposits vary greatly
in thickness. They total more than 3,000 feet near
Carpinteria, and east of the Ventura River they
thicken to 6,000 feet and contain lenticular marine
and nonmarine beds in the upper part. Fossil mollusks
indicate that the bulk of the marine section near
Santa Barbara is early Pleistocene in age, but the
lowermost part may be late Pliocene. Mammal remains, including diagnostic horse teeth of Blancan
age (Wood, H. E., 2d, and others, 1941), occur in nonmarine equivalents near Ventura. In the vicinity of
Santa Barbara the name "Santa Barbara Formation"
has been applied to the marine beds and "Casitas Formation" to the nonmarine beds (fig. 2, col. 2). Near
and east of Ventura the informal names "marine
Saugus," "San Pedro," and "Las Posas" have been
used for strata that correlate in part with those
farther west (fig. 2, col. 3).
Poorly consolidated nonmarine gravels that contain
a large amount of siliceous shale fragments border the
Santa Ynez River Valley (pi. 1). The lower part of
these deformed alluvial deposits may be as old as late
Pliocene, but the bulk of the unit is inferred to be
Pleistocene in age. The name "Paso Robles Formation" is commonly applied to these beds.
Upper Pleistocene marine deposits occur mainly as
a discontinuous thin veneer on elevated wave-cut
platforms that are as high as 700 feet above sea level
along the south side of Rincon Mountain (Putnam,
1942). Similar platforms are evident at 1,200 feet
above sea level, but have no identifiable marine cover.
At most places the marine remnants are covered by
slope-wash detritus or stream deposits. Both the

marine and nonmarine sediments truncate older
Pleistocene formations and are composed primarily of
poorly consolidated silt, sand, and gravel. Mollusks
from the marine layers generally are assigned a late
Pleistocene age, as are vertebrate assemblages and
floras from the nonmarine terrace cover. Fossil
floras and dwarf elephant remains from nonmarine
terrace deposits on the islands corroborate these age
interpretations. Except for the tar-saturated and
diversely fossiliferous deposits southeast of Carpinteria, informally designated "Carpinteria Formation," these deposits are unnamed in the Santa
Barbara coastal area. Informal names also have been
applied to terrace deposits and wave-cut platforms
near Ventura (Putnam, 1942) and on Santa Rosa
Island (Orr, 1960).
HOLOCENE DEPOSITS
Alluvial deposits composed of clay, silt, sand, and

gravel fill most of the coastal valleys and flood plains.
Beach sand and gravel cover segments of both the
mainland and island coasts; eolian sand, both active
and inactive, blankets the windward parts of the
larger islands and the coastal area near Point Conception. Alluvial deposits in Goleta Valley are as
much as 225 feet thick and extend below present sea
level off major drainage systems (Upson, 1949; Thomas
and others, 1954). Sand, silt, and mud mask much of
the shelf along the mainland coast, except in very
nearshore areas and on crestal parts of some offshore
anticlines where older rocks are present. Generally,
these unconsolidated sediments are progressively finer
grained seaward, except for an unusual concentration
of highly organic clayey silt between Santa Barbara
and Pitas Point. It may be significant that bottom
sediments near natural oil and gas seeps are stiff and
dark colored. This condition is especially evident west
of Pitas Point where a notably dense population of
Listriolobus, an echiuroid worm, thrives in the siltcovered tract, in contrast to its sporadic distribution
elsewhere on the shelf (Stevenson and others, 1959).
An isolated patch of coarse-grained sand within the
tract has also been noted and interpreted as a possible
relict beach ridge formed at a lower stand of sea
level. Holocene sediments are sparse on the nearshore parts of the island shelves, and large areas of
bare rock are common, particularly in the passages
and on the windward shelf west of San Miguel Island.
GENERALIZED STRUCTURE OF THE SANTA
BARBARA CHANNEL REGION
The Santa Barbara Channel is a tectonic depression

that forms the westward extension of the Ventura
basin and a submerged part of the Transverse Range

WESTERN SANTA YNEZ MOUNTAINS AND VICINITY
Modified from Dibblee (1950)
Series
Holocene /
I Lithology
Formation
Feet
0- ^200,
Terrace /
deposits (N)/ 1
-r=--.
cene/
-:
z:
-^
UJ
CJ>
O_
=^~^^
Claystone and
diatomaceous
mudstone
Thin-bedded claystone
and laminated
diatomite
P=E5l
Ip*-t
Gravels
Diatomaceous siltstone
csj
Sisquoc
Description
11 "J -1"
a
4^#
CENTRAL SANTA YNEZ MOUNTAINS

Modified from Dibblee (1966)
Series
Holocene/1
z:
o
Terrace
Porcelaneous and
cherty siliceous
shale
Wji
fe>
fe
ff
(^==-
$3flt3
Barbara
i3
*j^
CJ
0
Tranquillon 1.7-
%f5S
i_
.
Rmcon
Organic shale and

thin limestone
Monterey
Rhyolite and basalt,

agglomerate, tuff,
bentonite
PjjcCECb
UJ
C3
O
Description
Sand, silt, and gravel
f/
Boulder, cobble,
and pebble gravel;
sand, silt, and clay
Sand and silt
Series
Formation
Vaqueros
i ' ';-. V-kVi'tTTs5
Sespe (Nj/1
OLIGOCENE
/ Alegria
B
^F^
_T^"^^-^
-Ir/Kr:
-~
Cozy Dell
z
Rmcon
Vaqueros
^1
Organic shale;
thin limestone
lentils
Claystone
300
Sandstone
fegga^g
Santa
I'.V-r
.. _
Sespe (N)
Sandstone and siltstone
Coldwater
J"/\AA/V\
t : =---:
....
f.-.-.v.v.
888
te
Cozy Dell
Arkosic sandstone
Sandstone
-: >:->:-
Jalama
&-=f=
Claystone and
siltstone; finegrained sandstone at top
and middle
J*
SJ.;r' E-TTT^-~
Juncal
'1
CLOWER
RETACEOUS
+
t: -_ -
Carbonaceous
shale and thin
sandstone
(O'O- O- O
J.O- O -o-
6>zfii
Sandstone
Claystone and
shale
Claystone and
shale
-':/$ *
Serpentine intrusions
CJ
If-
prd
Franciscan
' %
UJ
CJ
O
JE^=rS
Massive diatomaceous
mudstone; thin limy
beds and concretions
Siliceous shale,
laminated,orgamc
Alternating laminated
shale; hard limestone
^S>.~ap~
Jalama
=^^^
~=ir=i
.r. ." i_o
CO
"Santa
Marganta"
UJ
Franciscan
Shale and thin

platy sandstone
Sandstone
~ ^
Very thick to thin

conglomerate and
sandstone units
interbedded with
silty shale
pj::.j;
Sandstone
OO
Basal pebbly
sandstone
Hard sandstone
and shale
o- o-^
p: .-. .:
CZ>
PUP
Siltstone with
locally thick
sandstone and
conglomerate
interbeds
fe"S <s - o" o
to
^ 2
tlV^L.".
Claystone and
shale
^r-~ "
^r_^=
feL^
en
r-----^
S^-tE
=i
fo
Q
O
1-0
0-0
Sandstone and siltstone
Matihia
UJ
OC
t->
Q_
nPlCO
(lower part
commonly
called
CSI
CSI
C3
O
ur
Z
UJ
CJ
0
Shale and claystone
\ Blanca A
Espada
/Co- O- O- O
v.-.-.v.-.
J|i
OL.
Q- ^
fo o o o
fer^V?
(o- o-o-o
To o- oto o o o
Wo- tt o-
iT: H?.:
Claystone
Alternating thick
conglomerate
and siltstone
CT'o* o-"p
Qu
Anita
oc 2
Variegated arkosic
sandstone and
siltstone; basal
sandstone and
conglomerate
/.
: rm.v
V.TV.T.-
f$
Massive mudstone,
thick conglomerate
lenses
( A"AA/\/\
CJ
Matihia
TV
:r.v::
UJ
C3
O
Sandstone and claystone
<=>
[*$>:&=
fe.4
l|T-=.-
Sandy silt, sand, conglomerate, and clay;

nonmanne
C:o>: := >
HHI-^
~=
. |
gravel; silty clay;
Siliceous shale
Sandstone and conglomerate
Marine sandstone
<>
Description
Sand, silt, and gravel;

marine
^ r-r:
Variegated sandstone
and siltstone
^3
z:
LLJ
o
7. . .-.-. _
gen
Feet
|JJ^
Claystone
I Lithology
UJ
fen*r-
UJ
^---7-^
Feet
V-L-CTC
4 v
tet
Casitas (N)/ <
E!
2
O_ C3
I thology
Formation
VENTURA RIVER AREA

Modified from Bailey (in Redwme, 1952)
Conglomerate,
sandstone,
and shale
_ _ _ FAULT _ _ _ _
Sheared shale and
sandstone intruded
by greenstone and
serpentine
::: :
Rincon
-<a-
:^.-=-=r-
M-zia 1
fe^f?5r
Massive mudstone; dolomite concretions

Fine-grained sandstone
locally near base
Continued to r ght
FIGURE 2. Selected stratigraphic sections

.SAN MIGUEL ISLAND (COMPOSITE)
Modified from Kennettdn Redwine, 1952)
SANTA CRUZ ISLAND (COMPOSITE)

Modified from Kennettdn Redwine, 1952)
Series
Formation
| Lithology
A'V*
'..*
Feet
?. 0 A
*'.A ff
A-e r
A '.*.i >
Ok
A
N
A- AO
Formation
| Lithology
. . /
A?:>' It
"Santa
Margarita"
Continued from section to l;ft

Series
fo^". A
AO A.JQ\O O \
>o'^?. "\
[SÎ'o5
Rhyolite tuff and tuff

breccia; some rhyolite
agglomerate
Monterey
g
oo
z
CJ>
O
m
Hard, fine- to coarsegrained sandstone
and silty claystone
mterbedded
< vrr.'ir
-J^
^r^
IS**-"
Forammiferal silty
shale; fossiliferous
sandstone interbeds
;;
Thick-bedded sandstone
- FAULT-
"~~~~ls9
Unnamed
fc;.V?^>-|
&?.-.* &:
R\
'^>> f~\J
5^
- FAULT-
Alternating thick-bedded
sandstone, thin-bedded
sandstone and foramimferal shale; concretionary;
cobble conglomerate at
base
pjî4
Unnamed
- .v:
?TT5=-??
Basaltic tuff, siltstone,

sandstone, and breccia;
andesite flows and
agglomerate locally at
top
JJ
p^M
Alternating olivine basalt,
amygdaloidal and
sconaceous basalt,
basalt and andesite
breccia, grading upward
to basalt and andesite
agglomerate, tuff,
and sandstone
Description
Dune sand
Diatomaceous shale
O . ^ o*
"Conejo
Volcanics"
5^1*1? <s
CJ>
O
CJ>
O
LLJ
fSrlfc*
STCTi?
5^0i
vv'-^vTX
^^^D1
^^*p -""^x/v
iTil.'7/I o
Vl/i/i ^
J^y.V.V
Tuffaceous siliceous
diatomaceous shale;
thin beds of dense
limestone near base
xrvcri
i?s^y?
Feet
!l
Rhyolite and andesite

conglomerate
I Lithology
<2sSH inn v\
/! .- .
' IA_A"A A,"
\A "A~A A"
'Conejo
Volcanics"
p^^
Variegated mudstone,
sandstone,
grit, and conglomerate; massive to
very thick bedded
Formation
Monterey
rfi'A' A9
F^>
Series
Rhyolite and andesite

agglomerate
.'A>>^
A-
Feet
Description
300 Sandstone and conglomerate
Description
Rhyolite. andesite, and
basalt breccia, agglomerate, and sconaceous
flows
(pofoo9o
JL^~
z
O
2
Q_
Unnamed
gV.V.V.*;
fe?=^^H
to
Alternating thin-bedded
shale and thick-bedded
sandstone
$=I=jr
FAULT
^^
'%.'5^
Massive silty shale

and micaceous
mudstone
Cozy Dell
At
4
c
r
San
Onofre
Thin-bedded hard sandstone, siltstone beds
in upper and lower
parts, middle part
massive hard
sandstone
Matiliia
^1
^
'a
Cozy
Dell
fl
^T-^.*r-
" "*
3^
'iM
6S
Ss&J
P
t
^w
I
s
Massive, poorly sorted

breccia and conglomerate of mainly glaucophane schist, greenstone schist.and dionte;
shale unit in middle part
1
CRETACEOUS
UPPER
V5.-?5
LLJ
O
O
^- -v=s-
C3
Alternating silty shale

and thin-bedded
sandstone
Elr=S
Juncal
f=3^=3f
LLJ
Unnamed 5i^^
2/
Oiorite
, O
LLJ LLJ
S
LLJ
Q=
CJ>
"hm-bedded hard sandstone and shale,

orbitoidal limestone
locally at base
Hard silty shale, massive 500-foot conglomerate about 800
feet below top
Shale, locally crushed
in upper part, limy
in lower part
of the Santa Barbara Channel region.

365-228 O - 69 - 3
Greenstone
y,V:
pfe's
ri~VTT I
Thick-bedded sandstone
j vv^f:
Tim-bedded shale and
mudstone. thin micaceous sandstone
interbeds
.1
Sandy and silty shale
1"
Sandstone, conglomerate,
and siltstone
*.".".".*.
Hornblende diorite
- -
FAULT
Chlorite schist
EXPLANATION
(N)
Nonmarme unit
All others are marine
2000
i- 3000 FEET
Massive sandstone and

thin-bedded shale
FIGURE 3. Onshore structure section, Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez fault. T on fault indicates movement toward observer;
A, movement away from observer.
province of southern California (fig. 1). The Santa

Barbara Channel is bounded on the north by the
homoclinal Santa Ynez Mountains and the Santa Ynez
fault zone; on the south it is bounded by the Channel
Islands, which, in turn, may be bounded on the south
by the westward extension of the Santa Monica fault
zone. The western limit is not definitely known, but
a shallowing of the ocean and a northwestward bend
of the structures in the area south of Point Conception
may indicate a change of structural pattern.
Although basement rocks have not been reached by
the deepest wells drilled within the area, presumably
they form the floor of the entire basin area. A total
structural relief on the order of 60,000 feet exists
between the deep central part of the basin and its
elevated north and south margins. Imposed on this
regional structural basin and its north and south
margins are numerous normal and reverse faults and
steep-limbed folds indicative of intense deformation.
On shore these features can be observed and studied
directly; but in the areas covered by the ocean, only
such indirect methods as geophysical techniques,
shallow coring, and deep stratigraphic drilling are
available to decipher the geology. Land areas surrounding the channel have been studied in considerable
detail; and, although some offshore areas such as the
Montalvo and Rincon trends are fairly well known,
little is known about others because information does
not exist or is unavailable. Many such offshore areas
undoubtedly have structures that are as complicated
as those on the adjoining mainland. Known major
structural features are shown on .plate 1.
The dominant structural feature north of the Santa
Barbara area is the Santa Ynez fault. It extends
from east of the map area to the vicinity of Point
Conception where its northern branch seems to die
out and where its southern branch extends seaward
in a southwesterly direction. In general, the fault
dips steeply to the south, and the south side appar-
ently has been raised 5,000-10,000 feet relative to the

north side. The net slip on the fault has not been
determined because of complex stratigraphic and
structural relations, but some geologists suggest that
it is a major active fault zone along which there has
been left-lateral oblique slip (Page and others, 1951;
Dibblee, 1966).
The structure of the Santa Ynez Mountains between
the Santa Ynez fault and the channel is, in general,
a steeply south-dipping homocline (fig. 3), which incorporates Cretaceous to Miocene rocks west of Santa
Barbara and includes strata as young as Pleistocene
east of Santa Barbara. In the area north of Carpinteria, an overturned syncline and a faulted anticline
disrupt the homoclinal nature of the structure (Lian,
1954), and a faulted syncline complicates the pattern
at Santa Barbara. On the north side of the mountains
northwest of Santa Barbara, a reversal in dip forms
an anticline against the Santa Ynez fault.
Along the mainland coast of the channel the younger
and less competent late Cenozoic rocks are cut by
many faults that generally trend parallel to the range
front. The strata have been folded into complex
anticlines and synclines that vary in size from a few
inches to prominent folds, such as the Ventura anticline which is nearly 17 miles long and about 4 miles
wide. Other, less prominent anticlines are present in
the areas of Summerland, Montecito, the Mesa of
Santa Barbara, Goleta, Capitan, and Elwood. Numerous small folds are evident along the sea cliffs
and on wave-cut platforms when the tide is low.
The Channel Islands form the southern margin of
the Santa Barbara basin. Faults with a west or
northwest trend are the dominating structural features, and the fault-bounded anticlines and synclines
on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands have similar
trends. Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz are each cut by
a large median fault that divides the island into dissimilar geologic parts; both faults are believed to

NW
A SEA LEVEL
Santa Barbara shelf
h 0.35=^
--J-3&: ?
^=^
x^tfw
v^^- ^- ^-
///,
"*
' r^ i K i S**.S*L K. i
-rr** w k i rx
^%f
I
RINCON TREND
MONTALVO TREND
SEA LEVEL
- 500
INDEX
2 NAUTICAL MILES
VERTICAL EXAGGERATION
APPROXIMATELY X 6
Interpretation of seismic data by S C Wolf, 1969
FIGURE; 4. Interpretive acoustic subbottom profile, Santa Barbara to Anacapa Passage.
have a component of left-lateral displacement. In

general, the Channel Islands form a complexly folded
and faulted anticlinal uplift that is a seaward structural extension of the Santa Monica Mountains (fig.
1).
The west-trending Santa Monica fault zone, which
bounds the Santa Monica Mountains on the south and
which may extend westward beneath the sea south
of Santa Cruz Island, is a north-dipping reverse fault
that juxtaposes completely dissimilar basement and
younger rocks. Only north-over-south reverse fault
movement can be demonstrated from outcrop relations
in the Santa Monica Mountains, but left-lateral displacement may have occurred before late Miocene
time.
The eastern part of the channel floor is divided into
subparallel segments by large west-trending faults
(pi. 1). Each segment includes numerous small faults
and folds that generally are alined with the regional
structural grain. The western part of the channel is

not known well enough to project or correlate individual structural features.
A zone of faults closely follows the 200-meter bathymetric contour along the south margin of the deep
trough of the channel. Most of the faults within this
zone have steep north dips, but some are nearly vertical or dip steeply to the south. The type and amount
of displacement is not known. Another zone of faults
extends along the 200-meter contour along the north
side of the central trough; individual faults in this
zone dip to the south. In combination with the bottom
topography, these two zones suggest that an elongate,
grabenlike feature forms the deeper part of the
channel (fig. 4).
The east-central part of the shelf includes the offshore extension of the Montalvo trend, which is
bordered on the north by north-dipping normal faults.
The northern of these faults appears to die out to the
10

11930'
EXPLANATION
, Santa Barbara
,Summerland
Fault
-5000
Structure contour
Dashed where approximately located.
Contour interval 500feet
Drilling platform
Rincon oil field

Contours approx. 3700 ft
bove top "Repetto Formation"
Ventura oil field

above top "Repetto Formation
Contours on phantom seismic horizon'
about 1000 ft below top "Repetto Formation"
n Miguelito oil field

above top "Repetto Formation
Ventura
FIGURE 5. Schematic structure contour map of the Rincon trend.
west as it approaches the deeper part of the channel.

West of the longitude of Santa Barbara, the Montalvo
trend and related structures adjacent to it on the
north and south seem to merge westward.
The offshore part of the Rincon trend lies within
the nearshore shelf area where its eastern end is
bounded on the south by a fault that extends west
from the vicinity of Pitas Point. Similarly, the north
boundary of this part of the trend is the offshore
extension of the Red Mountain fault. Several faults
parallel the Rincon trend and displace the axial part
upward; others trend northeasterly and may offset
the axis toward the southwest. The northernmost
structural unit in the eastern part of the channel lies
north of the western extension of the Red Mountain
fault. The fault-bounded anticline that forms the
Summerland Offshore field is located in this structural
block.
Geologic information on the shelf area between Coal
Oil Point and Point Conception is sparse, but the
configuration of the offshore oil fields in the area
suggests that the structures follow the regional
westerly trend. The exact location of the offshore
extension of the south branch of the Santa Ynez fault
is not known; presumably, it continues southwest for
a considerable distance.
It should be emphasized that the exact nature of
fault movement in the offshore region is not definitely
known, for lateral components of offset that are
difficult to detect may have developed on many of
the faults that are shown as normal faults on plate 1.

The Rincon anticlinal trend is one of the most
prominent in the Santa Barbara Channel (fig. 5; pi. 2).
It extends westward from the Rincon oil field through
the Carpinteria Offshore and Dos Cuadras Offshore
fields into the Federal Ecological Preserve, where it
may merge with the structures of the Coal Oil Point
Offshore and South Elwood Offshore fields. West of
the South Elwood field, a similar structure may merge
with the structure of the Molino Offshore field or
that of a recently discovered unnamed field to the
south. Thus, there seem to be two parallel trends
west of the South Elwood Offshore field. One lies
within the 3-mile boundary and includes several fields;
another parallel trend is roughly 3 miles to the south
and includes the new oil field.
Another prominent anticlinal trend in the channel
lies just south of the Montalvo trend and may extend
west and northwest for more than 20 miles. This
structure is recorded on subbottom acoustical profiles
and is plainly discernible from the configuration of
the bathymetric contours.
Seismic information indicates that the young sediments in the central deep of the Santa Barbara
Channel are not greatly faulted, but they may be locally
deformed by small discontinuous folds beneath the
deepest part. In contrast, the region between the
Channel Islands and the 200-meter bathymetric
contour appears to be extensively faulted, resembling
the structure of the islands (fig. 4).
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
The geologic record of the Santa Barbara Channel

region is traceable for more than 100 million years
and indicates recurrent tectonic activity followed by
periods of relative quiescence. Because of the short
duration of the historic record, however, it is difficult
to determine which part of this cycle is now operative.
The Franciscan assemblage in the Santa Ynez and
San Rafael Mountains may have originated on and
beneath the deep sea floor far west of the present
shoreline. During Early Cretaceous time the marine
strata (Espada Formation) that now occupy parts of
the same area may have been deposited on ancestral
outer continental shelves and slopes. Great lateral
dislocations, perhaps resulting from underthrusting
at the continental margin, or from great strike-slip
faulting, may have brought these contrasting rocks
into their present juxtaposition during middle Cretaceous or later time. The middle Cretaceous record
is obscure, for strata of this age are missing throughout the region. Much of the pre-Late Cretaceous
geologic history is thus conjectural.
Throughout most of Late Cretaceous time, regional
subsidence of an older erosional surface permitted the
sea to transgress the area, and a thick succession of
argillaceous sediments, sands, and gravels was deposited. This deposition was followed by uplift and
erosion over much of the area during latest Cretaceous
and earliest Tertiary time, but deposition continued
locally as indicated by isolated remnants of Paleocene
strata that are preserved only in the southern part of
the area. Regional subsidence early in Eocene time
permitted the sea to reenter the area, and simultaneous uplift of the margins and accelerating depressions of the sea floor resulted in the deposition of
thick accumulations of argillaceous and arenaceous
sediments on what may have been the outer shelf and
slope. Near the close of Eocene time, the sea once
again shallowed, resulting in widespread deposition of
sands typical of an episode of regression.
Major tectonic activity occurred during Oligocene
time. Uplift north of the present site of the Santa
Ynez Mountains caused the sea to withdraw westward
and southward with concurrent deposition of shallow-
11
water marine sediments that, in turn, were buried by

a thick sequence of terrestrial gravel, sand, and clay.
During early Miocene time a new episode of subsidence, widespread transgression, and sediment deposition began. As the sea advanced northward
across a broad sinking land surface, the shallow-water
marine sands were successively covered and overlapped by argillaceous sediments as the area continued
to subside and the water deepened. Deposition of
calcareous, phosphatic, and siliceous sediments in
widespread seas containing abundant micro-organisms
continued during much of middle and late Miocene
time. During this time thick sea-floor extrusions and
explosive emanations of volcanic material interrupted
normal sedimentation along the south, east, and
northwest margins of the region, and coarse blueschist detritus derived from an unknown source was
distributed locally along the south edge.
Restriction of the basin began during early Pliocene
time as the margins to the north and south were
elevated above sea level. At the same time axial parts
of the basin subsided so rapidly that some sediments
were deposited in water as deep as 4,000 feet. Structural deformation continued throughout the region
during the latter part of the epoch and intensified at
places, resulting in localized deposits of extremely
varied nature and origin. The same general pattern
of restriction of the basin and sedimentation continued
uninterrupted into early Pleistocene time. About midway through the Pleistocene epoch, major tectonism
began to produce most of the structural and geomorphic features that are evident in the Santa Barbara
Channel region today. Prominent anticlines, such
as the Rincon trend, started to form, and many faults
originated throughout the area. During the same
time several thousand feet of Pliocene and early
Pleistocene strata were eroded from the crest of the
growing anticline that now forms the Dos Cuadras
Offshore oil field (pi. 2). Following this episode of
intense deformation, local differential movements
coupled with warping and minor faulting continued
into the Holocene epoch. Sea-level changes and the
development of marine terraces both above and below
present sea level also modified the landscape.
Petroleum Development
in the Region of the
Santa Barbara Channel
By R. F. YERKES, H. C. WAGNER, and K. A. YENNE
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY PROFESSIONAL
PAPER
679-B
CONTENTS
Page
Page
Production. ______________________________
Natural seeps near Santa Barbara._ ____________
Onshore asphalt deposits __________________
Onshore oil and gas seeps __________________
Offshore oil seeps and asphalt deposits _________
Oil and gas fields __________________________
Rincon trend area _______________________
Ventura oil field _____________________
San Miguelito oil field _________________
Rincon oil field ______________________
Carpinteria Offshore oil field _____________
Dos Cuadras Offshore oil field ____________
Ojai area_____________________________
Tip Top oil field._____________________
Lion Mountain oil field _________________
Weldon Canyon oil field ________________
Oakview oil field (abandoned) ____________
Canada Larga oil field _________________
Goleta area ___________________________
Summer-land oil field (abandoned) __________
Summerland Offshore oil field ____________
Mesa oil field __ _____________________
Goleta oil field (abandoned) ____________
La Goleta gas field (abandoned) __________
Coal Oil Point Offshore oil field. __________
13
13
14
14
15
15
15
16
16
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
17
18
18
18
18
18
18
18
Oil and gas fields Continued

Goleta area Continued
Elwood oil field. _ ____________________
South Elwood Offshore oil field ___________
Las Varas oil field (abandoned) ___________
Glen Annie gas field (abandoned) __________
Point Conception area.___________________
Naples Offshore gas field _______________
Capitan oil field- ____________________
Refugio Cove gas field (abandoned) ________
Molino Offshore gas field _______________
Gaviota Offshore gas field _______________
Caliente Offshore gas field ______________
Alegria oil field- ____________________
Alegria Offshore area __________________
Cuarta Offshore oil field- _ ______---_-_-_
Conception Offshore oil field. ____________
Point Conception Offshore oil field- ________
OCS P-0197 unnamed offshore oil field _______
OCS P-0188 and P-0190 unnamed offshore oil
field. ________-___-__------__--_
Montalvo area_ ________________________
West Montalvo oil field ________________
OCS P-0202 unnamed offshore oil field ______
Summary-______________________________
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
21
21
21
21
TABLE
Page
TABLE 1. Production and geologic data on oil and gas fields of the Santa Barbara Channel region
22
in
365-228 O - 69 - 4

PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT IN THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION
By R. F. YERKES, H. C. WAGNER,and K. A. YENNE
PRODUCTION
Petroleum has been associated with human culture

in the region of the Santa Barbara Channel for many
hundreds of years. Active natural seeps of tar, oil,
and gas are present in and along the margins of the
channel, and in prehistoric times asphalt from them
was used in tool- and weapon-making. At the present
time, there are about 20 producing oil and gas fields
in the immediate channel area, and products from
these dominate the local economy. A recent survey
estimates that of the $310 million income annually developed in Santa Barbara County alone, about onethird (32 percent) comes from oil and gas production
(Bickmore, 1967). Lesser percentages are from agriculture (21 percent), manufacturing (20 percent),
tourism (13 percent), and others (14 percent).
California is the dominant crude oil producer in the
U.S. Bureau of Mines District V, which also includes
Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. In 1968
District V had a total supply of 1,877,800 bpd (barrels
per day) of crude oil, of which California oil fields
produced about 65 percent, or 1,216,500 bpd, and of
which 661,300 bpd were imported, chiefly from foreign
sources (Conservation Committee of California Oil
Producers, 1969).
California's 1968 crude oil production of 375 million
barrels was valued at nearly $1 billion; of this total,
the fields of the Santa Barbara Channel region produced 22.9 million barrels (table 1) or 6.1 percent. For
comparison, oil fields of the Los Angeles basin produced 160.9 million barrels, or 43 percent of California's
total. At the end of 1968 the Santa Barbara Channel
region had produced 1.1 billion barrels of crude oil or
about 7.5 percent of California's cumulative production,

compared with the Los Angeles basin's 5.87 billion
barrels or 40 percent.
The development of the petroleum resources of the
area can be traced from early descriptions of natural
seeps, on which the first wells were located, through
extensions to offshore and onshore fields, to discovery
of fields by sophisticated geologic and geophysical
methods in areas covered by hundreds of feet of
water.
NATURAL SEEPS NEAR SANTA BARBARA
Many active natural seeps of asphalt or tar, and oil

and gas, occur onshore along the inland margins of
the channel as well as offshore in the tidal zone and
on the deeper sea floor (pi. 2).
ONSHORE ASPHALT DEPOSITS
Although many of the onshore asphalt deposits have

been obliterated, the existence of an extensive literature makes it possible to describe some of the more
important ones. The largest ones were at Carpinteria and at More's Landing; numerous others occur
along the sea cliffs between Point Conception and
Punta Gorda near the Rincon oil field (pi. 2).
The asphalt deposit at Carpinteria was located near
the sea cliff, about half a mile southeast of town. The
archeologic record reveals that aborigines used asphalt
for holding points on weapons (Abbott, 1879); and
Spanish explorers, dating back to at least 1775, observed that Indians near the present site of Carpinteria used tar from those deposits to calk their boats
and to seal their water pitchers (Heizer, 1943). As
early as 1857 the Carpinteria deposit supplied material
13
14
from which illuminating oil was distilled; the quarry

pits were as deep as 25 feet and covered several acres
(Eldridge, 1901). The asphalt impregnates the basal
12-15 feet of flat-lying older alluvium where it rests
on steeply dipping Monterey Shale that forms the sea
cliff. Eldridge also reported several active tar seeps,
and one of these, a "tar volcano," is illustrated by
Arnold (1907, pi. lllB).
The asphalt deposit near More's Landing consists of
asphalt-impregnated sandstone at the base of the
Pliocene strata, which unconformably overlie steeply
dipping Monterey Shale. The asphalt accumulated
to a thickness of about 20 feet near the trough of a
gentle syncline in the Pliocene sandstone where the
asphalt issues from large seeps at the unconformable
contact. This deposit was once mined as a source of
roofing and paving material (Whitney, 1865). A similar deposit near the coast at Elwood (the La Patera
mine of Eldridge, 1901) consisted of veins so thick,
extensive and pure that they were mined to depths of
about 100 feet. Eldridge also notes that a point on
the coast half a mile east of the mine was heavily
coated by petroleum washed ashore from offshore
seeps.
Veinlike deposits of asphalt in the Monterey Shale
were also mined at Punta Gorda, 2% miles southeast
of Rincon Point. Nearby, on the seaward slope of
Rincon Mountain, a 4-foot-thick bed of bituminous
sandstone of Pliocene age rests unconformably on shale
(Eldridge, 1901). Other asphalt or tar sands are
known, especially near the inland edge of the terrace
near and west of Gaviota and near Point Conception.
ONSHORE OIL AND GAS SEEPS
Petroliferous seeps are also very common along

the northern coast of the channel; they occur along
the sea cliffs southeast of Carpinteria and at the base
of nonmarine gravels at and near Summerland. Other
seeps are widely distributed along the sea cliffs westward to Point Conception, especially at the Mesa near
Santa Barbara and westward to Goleta and Elwood.
The approximate positions of these and other seeps
are shown on plate 2.
Most of the onshore seeps have been desiccated to
asphaltic tar or heavy asphalt-base oil. The seeps
are believed to be indigenous to the Monterey Shale, as
most of them issue from or near exposures of fractured shale that affords routes for migration from
depth (Dibblee, 1966).
OFFSHORE OIL SEEPS AND ASPHALT DEPOSITS
Written records, dating from as early as 1792, describe effects of offshore seeps in the Santa Barbara
Channel. Oil and tar "slicks" have long been a trade-
mark of the channel. In 1792, Captain Cook's navigator, Vancouver, recorded on passing through the
Channel (Imray, 1868):
The surface of the sea, which was perfectly smooth and
tranquil, was covered with a thick, slimy substance, which
when separated or disturbed by a little agitation, became very
luminous, whilst the light breeze, which came principally from
the shore, brought with it a strong smell of tar, or some such
resinous substance. The next morning the sea had the appearance of dissolved tar floating on its surface, which covered
the sea in all directions within the limits of our view....
In 1889, another trained observer, A. B. Alexander,

of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, also
reported extensive "slicks" caused by petroleum bubbling up through the water about 4 miles south of
Santa Barbara Light (Alexander, 1892). During this
same year J. W. Fewkes, returning from a biological
collecting trip to Santa Cruz Island, reported as
follows:
. . . sailed through a most extraordinary region of the channel
in which there is a submarine petroleum well. The surface for
a considerable distance is covered with oil, which oozes up from
sources below the water, and its odor is very marked.
(Fewkes, 1889). Evidence of submarine seeps recorded by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey during
channel crossings prior to 1900 is also reported in several annual reports, such as for 1855 and 1859.
Sea-floor deposits of tar in the Point Conception,
Goleta, and Carpinteria areas have been studied by
Vernon and Slater (1963), who photographed tar
mounds l1/^ miles offshore and east of Point Conception, in 90 feet of water. There, a sheet of tar covers
an area of at least one-fourth of a square mile and
has a 10- to 12-foot scarp at its seaward edge. Elsewhere, near Point Conception, tar mounds are as much
as 100 feet in diameter and 8 feet in height. They
appear to be distributed along east-trending anticlines
in Monterey Shale. At Coal Oil Point and off Carpinteria, the mounds are only a few inches high, and some
are elongated along fractures in the Monterey. Prolific gas and oil seeps also issue from the sea floor
about a mile off Coal Oil Point.
Tar mounds are formed where tar is slowly extruded from sea-floor vents forming mounds like
shield "volcanos." In some places, pencillike strands
or "whips" of tar, through which the more fluid tar
flows, were observed issuing from the centers of the
mounds. If seepage through the whips is slow enough,
they become more dense than sea water and sink to
form part of the mound; if seepage is faster, the whip
is torn away by agitation of the water and it floats to
the surface to become part of the drifting tar so common to beaches of the area.
Drill cores from a group of mounds show that the
tar fills all fractures and interstices in the host rock
PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGION OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL
to a depth of 10 feet; below 10 feet the fractures are

free of tar at this locality. Oil and gas also issue from
some of the mounds, but more commonly from fractures or sand nearby. It is inferred, on the basis of
sea-level changes, that the mounds formed during the
last 9,000 years (Vernon and Slater, 1963).
OIL AND GAS FIELDS
The first oil well in the Ventura basin, and probably

the first commercially successful well drilled in California, was completed in 1866 by the California Petroleum Company about 8 miles east of Ojai. Oil had
previously been produced here from shafts and tunnels.
Within the map area (pi. 2), the first field well was
completed near Summerland in 1894.
Offshore oil exploitation in the Santa Barbara
Channel region began in 1896 with the extension seaward of the Summerland oil field. Since then more
than 1,100 holes have been drilled offshore, and about
250 of these have been completed as producers. In
1921 the State of California introduced regulations
governing offshore development, and many exploration
permits and leases were granted. The development
resulted in the discovery of the offshore parts of the
Rincon field in 1927 and the Capitan and Elwood fields
in 1929 (Frame, 1960). The first production in California from an offshore platform was in 1958 from
platform Hazel in the Summerland Offshore oil field.
Shortly after World War II several major oil companies began extensive geological and geophysical
exploration of the offshore area by means of piston
and jet coring of surficial deposits, as well as shallow
and deep test drilling programs and seismic surveying.
A peak in the exploration program was reached in
1956-59; new methods and improved equipment made
it feasible to drill to depths of 7,500 feet and to operate in water as much as 400 feet deep. In 1958, new
and accelerated development of the tideland part of
the Rincon field followed the completion of Rincon
Island 2,800 feet offshore, near which the first oceanfloor completions were made in 1961 in about 55 feet
of water. Later the same year, the first important
new offshore discovery in the channel was made about
2 miles off the coast in the Summerland Offshore oil
field.
In July 1958, five tideland parcels were awarded
by the State in one area between Goleta Point and
Point Conception, and new discoveries in that area
began early the following year Gaviota Offshore gas
field in 1958, Cuarta Offshore in April 1959, Conception Offshore in November 1959, and Naples Offshore
gas field in September 1960.
15
Following discovery of the Coal Oil Point Offshore

field in 1961 and the Alegria, Caliente, and Molino
Offshore fields in 1962, no new discoveries were made
in the tidelands until the South Elwood and Carpinteria Offshore fields were discovered in 1966; the latter
discovery led to the first sale of Federal leases in the
Santa Barbara Channel a drainage sale of lease OCS
P-0166. Since 1966, offshore developments have been
on Federal leases, chiefly on the westward extension
of the Rincon trend, OCS leases P-0166, P-0240, and
P-0241 (Carpinteria Offshore field and the Dos
Cuadras Offshore field).
The channel region contains 24 producing oil and
gas fields. The reservoir rocks are varied but consist
chiefly of sandstone and interbedded siltstone and
sandstone: the age of the reservoir rocks ranges from
Eocene to Pleistocene, but strata of Pliocene age have
yielded the greatest amount of oil. Most of the oil
and gas accumulated in faulted anticlines that were
formed chiefly during the Pleistocene deformation.
Production statistics and basic geologic data for the
fields are presented in table 1. The fields are divided
into five groups on geologic-geographic grounds: the
Rincon trend area, the Ojai area, the Goleta area, the
Point Conception area, and the Montalvo area.
RINCON TREND AREA
The Rincon trend area includes the \ entura, San

Miguelito, Rincon, Carpinteria Offshore, and the Dos
Cuadras Offshore oil fields. All these fields are on
the intensely folded and faulted Rincon anticlinal trend
(pis. 1,2). The general eastward plunge of this structural feature is indicated by the fact that at the Dos
Cuadras field, at the west, the top of the "Repetto
Formation" is exposed at the sea floor; in the eastern
part of Carpinteria Offshore, it is at a depth of about
2,000 feet; and at the point where the Rincon field
crosses the shoreline, it is at a depth of about 6,700
feet. The flanks of this trend are cut by intersecting
en echelon reverse faults, and the result is repetition
of the stratigraphic section and formation of a thick
producing sequence, which at Ventura is about 7,500
feet in thickness.
Ventura oil field
Gas and oil were first found at Ventura in 1885 in

a 200- to 300-foot-deep water well near the axis of
the field, just east of the Ventura River. The Ventura
anticline was mapped in 1898 and recommended for
exploration, but exploration was not attempted until
1903, when nine commercial gas wells were drilled to
depths of 400-800 feet in the Ventura River bed.
However, the gas wells were difficult to drill in the
16
river bed with the cable-tool rigs, the water could not
be controlled, and the wells were abandoned. For many
years the Ventura oil field had the reputation of
being one of the most difficult in California in which
to complete deep wells (Hertel, 1929).
Exploratory drilling for oil was begun in 1914, but
the first well was suspended after 2 years of work,
because formation water could not be controlled. The
second discovery well was begun in May 1916; in
September the well blew out at 2,253 feet. The blowout destroyed the rotary rig and formed a crater
around the well from which gas, oil, and water were
sprayed, confirming the presence of petroleum under
high pressure. Subsequent efforts to develop oil
production from this level, known as the upper "light
oil" zone, were relatively unsuccessful. Water shutoff was difficult to attain, the zone was flooded, and
the excessive gas pressures caused several more severe
blowouts. One well, after being shut in, broke out at
the surface 400 to 500 feet from the well, where a geyser of water, oil, and gas shot 8 or 10 feet into the air
until the well bore was reopened (Hertel, 1929). - Finally, in April 1919, hard-won experience and improved
methods resulted in successful completion of a commercial well at about 3,500 feet in what is called the
upper "heavy oil" zone. After this success, additional
and better wells were completed in successively deeper
zones: 3,700 feet in 1921; 3,855 feet in 1922; and also in
1922, a well for 1,900 bpd from 5,050 feet. In 1925, a
real "gusher" was completed for more than 4,600 bpd
from 5,150 feet. By 1928, more than 100 wells, some
flowing at rates of 5,700 bpd, had been completed at
depths to 7,100 feet. At the same time, the field was
being expanded areally; it is now about 7 miles along
the east-west axis and about 1 mile wider'
In addition to the difficulties of controlling formation water, the Ventura field is almost unique in
California for its abnormal reservoir pressures below
depths of about minus 6,000 feet. Although these
conditions had long required the use of heavy-mineral
drilling muds, considerably higher pressures were encountered in the early 1940's in the "D-7" zone at
depths below about minus 9,000 feet. Initial reservoir
pressures in the "D-7" zone near the crest of the anticline range from about 85 percent of inferred lithostatic pressure at minus 6,000 feet to about 92 percent
of that at minus 9,000 feet (Watts, 1948). These
pressures produce very high gradients in the well
bore and well-head pressures as great as 5,300 psi
(pounds per square inch). In addition to drilling
hazards resulting from these high fluid pressures, wells
commonly failed by collapse and shearing of pipe
(Watts, 1948).
San Miguelito oil field
San Miguelito field adjoins the Rincon field on the

northwest. It was discovered by surface geologic
mapping. The discovery well flowed 600 bpd from
6,750 feet on completion in November 1931. Later
development extended the productive section to
depths of about 11,000 feet, for a total of about 3,940
feet in vertical dimension, and by 1961 the section had
been tested to a depth of 14,155 feet in the Miocene.
However, production comes only from Pliocene strata.
As at the adjoining Ventura oil field, reservoir pressures exceed "normal" hydrostatic pressure at depths
5,500 feet below sea level and greater (fig. 11). Reservoir pressures exceeding 10,000 psi in the interval
11,300-15,600 feet below sea level were reported by
McClellan and Haines (1951). Reservoir pressure of
10,000 psi would be about 90 percent of inferred lithostatic pressure at a depth of 11,000 feet below sea
level.
The field lies in an east-trending asymmetrical
closed anticlinal structure. It is separated from the
Rincon field to the northwest by a south-dipping reverse fault: its eastern boundary is an arbitrary line
near the west edge of R. 23 W. The reverse fault
marks the upper boundary of a very thick zone of
crushed beds; it apparently formed in the south limb
of a tightly compressed, overturned anticline.
Rincon oil field
Although the Rincon area was explored after the

success at Ventura in the 1920's, it was not until
December 1927 that sustained commercial production
was obtained from the present limits of the field by
a well drilled onshore and extended seaward. The
second well of the field was completed in 1931 at 7,825
feet after having been plugged back from 10,030 feet.
Although contemporary accounts of drilling history
do not mention abnormal reservoir pressures, all the
early completions were flowing wells.
As in the Ventura field, production is from Pliocene
strata; the structure, also similar to that of Ventura,
is an elongate anticline with limbs sheared by reverse
faults. The producing section is about 6,000 feet in
vertical dimension.
The State tideland part of the Rincon field was
developed very slowly by wells drilled from piers until
completion in 1958 of the manmade Rincon Island
about 2,800 feet from shore in 45 feet of water. The
first well was completed in October of that year, and
46 wells had been completed by August 1960. All
the wells were directionally drilled, and hole angles
were as great as 68 from vertical. The deepest
drilled depth was 7,725 feet, but all production comes

from Pliocene strata above about 3,000 feet subsea
(Frame, 1960). In March 1961, California's first oceanbottom completion was made at Rincon. The well
was drilled from an anchored barge in 55 feet of
water to a depth of 2,290 feet; the well was completed
flowing 64 bpd clean 28-gravity oil and 18 Mcf
(thousand cubic feet) gas through a 3,000-foot oceanfloor pipeline to shore (Frame, 1960).
Carpinteria Offshore oil field
The Carpinteria Offshore field extends about 4 miles

from State tideland tract PRC 3150 westward into
Federal OCS P-0166 and P-0240. The inferred producing area is about half in State tidelands and half
in Federal OCS tracts. Production was obtained in
February 1966 by a well drilled from platform "Hope,"
the second platform west of the Rincon Island; the
well had an initial production of more than 250 bpd
flowing. Since then, 89 wells have been drilled from
four platforms, and 88 of them produced in 1968 (see
table 1). The peak production year was 1967, when
the average was 9,894 bpd.
17
Tip Top oil field
The Tip Top field, located about 5 miles southsouthwest of Ojai, was discovered in 1918. The discovery well had an initial production of 15 bpd from
a depth of about 430 feet in fractured Miocene shale
that is exposed at the surface. Only small production
was obtained from a total of eight wells. The peak
production year was 1935, when the daily average
was 18 barrels of oil. The area did not produce in
1968.
Lion Mountain oil field
The Lion Mountain field, located about 1 mile south

of Ojai, was discovered in 1893 by a well that produced
about 20 bpd from a depth of about 1,200 feet in
the Sespe Formation. Production was discovered
in Eocene strata in 1949 by a well that produced about
26 bpd from a depth of about 3,500 feet. Peak production of about 55 bpd was attained in 1950. The
structure of the field is a faulted asymmetrical anticline, bounded on the north by a south-dipping, eastnortheast-trending reverse fault.
Weldon Canyon oil field
The Weldon Canyon field adjoins the Tip Top

field on the south. The discovery well was completed
The Dos Cuadras Offshore field, in Federal OCS in 1951 with an initial production of 133 bpd from
P-0241, is a western development on the Rincon trend. about 3,050 feet in Pliocene strata. The peak proAn early test from 2,000 to 2,700 feet flowed at the duction year was 1954, when the daily average was
rate of 1,800 bpd of 27.8-gravity oil; a test from 725 to 118 barrels. In 1968 the area produced 22,000 barrels
1,205 feet flowed at 346 bpd of 23.4-gravity oil. All from two wells. The structure is a pinchout on the
production is from the "Repetto Formation" of early steep south flank of an anticline.
Pliocene age. The first platform, "A," was set in
Oakview oil field (abandoned)
September 1968, and the first well drilled from the
The Oakview field is located about 6 miles southplatform, No. A-20, bottomed at 3,673 feet and was west of Ojai. The discovery well was completed in
completed between 2,137 and 3,427 feet, flowing at April 1955 and pumped 15 bpd of 35-gravity oil from
1,080 bpd (data from Californa Oil World, 1969).
about 1,545 feet in the Vaqueros Formation. Only
00 Federal OCS P-0240 adjoins P-0241 on the east. one well was completed; the field was abandoned in
The second well drilled on P-0240 was tested in July September 1955 after producing 726 barrels of oil.
1968; it flowed at an average rate of 1,042 bpd of 34.2Production came from the crestal part of a broad
gravity oil from 3,437 to 3,535 feet.
east-plunging anticline, which has been drilled to 4,709
OJAI AREA
feet, or about 3,100 feet into the Sespe Formation.
The Ojai area includes the Tip Top, Lion Mountain,
Canada Larga oil field
Weldon Canyon, Oakview, and Canada Larga oil fields.
The Canada Larga field is located about 5 miles
The first successful oil well in California was com- south of Ojai. The discovery well was completed in
pleted in 1866 about 20 miles east-northeast of Rincon August 1955 for 128 bpd of 26-gravity oil, 48 percent
Point in the east part of what is now the Ojai oil field cut. Recompletion the following month resulted in
area; oil had previously been recovered from tunnels production of 75 bpd of clean oil. By 1960, only three
in the same area. Several small fields were later dis- wells had been completed. Production comes from a
covered in the same area, including Lion Mountain, depth of about 2,500 feet in the "Repetto Formation."
Tip Top, Weldon Canyon, and Oakview. These fields The structure consists of a stratigraphic trap on the
are located in the northeast part of the present map south flank of a faulted anticline, which at Canada
and are included as part of the Ojai group (pi. 2, Larga has been drilled to 5,770 feet, or about 970 feet
table 1).
into upper Miocene strata below the "Repetto."
Dos Cuadras Offshore oil field
18

GOLETA AREA
The Goleta area includes the following fields' Summerland (abandoned), Summerland Offshore, Mesa,
Goleta (abandoned), La Goleta gas (abandoned), Coal
Oil Point Offshore, Elwood, South Elwood Offshore,
Las Varas (abandoned), and Glen Annie gas (abandoned).
duced chiefly water. The structure is a gently arched

dome transected on the northeast by a northwesttrending, south-dipping reverse fault, about half a mile
inland from the coast (California Division of Oil and
Gas, 1961).
Goleta oil field (abandoned)
Surface mapping led to identification of an anticline

in Tecolote Canyon, and in 1926 a well was drilled to
Oil production in the channel area dates from about test the Eocene strata. The test was unsuccessful,
1894, when the Summerland oil field was discovered but two oil zones were found in the Sespe Formation
from oil seeps. Early development of the field was at depths of 613 and 1,527 feet. A second well was
along the inland margin of the marine terrace; begin- completed in 1927 for 450 bpd, and a third well was
ning in 1896, development was extended seaward and completed for 1,040 bpd. Only eight of 27 wells drilled
then out over the ocean by means of wells drilled from were completed, and these were soon depleted as edge
wooden piers as much as 700 feet offshore. More water encroached; the field was abandoned 13 months
than 400 wells wese drilled from the piers to depths after its discovery.
La Goleta gas field (abandoned)
of 100-600 feet. This field brought in the first known
offshore production in the United States. Peak proGas seeps had been known for many years along the
duction of the field was attained in 1899, when the east edge of Goleta Slough. The La Goleta gas field
daily average was 571 barrels of oil, chiefly from shal- was discovered in the same area in 1929 by a well that
low Pliocene strata. Later exploration led to the blew out at 4,533 feet and later was completed, flowing
development of small pools in the Vaqueros(?) Forma- 58 M2cf (million cubic feet) gas per day from the
tion of early Miocene age, and a second, lower pro- Vaqueros Formation. One well was drilled through
duction peak was attained in 1929. The field has been the Sespe Formation to bottom in Eocene at 6,912 feet;
virtually abandoned for many years.
although several oil shows were reported from the
Sespe, none yielded commercial production. The six
Summerland Offshore oil field
wells that were completed from the Vaqueros included
In 1957, during the peak of offshore exploration, sev- one well that produced at the rate of 145 M2cf per day.
eral test holes were drilled from a barge in State At one time this field contained some of the largest
tideland tract 1824, offshore from the old Summerland gas-producing wells in California. The field was credited
field. As a result, a permanent drilling platform with a cumulative production of 15,363 M*cf on De("Hazel") was constructed in 100 feet of water. The cember 31,1968. It is now used for gas storage.
first well to be drilled from Hazel was completed in
The structure of the field is a small asymmetric antiNovember 1958; it was reported to have flowed at a
clinal
dome, bounded on the north by a south-dipping
rate of 865 bpd. The well was drilled to a total depth
reverse
fault that trends parallel to the coast about
of 7,531 feet (Frame, 1960). By the end of 1960, a
2,000
feet
inland (Swayze, 1943). The structure is
total of 16 wells had been drilled, of which 14 were
offset
in
plan
about 800 feet by a northeast-trending
producers. A second platform ("Hilda") was connormal
fault
(California
Division of Oil and Gas, 1961).
structed about 2 miles west of Hazel in August 1960.
By the end of 1968,46 wells had been drilled, of which
Coal Oil Point Offshore oil Held
31 were producing; the average drilled depth is 7,937
The Coal Oil Point Offshore field is located in State
feet. Production is from unnamed sands in the
tideland
tract PRC 308. The field was discovered in
Vaqueros Formation. The peak production year
1948
by
a
nearshore well that had an initial production
was 1964, when the daily average was 10,362 barrels.
of
89
bpd
from the Vaqueros Formation. Peak anDetails of the structure are not available.
nual production of 1,279 barrels was attained in 1948.
Mesa oil field
Two wells were drilled to an average depth of 10,047
The Mesa field was discovered in 1929, a small feet, but only one was completed. This area of the
production of oil being obtained from the Vaqueros field is now abandoned.
In 1961, additional production was obtained about
Formation at about 2,200 feet. One well was drilled
to 10,047 feet in the Sespe Formation, but no oil was 2 miles offshore in Sespe-equivalent strata from a
found. Initial production of some wells was 200 bpd, well drilled from a barge to a depth of about 5,598 feet.
but by 1950 oil had given way to water; at the end of Peak production averaging 637 bpd was attained in
1968 there were only three active wells, which pro- 1966.
Summerland oil field (abandoned)
19
Elwood oil field
POINT CONCEPTION AREA
The discovery well at Elwood was completed in

1928. The well flowed 1,775 bpd of 38-gravity clean
oil from 3,208 feet in the Vaqueros Formation. The
field was extended westward offshore by wells drilled
from piers and was also extended eastward onshore.
By the end of 1930 there were six producing tideland
wells. Peak production was attained in 1930 when
33 wells averaged 40,069 bpd, accounting for 6 percent
of California's production for that year. In 1931, 22
more tideland wells were completed, and beginning in
1944, slant drilling from shore extended the field a
mile or more westward. The reserves of the field
were thus increased, but the production peak of 1930
was not surpassed. Although several wells produce
from the Sespe Formation at depths between 3,700
and 5,700 feet, the bulk of the production comes from
the Vaqueros Formation at shallower depths.
The field includes two elongate east-trending en
echelon anticlines, the western of which is entirely
offshore. Closure of the eastern anticline is provided
by a south-dipping reverse fault that trends subparallel to the coast (California Division of Oil and Gas,
1961).
The Point Conception area includes the following

fields: Naples Offshore, Capitan, Refugio Cove (abandoned), Molino Offshore, Gaviota Offshore, Caliente
Offshore, Alegria, Alegria Offshore, Cuarta Offshore,
Conception Offshore, Point Conception Offshore, and
two unnamed offshore oil fields in Federal OCS
P-0188-90 and P-0197.
South Elwood Offshore oil field
The South Elwood Offshore field is located in State

tideland tract PRC 3120 and 3242, about 21A miles
offshore from the Elwood field. The discovery well
was drilled in November 1966 to a depth of 6,287 feet.
Production is from sands in the Vaqueros and Sespe
Formations. The average drilled depth of 11 wells
completed from platform "Holly" is 6,290 feet. The
peak production year was 1967, when the average
was 4,167 bpd.
Las Varas oil field (abandoned)
The Las Varas field was discovered in 1958; all producing zones were in the Sespe Formation at depths
of about 2,400-3,000 feet. The deepest test was to
3,404 feet in Eocene beds. Only two of seven wells
drilled were completed. The peak production year
was 1958, and the field was abandoned in 1960. The
structure consists of a small northeast-trending anticline that is bounded on the south by an east-trending
south-dipping reverse fault (California Division of
Oil and Gas, 1961).
Glen Annie gas field (abandoned)
The Glen Annie field was discovered in 1959; the

initial production of the discovery well was 855 Mcf
per day. Production was from an 80-foot sand in the
Vaqueros Formation at an average depth of 3,350 feet.
Only two wells were drilled and one completed; the
field was abandoned in 1961 after producing 491,000
Mcf of gas.
365-228 O - 69 - 5
Naples Offshore gas field
The Naples Offshore gas field is located in State

tideland tract PRC 2205. It was discovered by a well
drilled from onshore to a depth of 8,871 feet and completed in September 1960. The initial production was
estimated at 70,000 Mcf per day. The production apparently comes from Vaqueros-equivalent sands. The
cumulative production on December 31, 1968, was
20,815 M2cf; no wells produced in 1968 (Conservation
Committee of California Oil Producers, 1969).
Capitan oil field
The Capitan oil field was discovered in 1929, after

discovery of the Elwood oil field. The discovery well
was completed for 180 bpd from 1,446 feet in the
Vaqueros Formation. Several wells produce from the
Sespe Formation at depths as great as 3,400 feet, but
the Vaqueros is the most important producer. The
deepest test by 1960 was 10,216 feet in Eocene.
Commercial production was not obtained from the
tideland part of the field until 1932. In that year the
discovery well blew out during plugging operations
after being deepened to 2,821 feet in the Sespe Formation. Only seven tideland wells were drilled, all
from wooden piers; tideland production was suspended
in 1958.
The field is developed in a broad, gently arched,
north-trending dome that is transected on the north
by a folded west-northwest-trending, north-dipping
normal fault (California Division of Oil and Gas, 1961).
Refugio Cove gas field (abandoned)
The Refugio Cove field consists of two separate accumulations, one on either side of Refugio Canyon.
The initial discovery in 1946 was east of the canyon.
The discovery well produced 5,000 Mcf gas per day
from a depth of 2,500 feet in the Vaqueros Formation.
Minor production was discovered in 1958 west of the
canyon. This production came from about 3,550 feet
in the Sespe Formation. The deepest test, 6,148 feet,
bottomed in the Eocene. Of the 18 wells drilled, only
three were completed. The fields were abandoned in
1961 after producing 990,000 Mcf of gas and 3,000
barrels of oil.
20

Molino Offshore gas field
The Molino Offshore field, the largest natural gas

field in southern California, was discovered in December 1962. It is located in State tideland tracts 2920
and 2933 and reportedly produces from the Vaqueros
Formation. Production for 1968 was 28.5 M2cf gas
from nine wells; the cumulative production on December 31,1968, was 139 M2cf.
Gaviota Offshore gas field
Located in State tideland tract PRC 2199, the

Gaviota Offshore gas field was discovered in 1958, but
the first well was not completed until August 1960.
The first three wells were drilled from a barge, but
the first three to be completed were slant-drilled from
shore. In 1960, the three completed wells produced
1,113 M2cf of gas; the cumulative production on December 31, 1968, was 57,093 M2cf from three producing
wells. Production is apparently from Vaqueros-equivalent sands.
Caliente Offshore gas field
The Caliente Offshore gas field was discovered in

October 1962. Production, reported from the Vaqueros
Formation, was 3,804 M2cf from two wells in 1968; the
cumulative production on December 31, 1968, was
19,625 M2cf.
Production is from Vaqueros and Sespe equivalents.

The peak production year was 1962, when the daily
average was 518 barrels of oil. Production for 1968
was 20,000 barrels of oil and 815,588 Mcf gas.
Conception Offshore oil field
The Conception Offshore field was discovered in

November 1959. It is located in State tideland tracts
PRC 2207 and 2725 between 3 and 7 miles east of Point
Conception. The discovery well was drilled from a
barge to a depth of 6,854 feet, and the well was suspended. A platform ("Harry") was later erected
over the site, and the well was recompleted. By the
end of 1960, a total of 11 wells had been drilled, and
by the end of 1968, 45 wells had been drilled, of which
32 were producers. Production is from Sespe Formation, and the average drilled depth is 6,845 feet.
The peak production year was 1964, when the average
production was 13,539 bpd. A new pool discovery in
February 1969, made at about 4,050 feet in the Alegria
Formation, produced 384 bpd of 35-gravity oil.
Point Conception Offshore oil field
The Point Conception Offshore field, located about

1 mile southeast of the point on State tideland tract
2879, was discovered in 1965. The discovery well had
an initial production estimated at 214 bpd from Eocene-,
Sespe-, and Vaqueros-equivalent sands. In the first
Alegria oil field
The Alegria onshore field was discovered in 1959; year of production, 1968, about 5,000 barrels of oil and
its minor oil and gas production comes from about 2 Mcf gas were produced from three wells. By Feb4. &50 feet in the Rincon Formation. Only eight wells ruary 1969, the three wells had a combined production
of 406 bpd of oil.
were drilled, none of which were producing in 1968.
Alegria Offshore area
OCS P-0197 unnamed offshore oil field
The Alegria Offshore field was discovered in February 1962. Production in this one-well field is from
a depth of 4,033 feet in Sespe-equivalent sands. The
peak production year was 1964, when the average was
748 bpd. Production for 1968 was 23,000 barrels of
oil and 439 M2cf gas.
An unnamed offshore oil field is located 4 miles

south of Point Conception in OCS P-0197. The discovery of commercial oil in "substantial quantities"
was announced in September 1968. Two holes have
been drilled in more than 600 feet of water, but no
completions have been made (California Oil World,
1969, v. 62, no. 4).
Cuarta Offshore oil field
Located in State tideland tracts PRC 2206 and

OCS P-0188 and P-0190 unnamed offshore oil field
5.793, the discovery well of the Cuarta Offshore oil
On July 9, 1969, the discovery of a new offshore oil
field had an estimated initial production of 1,393 bpd
of 35-gravity oil and a large amount of gas; total field in Federal OCS P-0188 and P-0190 was announced.
depth was 6,751 feet. The well was suspended in April Of the four wells now drilled, three have been tested
1959 pending completion of facilities. A platform at rates ranging from 900 to 6,000 bpd for each well.
("Helen") was constructed in PRC 2206 about 2,200 The oil was 17 to more than 40 gravity and came
feet southeast of the discovery well in 94 feet of water, from five separate producing horizons which were
and production started in January 1961. On Decem- found between the depths of 6,945 feet and more than
ber 31, 1968, eight wells had been drilled; their aver- 12,000 feet. The first well in OCS P-0190 was drilled
age depth was 6,910 feet, and six wells were producers. in a record 1,300 feet of water (Rintoul, 1969).

MONTALVO AREA
This area includes two fields the West Montalvo

oil field and an unnamed offshore oil field in Federal
OCS P-0202.
West Montalvo oil field
This field includes three areas that were discovered

separately: the McGrath in 1947, the Colonia in 1951,
and the tideland in 1953.
The discovery well of the McGrath area was completed for 154 bpd from a depth of about 9,000 feet
in the "Repetto" Formation; Pico gas sands above this
oil zone produce the only dry gas in Ventura County.
A structural-stratigraphic trap is developed in an arch;
the axial area includes a buried east-northeast-trending branch of the Oakridge fault a reverse fault dipping steeply to the south (California Division of Oil
and Gas, 1961).
The discovery well of the Colonia area was completed in 1951 for 191 bpd of 13- to 27-gravity oil.
Production comes from about 11,500 feet in a series
of discontinuous sand bodies in a complexly faulted
north-dipping homocline in the Sespe Formation.
The discovery well of the tideland area was completed for 390 bpd of clean oil from a depth of 12,318J
12,529 feet (Frame, 1960) in the Sespe Formation. By
the end of 1960, 13 wells had been slant-drilled from
onshore. One of these, the deepest offshore well
known at the time, bottomed at a drilled depth of
14,850 feet, a vertical depth of 13,622 feet, and a horizontal distance of 5,632 feet from the surface location.
OCS P-0202 unnamed offshore oil field
An unnamed field is located 3x/6 miles off Point

Hueneme in Federal OCS P-0202. The field was discovered in July(?) 1969 by a well drilled to a total
depth of 8,452 feet. It flowed 15.8-gravity oil at a
rate of about 1,000 bpd from a depth of about 5,000
feet (Californa Oil World, 1969, v. 62, no. 7 [13]).
SUMMARY
Oil, tar, and gas have been features of the natural

environment of the Santa Barbara Channel region for
thousands of years; petroleum has been the chief mineral resource of the region for decades.
In 1968, the oil fields of the channel area produced
22.9 million barrels of oil, about 6 percent of California's
production. Cumulative oil production at the end of
1968 for these fields was about 1.1 billion barrels, or
about 7% percent of California's cumulative production. Dry gas production for the offshore gas fields
in 1968 was about 12 percent of the State production,
and their cumulative production was about 5 percent
of the State total.
21
The first commercial oil well in California was completed in 1866 just east of the channel region; it was
located on the basis of oil seeps. Since that time, the
channel region has participated directly in the successful development of every phase of southern California's oil industry, from prospecting on land because
of the presence of oil seeps, to prospecting offshore
by geophysical methods.
The oil fields along the Rincon anticlinal trend, including the offshore Carpinteria field, have completely
dominated the production statistics of all the other
channel-region fields combined:
Field
Production (1.000 bbl)

Cumulative
1968
on 1-1-69
Rincon, San Miguelito, Ventura.._______ 11,814

Carpinteria Offshore . ______________ 5.564
Subtotal. _ __________________ 17,378
All others________________________ 5.516
Total-________L-___________ 22,894
884,853
9.884
894,737
203.576
1,098,313
Note that the 1968 production from Carpinteria Offshore alone exceeds that from all the other non-Rincon trend fields combined. The large production of
the Rincon -trend fields is attributable to thick, oilsaturated sections and relatively high porosities and
permeabilities.
22
TABLE 1. Production and geologic data on oil

[Except as noted, data are from Conservation
Date of
discovery
FIELD, area, and pool

ALEGRIA
.
ALEGRIA OFFSHORE
CALIENTE OFFSHORE (gas)CANADA LARGA
CAPITAN
Vaqueros----Sespe ----Coldwater-CARPINTERIA OFFSHORE
COAL OIL POINT OFFSHORE
Nearshore area------Offshore area-______
CONCEPTION OFFSHORE
CUARTA OFFSHORE
DOS CUADRAS OFFSHORE 3
ELWOOD
Vaqueros--Sespe ---GAVIOTA OFFSHORE (Gas)
GLEN ANNIE (Gas)
GOLETA
- LA GOLETA (Gas storage)
LAS VARAS
MESA
MOLINO OFFSHORE (Gas)
NAPLES OFFSHORE (Gas)
LION MOUNTAIN
Sespe----- -Eocene--- -- - -OAKVIEW
TIP TOP
WELDON CANYON
POINT CONCEPTION OFFSHORE-REFUGIO COVE
RINCON
Main area Oak Grove area
_Padre Canyon area-- ---_
SAN MIGUELITO
SOUTH ELWOOD OFFSHORE
SUMMERLAND
SUMMERLAND OFFSHORE
VENTURA
WEST MONTALVO
McGrath
Colonia --- -- ---- _
Fleischer
---- Laubacher
- -- ----Totals-
Average depth
to
shallowest
production J
(feet)
f
\
July
Feb.
Oct.
Aug.
1959
1962
1962
1955
Oct.
Jan.
Feb.
Aug.
Feb.
1929
1931
1945
Aug.
Aug.
Mar.
Jan.
Mar.
1948
1961
1961
1961
1968
July
Oct.
July
Nov .
Feb.
July
Mar.
May
Dec.
Sept.
1928
1931
1960
1958
1927
1932
1958
1929
1962
1960
3 ,400
3 ,700
May 1935
June 1949
Apr. 1955
1 ,200
3 ,550
1 ,545
430
3 ,050
1945
1966
1918
June 1951
Mar. 1965
1946
Dec.
Dec.
Oct.
Nov.
Nov.
1927
1937
1953
1931
1966
1894
Nov . 1958
June 1917
Apr.
Feb.
Aug.
July
1947
1951
1957
1955
\
J
Average
API
gravity
(degrees)
4 ,300+
4 ,000+
22
38
2 ,558
26
1 ,300
2 ,000
22
40
2 ,850
2 ,600 +
39
26
30
40
34
Number of wells,
December 1968
Producing
Total 2
1
2
3
45
33
12
88
3
Abandoned
3
32
6
8
1
3
4
75
41
33
1
89
3
3
45
8
2 ,137
3 ,350
400
3 ,800
2 ,400
2 ,200
2 ,900
2 ,400
6 ,800
4 ,150
7 ,000
6 ,200 +
140
3 ,000
9 ,000
11 ,500
35
37
42
38
17
21
29
30
24
29
31
63
30
31
26
31
31
19
34
30
29
16
15
28
56
22
48
21
1
8
---3
Abandoned 1961
Abandoned 1928
15
Abandoned 1960
1
5
9
10
Abandoned 1966
2
10
8
2
2
Abandoned 1955
8
2
2
3
3
Abandoned 1961
421
327
291
218
34
47
75
83
82
118
11
11
8
46
31
986
1 ,295
57
86
9
18
67
47
1
1
Abandoned
23

and gas fields of the Santa Barbara Channel region
Committee of California Oil Producers (1969)]
Oil production
(thousands of barrels)
1968
Cumulative
to 1-1-69
23
7
80
3
102
74
28
78
18,993
12,067
6,549
116
642
20
377
9,884
986
1
985
19,226
581
265
260
5
102,792
99,131
3,520
5,564
116
Net withdrawal
formation gas
(millions of cu ft)
1968
Cumulative
to 1-1-69
439
3,805
109
34
75
3,893
227
227
483
0.816
418
406
12
6,816
141
3
1
3,733
28.5
12
6
6
22
5
2,568
1,612
259
697
831
1,929
1,285
8,415
1,089
102
980
7
22,894
363
181
182
1
106
512
5
3
99,493
65,212
13,568
20,713
53,262
3,449
3,210
20,783
732,098
29,107
3,257
25,598
161
91
1,098,894
1
1
19
2
4,527
2,323
630
1,574
972
2,812
8,537
18,566
561.578
"23
0.578
80,685
13
2,206
19,625
77
14,819
3,958
10,476
385
6,951
2,494
18
2,476
12,426
11,178
84,996
29,967
54,973
57,093
490,983
56
15,363
8
139,007
20,815
207
130
77
67
302
2
*0.990
152,978
83,134
37,729
32,115
155,054
4,444
*1,704
64,602
1,914,819
*10,312
7,613
*10,291
9
39
2,927,386
Water production
(thousands of barrels)
1968
Cumulative
to 1-1-69
1
1
34
16
48
4,138
3,526
612
1,938
107
107
4,944
933
13,629
1,289
3,156
433
16,669
4,580
2,963
2,888
75
20
6
5
1
3
22
4,453
3,287
258
908
628
299
3,856
12,342
10,463
364
1,021
8,567
1,105
33
1,072
6,743
14,203
520
13,681
2
24

TABLE 1. Production and geologic data on oil and gas
Peak
Production
Bpd
Year

ALEGRIA
Geologic data
Producing
formation and age
1964 |
748
AT T*PT?TA
1964 j
P<TT C tlO'DT1
CALIENTE OFFSHORE (Gas)

CANADA LARGA
-
Sespe equivalent, Oligocene
1956
55
1943
1935
1946
1947
1967
3,105
1,261
1,728
160
9,894
1948
1966
637
1964
13,539
1962
518
PAPTTAW
[
1
P A T? "P T MT'T'D T A
PHAT
HTT
DHTMT1
PHMPTDTT HM
T\r\ C
OT'POLTA'DT
Sespe, Oligocene
)
J
"Repetto," early Pliocene-
H'PTO Ur\"DT
HTTCtin'DT'
"Repetto," early Pliocene----
PT T A T\"D AOOTTOtfPiTPT
ELWOOD
C A \7TOT A
nVPQttnPT1
1930
40,069
1936
2,698
Vaqueros, early Miocene
( Pa o ^
----
GLEN ANNIE (Gas)

Sespe, Oligocene ----------LA GOLETA (Gas storage) -------LAS VARAS
1958
1935
2
3,027
1938
1950
1955
1935
1954
45
55
2
18
118
1959
1961
6,735
1950
1954
3,515
2,918
1951
6,758
1967
4,164
1 RQQ
.R71
1964
10,362
Sespe, Oligocene-- --------
MOLING OFFSHORE (Gas)

NAPLES OFFSHORE (Gas)
LION MOUNTAIN
OAKVIEW
WELDON CANYON
{
SAN MIGUELITO
n/~\TTrpTj
r'T r-Tf* f* F\
r\ "PTTO UO'DT'
RIIMM'RRT.AMn-
-_
__
SUMMERLAND OFFSHORE
See footnotes at end of tables.
Vaqueros, early MioceneSespe, Oligocene
Pico and "Repetto," late

and early Pliocene.
PI T nne>ne> . Mi nne>np
Vaqueros, early Miocene-
1
>
25
fields of the Santa Barbara Channel region Continued

Geologic data- Continued
Nature of trap 1
Remarks
Offshore tract No. and
completion data
Method of discovery 3
State 2199.
Stratigraphic trap-Faulted
anticlinal
nose.
Faulted anticline
on Rincon trend.
Geologic mapping-
Seven tideland wells drilled from

piers.
Geophysical and geological-
State 3150; Federal DCS 166. Wells

completed from platforms "Hope,"
"Heidi," "Hogan," and "Houchin."
State 308; wells completed on ocean

floor.
State 2207 and 2725; wells completed
from platforms "Harry" and "Herman."
Faulted anticline
on Rincon trend.
{ Faulted anticline--
Geophysical and geologicalGeologic mapping---
State 2206; wells completed from

platform "Helen."
Federal DCS 402, platforms "A" and
"B" .
Gas injected for pressure maintenance .
State 2199; completed wells drilled
from shore.
Stratigraphic trap
in fold.
Asymmetrical
anticline.
Anticlinal dome- Faulted anticline-Faulted dome -----
Geologic mapping-
Produced for only 18 months.
Geologic mappingGeologic mappingGeologic mapping-
Gas storage since 1941.

Inactive.
State 2920 and 2933.
State 2205; wells drilled and completed from onshore.
Faulted asymmetric
anticline.
Faulted anticline-Pinchout--- -----State 2879; wells completed on
ocean floor.
Stratigraphic trap,
Faulted anticline
on Rincon trend.
Geologic mapping-
Faulted anticline
on Rincon trend,
Geologic mapping-
Faulted anticline-
Drilling on oil seeps-
Anticline- ------

manmade Rincon Island; first^
ocean-bottom well completed in
tideland (1961).
Excessively high reservoir pressures at 11,300 ft subsea.
State 3120 and 3242; wells completed from platform "Holly."
More than 400 shallow wells drilled
in tideland from piers beginning
1896.
platforms "Hazel" and "Hilda."
26
TABLE 1. Production and geologic data on oil and gas

Peak
Production
VENTURA
WEST MONTALVO
McGrath
Totals
Year
Bpd
1930
45,323
1962
1958
1956
815
7,501
106
107
Geologic data
Producing
formation and age
Pico and "Repetto," late and

and early Pliocene.
_________
*Data from California Division of Oil and Gas (1961).

2 Total includes storage, idle, and active service wells.
3 Data from various sources.
"*Injected gas deducted.

*Chiefly dry gas.
SEISMICITY AND ASSOCIATED EFFECTS, SANTA BARBARA REGION

fields of the Santa Barbara Channel region Continued
Geologic data Continued
Nature of trap 1
Faulted anticline
on Rincon trend.
Stratigraphic trap
in faulted arch.
365-228 O - 69 - 6
Method of discovery 3
Geologic mapping and gas seeps.
_________________ ____ _____
Remarks 1 2
Offshore tract No. and
completion area
Excessively high reservoir pressures
below 6,000 ft subsea.
Includes a tideland lease, developed
by wells drilled from shore.
27
Geologic Characteristics
of the Dos Cuadras
Offshore Oil Field
By T. H. McCULLOH
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY
PROFESSIONAL
PAPER 679-C
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction- __________________----------------------------------------Acknowledgments ______________---___----------------------------------Structure- _ ______________----------_--------------------------------Lithology and stratigraphy ___________________--_--_-----------------------Petrophysical characteristics __________________-----------------------------Fluid properties_________________--_---_-----------------------------Reservoir and reservoir characteristics- _ ________________--_--------------------Seepage and subsurface fluid communication-_____________-----------------------Subsidence potential-________-____--_-------------------------------------
2^
^9
30
^2
34
^6
41
42
^5
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
FIGURE 6. Composite type log of the Dos Cuadras oil field- _ ____________________________
7-9. Graphs showing:
7. Porosity versus depth for analyzed core samples, Dos Cuadras oil field._________
8. Permeability versus porosity of analyzed sandstone cores, Dos Cuadras oil field____
9. Oil gravity versus depth, Dos Cuadras oil field._________________________
10. Schematic relations between producing "zones," stratigraphic subdivisions, and structural
divisions in the Dos Cuadras oil field-_________________________________
11. Graph showing fluid pressures and fluid-pressure gradients versus depth for the Rincon
trend including the Dos Cuadras oil field__________ _____________________
12. Graph showing fluid pressures, fluid-pressure gradients, and uncased and perforated intervals of Dos Cuadras oil-field wells that were shut in or drilling on January 28,
1969 ________________________________________________________
13. Map showing Dos Cuadras oil-field oil and gas seepage area._____________________
31
34
35
37
37
38
40
44
TABLE
Page
TABLE 2. Comparison of certain geologic and engineering characteristics of the Dos Cuadras oil
field with the Wilmington, Calif.,oil field-______________________________
Hi
46

GEOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOS CUADRAS OFFSHORE OIL FIELD
By T. H. McCuLLOH
INTRODUCTION
The Dos Cuadras Offshore oil field is a large multizone anticlinal accumulation of oil of intermediate
gravity in a sandstone and siltstone sequence of early
Pliocene age ("Repetto Formation"). The accumulation occurs in an elongate, doubly plunging, faulted
culmination of the Rincon anticlinal trend beneath
OCS leases P-0241 and P-0240, about 5^ miles south
of Santa Barbara. Figure 5 shows the generalized
structure along that part of the Rincon trend from
the eastern part of the Ventura oil field to the area
south of Santa Barbara. An area of roughly 1,000
acres is estimated to be potentially productive from
multiple sandstone reservoirs at subsea depths of 4,000
feet and less, but revisions to the estimate will probably be required as more detailed geologic information becomes available from drilling.
When compared with any other known anticlinal
oil field of "giant" dimensions 1 and comparable area
in the Santa Barbara Channel region, in the eastern
Ventura basin, or in California, the Dos Cuadras
petroleum accumulation is unique in one special way.
The shallowest commercial reservoirs of the other
small-area "giant" anticlinal fields are covered and
confined by a thousand to many thousands of feet of
relatively impermeable strata incapable of yielding
commercial amounts of fluid hydrocarbons to a well
bore. By contrast, at the structurally highest point
beneath OCS P-0241, the top of the shallowest major
reservoir of the Dos Cuadras field is overlain by a
section of less than 300 feet of interbedded siltstone,
claystone, and minor sandstone. Even these uppermost 300 feet of strata are porous and permeable
enough to contain mobile hydrocarbons that locally

are producible.
Development of the Dos Cuadras field began late
in 1968 when the first of 54 wells planned for drilling
and completion from Platform A on OCS lease P-0241
was spudded. The normal development of the field
was stopped when the fifth well on Platform A (A-21)
blew out on January 28, 1969, prior to logging.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The engineering, exploration, and exploitation data

on which this report is based were made available to
the author between February 14 and August 20,1969.
Data regarding OCS P-0241 were provided chiefly by
the Union Oil Co., and came either directly to the
author from company representatives, from the files
of the U.S. Geological Survey, and through documents
provided to the Presidential Advisory Panel. Data
regarding leases to the east of OCS P-0241 came from
several operators. The very valuable assistance of
R. L. Brennan, K. S. Fox, and G. W. Lester of Union
Oil Co., and of K. A. Yenne, R. J. Lantz, and V. C.
Kennedy of the Geological Survey is gratefully acknowledged. Many other persons and organizations
contributed in numerous important ways; among
them H. C. Wagner, J. E. Schoellhamer, and R. E.
von Huene deserve special thanks, together with the
staffs of the Los Angeles and New Orleans offices
of the U.S. Geological Survey Conservation Division.
1 An oil field is termed "giant" if it contains producible reserves of 100 million

barrels or more.
29
30
STRUCTURE
The writer's present knowledge of the structure of

the Dos Cuadras field is based upon his examination
of data from 17 of 27 wells coupled with interpretations of reflection seismic surveys and supplemented
by sea-floor geologic mapping and extrapolation
based on better known parts of the structurally lower
part of the Rincon trend east of OCS lease P-0241
and P-0240.
Of primary importance in the structural interpretations are the data derived from logging and sampling
of holes drilled to explore for, or to produce oil and
gas. In August 1969, data were available from one
deep well, one well of intermediate depth, and six
shallow exploratory wells; from 15 development or
evaluation wells of shallow to very shallow vertical
depths (including the unlogged blown-out well A-21
and its very shallow redrill); from an abandoned
shallow hole begun as a relief well to the A-21 (well
OCS P-0241 No. 4); and from three extremely shallow
abandoned cement grouting holes. On January 28,
1969, the date of the blowout, only the exploratory
wells and five of the development wells had been
drilled. However, the data acquired from subsequent
drilling has served only to refine local details of the
earlier geological interpretations.
Correlations from well to well by electric logs permit
determination of local structural elevations of many
distinctive subsurface stratigraphic horizons. Similarly, stratigraphic repetition (or deletion) by faulting
in a well can be detected by electric log interpretation
once the local normal stratigraphic section has been
determined. Dip-meter data provide reliable indications of local bedding-plane attitudes of the strata
penetrated by a well. Micropaleontological analyses
of samples of drill cuttings and of conventional cores
permit faunal zonation and faunal correlations of the
rocks penetrated relative to rocks encountered in
other wells and outcrops in the Santa Barbara Channel
region. Each of these well-established techniques
has been used in arriving at the present interpretation
of the structure of the Dos Cuadras part of the Rincon
anticlinal trend, particularly in the axial region, and
especially within the area of present and potential oil
production.
Also of primary importance in the structural interpretations are reflection seismic data. Somewhat
curiously, seismic data quality is poor along and over
the structurally highest parts of the Rincon trend,
particularly the productive area of the Dos Cuadras
field. In that important region, strong parabolic
reflections from point or line reflectors at or just
below the sea floor are so numerous and predominant
as to partly or wholly obscure seismic signals that

might be generated by velocity contrasts associated
with flat or gently dipping strata below. Therefore,
the near-surface seismic data are virtually useless for
crestal structural interpretations. On the other hand,
seismic data quality along the outer flanks of the Dos
Cuadras part of the Rincon trend is excellent, and,
after correction for change of velocity with depth,
permits fairly accurate general delineation of the
anticlinal flanks.
Geologic mapping on shore led to early recognition
of the conspicuously large and very productive Ventura
Avenue anticline, the complexly faulted, doubly plunging eastern culmination of the Rincon trend. Similarly,
discovery of the Rincon field in 1927 and of the San
Miguelito field in 1931 resulted from drilling of
prospects selected on the basis of surface geologic
mapping of the deeply eroded, though geologically
young, strata astride the Rincon anticlinal axis.
Geologic mapping of selected parts of the Santa
Barbara Channel floor was conducted by various
companies, including the Union Oil Co. of California,
for years prior to leasing of Federal offshore lands
for oil and gas exploration. Lithologic and paleontologic analyses of spot samples of sea-floor outcrops
and some diver observations of stratal attitudes were
used to compile geologic maps of variable quality.
The offshore Rincon trend was one such area mapped,
and it was recognized that the area now known as the
Dos Cuadras field is one of the structurally highest
culminations along the trend. Although sea-floor
geologic information is a helpful supplement to the
well data and the reflection seismic data now available
for OCS lease P-0241 and P-0240, it provides only
sufficient detail for supporting or confirmatory use
in present structural interpretations.
The current interpretation of the shallow structure
of the major part of the Dos Cuadras field is shown
on plate 3 by structure contours drawn principally on
the basis of electric log correlations that are supplemented locally by dip-meter measurements and extrapolated down the flanks using reflection seismic
interpretations. The stratigraphic horizon used to
contour the structure is the top of the sandstone unit
that forms the shallowest major commercial oil zone
in the Dos Cuadras field. This horizon, the C electric
log marker (fig. 6), lies within a conformable sequence
of clastic marine strata of early Pliocene age and
about 900 feet stratigraphically below the faunally
determined boundary between rocks of the upper
Pliocene "Pico Formation" and the lower Pliocene
sequence called "Repetto Formation" (pi. 3). At the
C horizon, the anticline is elongate, faulted, and
doubly plunging, with nearly symmetrical flanks
Mud line
Gamma
ray
500
.E.S.
E -^
1000
*3 1500
2000
2500
- H-2
3000
3500
K
L
4000
M
FIGURE 6. Composite type log of the Dos Cuadras oil field.
365-228 O - 69 - 7
31
that dip as much as 33 north and south from the

nearly east-trending fold axis.
Just north of the area contoured on plate 3, the C
horizon is presumably broken by a south-dipping
thrust fault of area-wide extent that has been penetrated in the majority of wells drilled in the Dos
Cuadras field and down the plunge to the east. This
thrust fault divides the rocks into an upper and lower
fault block (pi. 3). Just south of the area contoured,
the south dip of the C horizon increases progressively.
This dip indicates a strongly asymmetrical, locally
overturned, and probably faulted south limb.
Too few wells have been drilled through the thrust
fault to clearly define structural detail in the lower
fault block. Enough is known to state confidently
that the major structure in the lower fault block is
anticlinal (pi. 3). The fold axis immediately below
the fault is displaced about 500 feet from the axis
above the fault at the C horizon. Moreover, dipmeter data in the directionally drilled deep redrill of
the OCS P-0241 No. 1 indicate that the axial surface
of the anticline dips north at greater depth. Other
structural complications in the lower fault block will
almost certainly emerge as more information is
acquired from drilling. These are suggested by the
mismatching oil-water contacts below the F and above
the H horizons between wells of Platform A and the
No. 2 exploratory hole shown on the longitudinal
structure section (pi. 3).
Two important faults that break the C horizon in
the block above the thrust are well defined and displace the contours on the structure contour map (pi.
3). Toward the west end of the field is an east-northeast-trending oblique slip fault that dips steeply
northwest and has reverse displacements over most of
its length. This fault presumably cuts the thrust
fault, but may be a genetically related tear fault. Like
many other faults along the Rincon trend, this fault
is a permeability barrier to unimpeded movement of
fluid hydrocarbons, as shown by the different distributions of oil and water in the permeable strata of
the two structural blocks that it separates (pi. 3). A
south-dipping normal fault located about 500 feet
south of the anticlinal axis extends parallel to the axis
at the C horizon for much of the length of the field.
This fault has a throw ranging from 30 to 60 feet
in the western part and 120 feet at the southeastern end. A difference of 160 feet in the level of
the oil-water contacts in the C sand reservoirs on
opposite sides of this fault indicates that it also is a
barrier to movement of oil. It is not known with
certainty if the east- to southeast-trending normal
fault stops at the deeper thrust fault, cuts it, or is cut
by it. Also uncertain is the relationship between the
32
normal fault and the east-northeast-trending tear been used for continuous, accurate, and fairly detailed
fault.
lithologic determinations in nearly all the wells
Near the eastern limits of the Dos Cuadras field, drilled.
The stratal sequence beneath Platform A on OCS
understanding of the structure of the east-plunging
Rincon trend beneath OCS P-0240 is very incomplete. P-0241 is best discussed by reference to the type log,
Not only are fewer data available here, but also less figure 6. Three parts of the logs of two wells (Nos.
time and attention have been directed by the writer 1 and 5), drilled 500-700 feet east of Platform A, have
to interpretation of the structural data. The sea- been joined to form one idealized log showing standard
floor geology and the data from exploratory wells borehole electrical (or induction-gamma ray) properties
indicate that the general structure is a steeply plung- of the complete 4,200-foot-thick stratigraphic column
ing anticlinal fold (pi. 3). The generalized seismic penetrated between 200 feet and about 4,850 feet
interpretation is consistent with this view. The ir- below sea level. This composite log is uncomplicated
regular distribution of hydrocarbons suggests the by the repetitions or deletions of some strata in actual
presence of permeability barriers produced by faults logs of most of the wells. The type log shows three
across the fold axis; similar conditions exist farther major lithologic divisions in the section. The uppereast along the Rincon trend in the productive strata most 287 feet (from the top down to the C horizon)
displays electrical properties like those of a section in
beneath OCS P-0166.
which siltstone and claystone or shale predominate
The deformation responsible for the structure along
and sandstone lenses and beds are subordinate. Bethe Rincon trend cannot be precisely dated at the
neath this cap of fine-grained and thinly bedded
Dos Cuadras field; the strongly folded and extensively
strata is a 2,250-foot section (between the C and the
faulted conformable sequence ranges in age from late
H-2 horizons) in which the predominant lithology is
Miocene through late Pliocene and is unconformably
sandstone interbedded with subordinate siltstone,
overlain by a nearly flat lying and slightly faulted
mudstone, or shale. Below the base of the predomithin veneer of stiff fossiliferous silt and sand. The
nantly sandstone section (below the H-2 horizon and
fossil shells have yielded radiocarbon dates ranging
about 3,400 feet drilled depth in the No. 1 hole), the
from 8,750300 to 13,920350 years.
section is composed almost entirely of siltstone, clayOnshore, on the south limb of the Ventura Avenue stone, and shale, interrupted by a few scattered thin
anticline, early Pleistocene strata dip steeply and are
beds of sandstone. The rocks of these three major
conformable with folded Pliocene beds. This dip
subdivisions are considered in some detail below.
indicates a mid-Pleistocene date for the greatest part
of the deformation. Evidence of continuing deformaAt the time of the drilling of well A-21 the uppertion and uplift along structural elements that are
most
200 feet of strata beneath Platform A had been
associated with the Ventura Avenue anticline is
cored
only in small part and had been subjected to
described by Putnam (1942).
borehole geophysical logging in only one well on OCS
P-0241. Knowledge of these strata was restricted to
LITHOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY
the following: log measurements in stratigraphically
Sandstone, siltstone, claystone, and shale are the equivalent beds in wells about half a mile east, southpredominant rock types (in order of decreasing abun- east, and north of Platform A; percussion core samples
dance) comprising the lower Pliocene and uppermost taken at 5- to 15-foot intervals in three shallow
Miocene strata penetrated by drilling in the Dos (greatest depth, 150 feet) holes drilled at and near
Cuadras field. A limited number of rubber-sleeve and the Platform A site for engineering investigations
conventional cores and some sidewall cores permit prior to platform construction; and information
direct observation of some of the rocks and lithologic gleaned from responses to problems encountered
description by conventional petrographic means. during construction of the platform supports and
However, for most of the section, less direct methods during drilling of the shallowest parts of the first
of determining lithology have been used. Logs of four exploitation wells. Taken together, these diverse
spontaneous potential and electrical resistivity (IES and fragmentary sources indicate the following charlogs), gamma radiation, and gamma-gamma radiation acteristics for the strata between the sea floor and
("formation density") were recorded in most of the the C horizon at the location of the platform. Siltstone
wells drilled. These logs have been interpreted in and claystone predominate in the section and are
the light of core samples recovered from these wells interbedded with subordinate lenses and thin (as much
and with knowledge and experience gained in equiv- as a few feet) beds of fine-grained sandstone, in part
alent or similar rocks elsewhere. The results have calcareous and weakly cemented. Oil saturation was
reported by Dames and Moore, Inc. (under contract

to the operator) in samples of some of the sandstones
(the shallowest noted at a depth of 30 feet below the
mudline), and volatile hydrocarbon odors were detected
in some of the fine-grained rocks. These beds are
exceptionally tough or resistant (under penetrative
compression) when compared with younger strata at
other platform sites along the Rincon trend. This
conclusion was reached mainly from empirical relationships between the number of standard blows
required to drive a rock-coring device a certain increment of depth in foundation-site investigation holes.
It was further corroborated by data on the depths of
penetration into the ocean floor at different locations
along the trend of the jack-up legs of the floating
drilling vessel used in preliminary exploration, and
by data obtained in driving the pilings for the foundation of the platform. Oil and gas were found in these
rocks at the time the pilings were being driven, and
gas was bubbling from the ocean while the platform
was being emplaced.
In each of the four development wells drilled to
total depth from Platform A prior to the blowout, lost
circulation of drilling fluid caused difficulties while
penetrating the rocks below the shoe of the drive pipe
and above the point selected for cementing the first
conductor casing string. This point was between 50
and 100 feet (drilled) above the C horizon and was
from 155 to 242 feet vertically below the sea floor.
This repeated loss of circulation indicated qualitatively
that some part or parts of the capping strata above
the shallowest major reservoir of the Dos Cuadras
field were permeable to drilling fluid and cement (or
had a very low hydraulic fracturing threshold) prior
to the blowout, in spite of being mainly fine-grained
argillaceous rock exceptionally resistant to driving
penetration.
Subsequent to the blowout, and particularly since
May 1969, much detailed information about the rocks
above the C horizon was acquired. Part of the interval was logged in the relief well (OCS P-0241 No. 4).
Evaluation holes on Platform A (well A-24) and
Platform B (well B-18) were extensively cored and
logged through the interval. This information was
supplemented by the drilling or coring, logging, and
cementing operations conducted in three of the six
shallow grout holes about 600 feet east of Platform A.
Eighty-nine percent was recovered of the 246 feet of
rubber-sleeve cores attempted in well A-24 between
23 and 269 feet below the sea floor (the latter depth
is 18 feet above the C horizon). Of the recovered
core, predominantly fine-grained light-colored slightly
calcareous silty oil sand constitutes nearly 7 percent;
whereas claystone, some of it also oil-bearing in pores
33
and cracks, constitutes 88 percent. Some calcareous

claystone and some of the more indurated sandstone
are brittle and hard enough to fracture, but most of
the core is so porous and soft that it can be crumbled
or mashed in the fingers. Lithologies in the A-24
cores correlate well with lithologic interpretations of
the induction-gamma ray log of that hole, thus providing corroboration of the earlier lithologic interpretations based on the fragmentary data available at
the time of the blowout.
Beginning a few feet above the C horizon, there is
a rapid downward transition from the sequence of
capping rocks, in which claystones without hydrocarbon saturation predominate, into a sequence of
predominantly permeable sandy rocks in which most
of the pore space is saturated by oil containing some
dissolved gas. Such strata predominate from the C
horizon to the base of the sandstone unit about 40 feet
above the H-2 marker (fig. 6). Beneath Platform A
nearly all the beds that are permeable enough to
permit entry of hydrocarbons under moderate pressure
differentials are saturated with petroleum. Enough
logging and conventional and sidewall coring had been
done before the blowout to permit a fairly satisfactory
understanding of the lithology of this part of the
section. Sandstone beds range in grain size from very
fine grained and silty to coarse grained and pebbly.
Almost all are quartz rich and fairly well sorted.
Most are composed of grains that are well rounded to
subrounded. Beds are well defined and range in
thickness from laminations to massive beds several
feet thick. Most of the sandstone is firm but friable
and uncemented. Cemented beds are calcareous and
tend to occur close to contacts of oil and water, except
for some thin hard gray "shells" that separate uncemented rich oil sand from siltstone or mudstone
layers of relatively low permeability. Interbedded
fine-grained argillaceous and silty strata are subordinate, thin, and numerous but sporadic. More than
60 percent of the interval is estimated to be sandstone (as judged by the S.P. curve), and fewer than
20 discrete siltstone or "shale" interbeds of major
significance (thickness greater than 10 feet) occur.
The two thickest are above the G marker (55 feet) and
at the F marker (45 feet).
From 40 feet above the H-2 marker to below the
M marker (the approximate base of the "Repetto Formation") the strata beneath Platform A are almost
entirely siltstone and shale. Thin interbeds of permeable fine-grained sandstone as much as 15 feet
thick are oil saturated in appropriate structural
positions but are so few and so widely separated that
they are of minor commercial importance.
34
Assignment of the strata portrayed on the type log

for OCS P-0241 to the lower Pliocene and uppermost
Miocene series is based upon paleontological analyses
of microfossils, primarily Foraminifera, from drill
cuttings and cores. These analyses have been conducted entirely by the paleontological staffs of the
Union Oil Co. of California and its partners, and their
determinations and conclusions are accepted. The
interpretations are in close agreement with determinations based on electric-log correlations with wells
to the east in which faunal interpretations by other
workers are available.
Within the Dos Cuadras field, stratigraphic variations are minor but significant. Most of the thicker
lithologic units may be readily traced by electric-log
correlations throughout the field and for considerable
distances along the trend and to the north and south.
In general, the "Repetto Formation" thins from east
to west, and the relative abundance of sandstone
decreases as individual sandstone units thin and grade
into siltstone and shale. These relationships are
depicted on the longitudinal section (pi. 3). The extent
to which such stratigraphic changes affect the distribution of hydrocarbons in the Dos Cuadras field is
difficult to evaluate now, but it is likely that some of
the reservoirs will be far more productive in the
eastern than in the western end of the field because
some of the sandstone units there are thicker, more
permeable, and probably coarser.
stems from laboratory measurements of core samples

and from interpretation of well logs, particularly
gamma-gamma (density) logs. A plot of porosity in percentage versus depth for all samples of punch cores,
rubber-sleeve cores, and conventional cores that were
available from the vicinity of Platform A immediately
following the blowout of well A-21 is shown in figure
7. Measurements of 238 samples are plotted, 199 of
them from sandstone beds below the C marker, the
remaining 39 being mostly from claystone beds above
the B-15 marker and within 150 feet of the sea floor.
Nearly all the plotted porosities exceed 15 percent,
and most of them exceed 20 percent. All but two of
the samples within 1,500 feet of the sea floor exceed
25 percent porosity, and the samples within 150 feet
of the sea floor cluster around median values that
range from 34 to nearly 40 percent. Interpretations
of gamma-gamma (Schlumberger FDC) logs from the
No. 1 exploratory hole and the A-20 well are in substantial agreement with core analyses in the parts of
POROSITY, IN PERCENT
(}
10
20
30
50
Sea floor
60
1
*fff*x
X* 3
KB=0
Naof
samples
Punch]
cores 1
239 ft beta* sea floor

^ 514 ft drilled
*
depth
.
500
i 10
70
i
-E
vr*-
PETROPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The ease and rapidity with which a fluid, including

hydrocarbon fluids such as oil (or gas), moves through
a sequence of granular rocks depends upon the percentage of the total rock volume that is intergranular
pore space (porosity) and upon the number and
absolute size of the pore openings and the capillary
connections between them. Other factors, such as
the number of fluid phases in the pores, the viscosity
of the mobile phase or phases, and the driving pressure
differentials are influential, but total porosity and
average capillary size (or, conversely, grain size)
fundamentally control the permeability. In general,
fine-grained rocks, especially those composed chiefly
of platy grains such as clay crystals or mica flakes,
have smaller pores and pore connections than coarser
grained rocks composed of more nearly equidimensional
grains. In addition, moderately to well compacted
fine-grained rocks tend to be less porous than interbedded coarser grained rocks. Thus, most sandstone
is both more porous and more permeable than interbedded shale, claystone, mudstone, or siltstone.
Knowledge of the distribution of porosity and
permeability in the rocks of the Dos Cuadras field
40
Sea level
V*"*
No recovery
1000
39
500
7
3
"i
18
11
1000
I
<>&&>
''
.*.*
1500
13
vet*
1500
19
20
2000
i
- **
12
2000
EXPLANATION
Jgpfr*t.
0 "sr^
2500
'
3000
l~
j'*
* R^!l^,
0 "*"
X
Foundation core holes
A1.A2, A3; Dames
and Moore, 1968
.
Well A-21, Union Oil Co.
lease OCS P-0241;
Core Labs. Inc.,
1/30/69
Well A-20, Union Oil Co.
lease OCS P 0241;
Core Labs. Inc.,
12/11/68 and 1/11/69
2500
28
|
i
3000
o
41
20
FIGURE 7. Porosity versus depth for analyzed core samples,

Dos Cuadras oil field.
the wells where hole caliper data indicate a hole that

is not seriously washed out. From the core data and
the logs available prior to or at the time of the blowout it can be concluded that extremely high porosities
characterize both the sandstone beds and the finegrained rocks within 1,500 feet of the sea floor beneath the vicinity of Platform A. However, neither
cores (and core measurements) nor gamma-gamma
logs provide any measure of widely spaced fracture
porosity if present. Cores and gamma-gamma logs
yield measurements that are least representative of
the most porous materials.
Extensive coring and logging since the blowout have
provided (mainly in June 1969) a large additional
amount of data of high quality to corroborate the
conclusions reached on earlier scanty evidence. For
example, the average porosity measured by Core Labs,
Inc., from 20 samples of'sandstone and claystone selected from nearly continuous rubber-sleeve cores between
40 and 284 feet below the sea floor in well A-24 is 38.7
percent. This value is slightly higher than, but in
general agreement with, the results (fig. 7) obtained
in 1968 by Dames and Moore on punch cores taken
for engineering site investigations. This slightly
higher value may reflect the relatively greater
abundance of measurements on sandstone samples
and particularly on interbedded oil sands.
The relationship between porosity and permeability
of sandstone from the shallower part of the section
in the vicinity of Platform A was also established from
core samples available at the time of the blowout.
Figure 8 is a plot of porosity versus permeability for
39 samples of sandstone selected from rubber-sleeve
cores from well A-21 between about 300 and 800 feet
below the sea floor. Permeabilities of these soft
highly porous sandstone samples range from approximately 50 millidarcys to nearly 5 darcys, and there
seems to be a slight tendency for permeability to increase as the porosity increases. Additional measurePERMEABILITY, IN DARCYS
012345
20 -
30
40
50
FIGURE 8. Permeability versus porosity of analyzed sandstone

cores, Dos Cuadras oil field.
35
ments from newly available samples from well A-24

between 40 and 284 feet below the sea floor average
773 millidarcys at an average porosity of 38.7 percent
and include some claystone and some very fine grained
silty sandstone, together with oil sands. The lowest
permeability measured is 4.1 millidarcys at 33.2 percent porosity and the highest is more than 8 darcys at
43.4 percent porosity. These additional measurements indicate that the capping rocks above the C
marker at Platform A are not unlike the silty oil
sands at greater depths in their range of porosities
and permeabilities. Lower and higher permeabilities
occur in the cap samples. In addition, the average
permeability of capping rock probably is much lower
because of the greater abundance there of finegrained claystone. However, if widely spaced fractures are present, core samples provide no means of
measuring overall rock permeability. The fact that
the capping layer at the Dos Cuadras field confines
and preserves large reserves of mobile hydrocarbons
in the shallowest major reservoirs, in spite of the very
high porosities and low to extremely high permeabilities measured on core samples, attests to the relatively low effective permeabilities of the capping
strata as a whole. If an important fracture system
had existed in the capping layer prior to the blowout,
more complete dissipation of the mobile hydrocarbons
in the shallower reservoirs should have resulted.
Nonetheless, it is known that natural seepage was
occurring on this tract prior to drilling.
The previously mentioned problems of loss of circulation of drilling fluid while drilling in rocks of the
capping layer prior to the blowout attest to high permeabilities of the capping beds or their low resistance
to hydraulic fracturing. However, quantitative
evaluation of these matters is not possible without
detailed records of mud pressures and thorough understanding of the possibly damaging effects on the
surficiaF rocks of driving the platform foundation
pilings and (or) the drive casings of the wells (both
pilings and casing were cemented after driving).
Another qualitative measure of the high permeability of the capping formation was obtained after
the blowout when cement was emplaced by gravitative
flow into six shallow grouting holes drilled into the
sea floor about 600 to 900 feet east of Platform A and
into two others west of the platform. It was in these
areas that large parts of the uncontrolled sea-floor
seepage of oil occurred. Each of the holes was cased
from the sea floor to about 150 feet and then drilled
to a total depth of about 250 feet below the mud line.
In successive gravity grouting operations, a total of
24,855 sacks of cement were emplaced through the
uncased parts of these holes. Much of this massive
36
volume may have gone into open fractures, fissures,

or partings. An attempt to identify grossly megascopic fractures in the first of these shallow holes
(OCS P-0241 No. 5) by use of a novel Borehole Televiewer yielded completely negative results and there
is no other direct evidence of fracture channels. How
much may have entered the more permeable beds
within the mid-part of the section (the sandstone units
close to the B-15 marker) is unknown.
This section should be concluded with a summary
comparison of petrophysical characteristics of the
capping rocks at Platform A and at Platform B about
2,600 feet to the west. The C marker in well A-24
(directly beneath Platform A) is at a subsea elevation
of minus 475 feet. The same stratigraphic horizon
in well B-18 (directly beneath Platform B) is at a
subsea elevation of minus 556 feet, some 81 feet lower.
Rocks cored above the C marker at Platform B (both
those cored for engineering site investigations prior
to the blowout of A and those cored for control and
information following the blowout at A) contain no
fluid hydrocarbons identifiable by sight, smell, or
fluorescence. Hydrocarbon traces were detected in
a few samples during laboratory core analysis. The
average porosity and permeability of the 17 samples
of rubber-sleeve cores from the B-18 well selected for
analysis by Core Labs, Inc., are 35.4 percent and 882
millidarcys (in a range from 16 to 2,900) versus the 38.7
percent and 773-millidarcy averages measured
from the samples from well A-24. No surface seepage
oil has been detected in the vicinity of Platform B.
FLUID PROPERTIES
Petroleum and natural gas are complex fluid hydrocarbons of widely ranging composition and physical
properties. They are uncommon, mobile, and highly
fugacious constituents of certain especially favored
parts of the discontinuous veneer of sedimentary
rocks that rests on essentially non-oil-bearing rocks
in the deeper parts of the earth's crust. Petroleum
has a tendency to escape from underground natural
reservoirs and seep to the surface. It is well known
that seepages served as guides to early prospectors
and still form the basis for some petroleum exploration. This escaping tendency is also used in the controlled production of crude oil and accounts in large
part for the expulsion of oil from reservoir rocks
through flowing wells. Unfortunately the tendency
also accounts for the uncontrolled flow of oil from
"gushers," "wild wells," and blowouts and has necessitated the use of numerous precautionary procedures
and special mechanical devices.
The motive force behind the tendency for oil and
gas to escape from the pore spaces of rocks and move
to the surface is the force of gravity. Crude oil is
generally lighter than the water that saturates the

pores of most underground rocks, and it tends to be
buoyant and to float to the highest possible level.
Natural gas dissolved in the oil increases its buoyancy
and decreases its viscosity, thus increasing its mobility.
A solution of crude oil and "gases" is a relatively
compressible fluid. It has a strong tendency to expand
and to become less dense and more buoyant as the
pressure confining it in an underground reservoir
rock is reduced. Additionally, as a natural solution
of "gases" in crude oil is decompressed, it boils at its
saturation pressure. As the solution is decompressed
below this saturation pressure, gaseous hydrocarbons
of extremely low density (compared with pore water)
may be released in large volumes. The explosive
violence of many well blowouts is attributable to uncontrolled expansion of solution gas resulting from
sudden accidental lowering of the pressure in a well
bore.
In order to understand the manner in which fluid
hydrocarbons tend to flow (or not flow) through
porous and permeable rocks, it is necessary to know
the fluid compositions (density and dissolved gas content), compressibilities, saturation pressures, natural
fluid pressures, and pressure gradients. To understand
the possible damaging effects on rocks by the uncontrolled flow of large volumes of fluids from regions
of higher pressure to shallow regions of lower pressure, it is necessary to know the natural lithostatic
pressure gradients and the hydraulic fracturing
gradients of the rocks. These topics are considered
below.
Data available regarding oil gravities and producing
gas-oil ratios in the "Repetto Formation" of the Dos
Cuadras field at the time well A-21 blew out include
the following: (1) fluids recovered during one drillstem test and one clean-up production test of perforated intervals in the deeper zone exploitation well
A-25, (2) the gravity of oil produced during a cleanup test in the shallow- to intermediate-depth exploitation well A-41, and (3) complete analytical data, including saturation pressures and oil and gas compositions, for recombined separator samples obtained
during two tests at an intermediate depth and a shallow
depth in exploratory hole No. 2. Gravities of oil extractable from conventional cores recovered during
drilling of well A-21 were potentially available. These
compositional data are shown in figure 9. They indicate that the densities of the mobile fluid hydrocarbons decrease systematically and markedly with increasing depth from API gravity values of about 21
above minus 1,000 feet to 33 and possibly greater in
the range from minus 3,000 to minus 4,000 feet.
Also plotted in figure 9 are equivalent data measured

22
A. P. 1. GRAVITY, IN DEGREES
24
26
28
30
~i
32
34
36
Sea floor
a 1000
3
"5.
ja 2000
JO
i
<NI
EXPLANATION
O
3000
A-21 conventional
core extractions
4000
i
0.94
i n
0.93
r" i '
0.92
0.91 0.90
0.89 0.88
0.87
0.86
SPECIFIC GRAVITY AT 60 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT
' r
0.85
FIGURE 9. Oil gravity versus depth, Dos Cuadras oil field.
on samples of fluid obtained from selected exploitation wells that had achieved settled rates of production
following the blowout. These latter data are consistent
with the pre-blowout data and indicate that the tendency for the oil to be more dense in reservoirs nearer
the surface extends upward into the so-called "Red
zone" (fig. 10), the name applied to the thin producible
sands within the capping layer close to the B-15
marker.
Analogies between the crude-oil gravities of the
Dos Cuadras field and those of other fields in California lead to the conclusion that the denser crudes
in the shallower reservoirs at Dos Cuadras contain
limited quantities of potentially gaseous constituents
in solution and probably are undersaturated. By the
same reasoning, the less dense crudes from the deeper
reservoirs in the "Repetto Formation" might be expected to contain appreciable quantities of dissolved
low-molecular-weight fractions and to be saturated
or nearly saturated with gas. This expectation is
supported by the limited data available at the time
of completion of well A-20, and by the somewhat
more extensive data made available to the Presidential
Advisory Panel in May 1969 by the operator (lessee).
Analyses of the recombined separator samples from
tests of exploratory hole No. 2 give the following data:
(1) Lower zone sample (minus 2,677 to minus 2,028 feet)
at average reservoir pressure and temperature of
1,095 psig (pounds per square inch gage) and 105 F
at minus 2,350 feet had a field-tested gravity of 27.1
37
and a producing GOR (gas-oil ratio) of 165 cubic feet

per barrel. Laboratory determinations indicate a
saturation pressure of 983 psig, a reservoir fluid GOR
of 183 and FVF (formation volume factor) of 1,090
(barrels of fluid in the reservoir per barrel of stock
tank oil), and a gas specific gravity of 0.820 (relative
to air). (2) Upper zone sample (minus 698 to minus
1,178 feet) at an average reservoir pressure and temperature of 470 psig and 85 F at minus 938 feet had
a field-tested gravity of 23.4 and producing GOR of
50 cubic feet per barrel. Laboratory analyses show
a saturation pressure of 351 psig, a reservoir GOR of
52, and a FVF of 1.031.
During a flowing drill-stem test on January 9-10,
1969, well A-25 produced from the interval minus 3,962
to minus 3,300 feet (interval below the base of the
predominantly sandstone section above the I marker)
32.8 oil at a producing GOR of 595 cubic feet per
barrel. From mud weights required to control the
well during drilling of this interval, a formation fluid
pressure of 2,140 psi is indicated for the base of the
tested interval. Assuming a temperature of 138.6 F
(by extrapolation), and a gas gravity of 0.85, calculations using the table of Standing (1947) indicate that
the formation fluid is saturated with respect to gas
with a reservoir GOR of 510 and FVF of 1.252.
In summary, it is evident from the data existing at
the end of January 1969 that the Dos Cuadras field
is a many-zoned composite oil accumulation in which
- North
WE LL
WE LL
U C
p
P D
Red zone <
WE
\- Red zone
>
^/
/
1 0
Brown zone <
Brown zone
-? w
/
| Red zone
E E
R
402
C'P")F upper zone <
402
upper zone <
C R
\ Brown zone -nC'Q")

^:/M;//:M;////M//;//:7/;. f:::::;::x;::x::::;:;:;:::::::;::::: E D
402
oL G
L
-F 0
\j
1 402
/'
^Thi
st fault
H
1
c E
jm :'W:f.
: ;S;:S&;S:::::S:S:;S:SH:x:SA
Zone yî^SSiWift -S
\-^-mm^;mmyf^K,
402
,.
402
1000 FEET
500
__I
I
APPROXIMATE VERTICAL SCALE
Note: F-G markers are included in 402 upper zone above thrust fault
and in 402 lower zone below thrust fault
FIGURE 10. Schematic relations between producing "zones,"

stratigraphic subdivisions, and structural divisions in the Dos
Cuadras oil field.
38
the mobile (producible) hydrocarbons decrease in den- depths of minus 4,000 and about minus 9,000 feet
sity (increase in API gravity) with increasing depths, range above "normal" along gradients of 0.6-0.9 psi
from 21 or less at depths less than minus 1,000 feet per foot of depth. These well-known abnormalities
to 33 or more at depths greater than minus 3,500 feet. raise questions concerning fluid pressure gradients at
Also evident is the fact that the reservoir fluids range the Dos Cuadras field, since it is located along the
from strongly undersaturated (with respect to gas) same structural trend.
at shallow depths to saturated and at bubble-point
Data regarding fluid pressures in reservoirs of the
pressures for the deepest interval tested (minus 3,962 Dos Cuadras field come from measurements made
to 3,300 feet).
during drill-stem tests, production tests, and pressureCalifornia oil fields generally are characterized by buildup tests, and from determinations based on the
so-called "normal" fluid pressures, that is, fluid pres- weights of drilling fluids required to maintain pressures equal to the hydrostatic pressure exerted by a sure control in drilling wells. Prior to the leasing of
column of nearly fresh water extending from the sub- OCS P-0241, a gradient of 0.454 psi per foot was well
surface point of measurement to the surface (or to established on lease OCS P-0166 in the "Repetto Forthe natural ground- water level in the aquifer). In con- mation" reservoirs (fig. 11) from many determinations.
trast to this are the fluid pressures in the deeper zones Before Platform A was constructed, exploratory hole
of the onshore fields along the Rincon trend, particu- No. 1 had demonstrated that 71 and 72 pounds per
larly the Ventura field, where fluid pressures range cubic foot drilling mud (0.493 psi per foot and 0.500
upward from "hydrostatic" to values approaching the psi per foot gradients, respectively) could be safely
"lithostatic" pressure, or pressure due to the weight used in drilling near the Platform A site to depths of
of a column of rock extending from the subsurface minus 3,356 feet (1,680 psi). At greater depths
point of measurement to the surface vertically above "kicking" of the mud column necessitated higher mud
that point. The "lithostatic" pressure gradient is weights (at minus 3,821 feet, 80-pound mud was recommonly assumed to be 1 psi per foot of depth, and quired, indicating a fluid pressure of 2,120 psi on a
most calculated gradients depart very little from this gradient of 0.555 psi per foot). Trial production tests in
assumption. Figure 11 summarizes the published exploratory well No. 2 about 1 mile west of the Platpressure data from onshore Rincon trend fields (Watts, form A site yielded pressure measurements consistent
1948; Glenn, 1950; Duggan, 1964) and from the Dos with a pressure gradient of 0.44 psi per foot down to
Cuadras field. Pressures in onshore wells between minus 2,677 feet. Before the. blowout of well A-21,
exploitation well A-25 was drilled to a total vertical
depth of 4,051 (minus 3,963 feet); gas "kicking" occurred at minus 3,448 feet (after drilling below 9%-inch
casing cemented at minus 3,318 feet) requiring 73
DCS P-0166, gradient of
0.454 psi per foot
pounds per cubic foot mud (0.505 psi per foot gradient).
At total drilled depth of 4,051 feet the hole began to
"unload" 77-pound mud, but use of 78-pound mud led
to loss of circulation, indicating a fluid pressure of
2,146 psi on a gradient of about 0.538 psi per foot.
OCSP-0241,wellA-25,mud _|
weights and production test
These data are shown in figure 11, and have been corroborated
by more detailed information gathered
DCS P-0241, well A-20,
since the blowout. Evidently, the "Repetto" reservoir
pressure buildup 4/3/69
rocks of the Dos Cuadras field, down to the base of the
dominantly sandy section, contain fluids that are at
or only slightly above "normal" hydrostatic pressures
on a gradient of 0.44 psi per foot. Below the base of
the dominantly sandy section, and especially below the
I marker at about minus 3,440 feet, the minor thin
sandstone beds are charged with fluids at notably
greater pressures. These same sandstones are also
10,000
10,000
2000
4000
6000
the
sources of the gas-saturated oils of lower density
STATIC PRESSURE, IN POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH
(higher API gravity).
Taken together, the compositions and pressures of
FIGURE 11. Fluid pressures and fluid-pressure gradients versus
depth for the Rincon trend including the Dos Cuadras oil the fluids in the reservoir rocks of the Dos Cuadras
field.
field tell much about the nature of the reservoirs and
of the accumulation. The gradual decrease in oil

density and increase in solution gas content with increasing sample depth would be unstable and impossible or unlikely in one or several thick reservoirs,
each containing oil columns having vertical dimensions
totaling several thousands of feet (Sage and Lacey,
1939; Roof, 1959). In addition, the adherence of the
fluid pressures to near the gradient of low-salinity
water throughout most of this thick oil-bearing section
is also indicative of many reservoirs in the Dos Cuadras
field. Lastly, multiple oil-water contacts have been
recorded by electrical logging of the wells drilled (pi.
3). Each of these reservoirs has a fairly short vertical
oil column, and they are stacked one upon another in
a sequence that is continuous (or nearly so) in the
structurally highest locations, but separated in flank
locations by water-saturated sands. The fluids in
such a large composite accumulation must have been
in a delicate, metastable equilibrium, and any drastic
uncontrolled disturbance of this balance could result
in far-reaching consequences. The blowout of well
A-21 triggered such a disturbance.
In modern, soundly engineered deep drilling, "Well
planning ... includes accurate prediction of formation
pressures and fracture gradients in the formations to
be drilled" (Records, 1968, p. 66). This statement is
equally applicable to shallow drilling in areas such as
the offshore Rincon trend where thick permeable
sections charged in some places with oil containing
solution gas may be present at shallow depths. Fluid
pressures in the rocks along the Rincon trend have
been examined; the question of lithostatic pressures
and hydraulic fracturing pressure gradients in relation
to casing practice must also be considered.
The range of densities of fluid-saturated sedimentary rocks is such that the static pressure exerted
at the base of a rock column departs very little from
a gradient of 1 psi per foot of depth. To verify this
assumption, the porosity data summarized in figure 7
were used, together with those data considered reliable from the gamma-gamma (formation density) log
of the A-20 well, to construct a profile of rock density
versus depth for the Dos Cuadras field. This profile
was used to calculate a local "lithostatic pressure"
gradient for comparison with the theoretical gradient.
Because sea water instead of rock makes up the topmost 188 feet of the column, calculated lithostatic
pressures from the sea floor down to about minus 750
feet are notably lower than pressures based on an assumed gradient of 1 psi per foot. However, at depths
greater than minus 750 feet the local lithostatic pressure ranges from values equal to the theoretical gradient to values substantially in excess of it at depths
39
of more than minus 2,000 feet. Such close agreement

is general and expectable.
The significance of lithostatic pressure gradient in
the Dos Cuadras field may be best explained by imagining the effect of connecting a pump to the pore fluids
at depth in a sequence of strata. At the outset the
indigenous fluid pressure in the rock pores may be
roughly one-half the lithostatic pressure at that depth
due to the weight of the overlying rock column. By
pumping fluid at high rates into the pores at that
depth, the fluid pressure will be raised locally and
theoretically could be raised to pressure equal to the
lithostatic pressure. If this were accomplished, the
weight of the overlying rock column would be lifted
by the hydraulic action of the pumped fluid; the rocks
surrounding the confined high-pressure pore fluid
would be deformed, either by plastic yielding or by
brittle fracturing or both, depending upon the nature
of the material (Whalen, 1968).
This process is known as hydraulic fracturing and
is a well-established technique used in many oil-producing regions for increasing well productivity. Highpressure fluids are pumped down cased wells and into
the rock pore spaces through open intervals or perforations in casing until fractures form and open up
around the well bore. Hydraulic fracturing (or, in
soft rocks, its equivalent, plastic parting or rupturing)
occurs whenever the pore fluid pressure exceeds the
lithostatic pressure. In most regions rock fracturing
occurs if pore fluid pressure exceeds a threshold value
somewhat lower than the lithostatic pressure, giving
rise to the concept and term "hydraulic fracturing
gradient." These gradients range between 1 psi per
foot and perhaps 0.6 psi per foot. In most California
oil fields hydraulic fracturing has proved ineffective
as a means for increasing well productivity, so that
local data are sparse; from these sparse data it appears
that "hydraulic fracturing gradients" in California
fields range from 0.7 psi per foot to the lithostatic
gradient. In the deeper Pliocene zones of the Ventura
field "hydraulic fracturing" pressures must nearly
equal the lithostatic pressures, because natural fluid
pressures have gradients up to 0.9 psi per foot (fig. 11).
Knowledge about hydraulic fracturing has been
gained by experiments in artificial well stimulation.
The principals involved are generally applicable and
help to understand damage that may be done inadvertently to rocks during oil field operations. The consequences of the blowout of well A-21 are clarified in
the light of such considerations.
The fluid pressures and the fluid and lithostatic
pressure gradients encountered in the Dos Cuadras
field are shown in figure 12, together with a vertical
40
Fluid pressure gradient

DosCuadras oil field
4000
1000
2000
3000
4000
STATIC PRESSURE, IN POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH
FIGURE 12. Fluid pressures, fluid-pressure gradients, and uncased and perforated intervals of the Dos Cuadras oil-field
wells that were shut in or drilling on January 28,1969.
line indicating the vertical depth interval in well A-21,

which was not protected by casing at the time control
of the drilling fluid was lost and the well blew out.
A single string of conductor casing was cemented at
a drilled depth of 514 feet (238 feet vertically below
the sea floor) in fine-grained rocks of the capping
layer (fig. 6) between the B-15 and C markers. The
bottom of the hole was at a total vertical subsea
depth of minus 3,313 feet, presumably characterized
by fluid pressures only slightly above "normal" on a
pressure gradient of 0.5 psi per foot, and presumably
stratigraphically above the base of the predominantly
sandstone section. When the hole began to "unload"
through the drill string, the drilling mud was followed
by what the drilling crew described as a "heavy condensate mist," rather than black oil, thus indicating
that the source of the hydrocarbons was either gassaturated oil or a gas cap (no other evidence of any
gas cap is known) and that the fluid column in the
well bore had a very low density. For 13 minutes the
well blew blinding gaseous mist in large volumes with
a deafening roar. After an attempt to stab with the
kelley failed, the crew dropped the drill string and
closed the blowout preventer, thereby abruptly confining the low-density condensate fluid to the largely
uncased well bore (see Appendix A). Within minutes
myriads of small gas bubbles unaccompanied by oil
rose to the water surface in a large area adjacent to

Platform A. No other signs of impending trouble
were visible. From 1% to 2 hours after shutting the
rams, the crew observed a large and turbulent boiling
of the water about 800 feet east of the platform (fig.
13), the first emergence to the surface of large volumes of seeping gas accompanied by abundant black
oil. As this initial boil intensified and expanded,
another similar boil began at the northeast corner of
the platform and partly beneath it. Within 24 hours
oil and gas were seeping vigorously from numerous
ocean-floor sources along an east-west zone extending
from a point about 250 feet west of the platform to a
point about 1,050 feet east of the platform. In time,
the area of seepage expanded and changed in character.
Figure 12 offers an explanation for the sequence
of events just described, especially when compared
with figures 7 and 8 relating rock porosity and permeability to the shallow depth to which the bore of
well A-21 was protected by casing. As control of the
drilling mud was lost during pulling of the drill pipe
from the hole, low-density hydrocarbon fluid entered
the well bore, presumably at or near the bottom, at'
a pressure probably not exceeding about 1,660 psi
(0.5 psi/ftx 3,313 ft depth). When the rams of the
blowout preventer were shut and the column of lowdensity fluid was prevented from escaping freely from'
the wellhead, the fluid pressure built up in the well
bore below the cemented shoe of the casing. The
pressure, potentially capable of reaching a theoretical
limiting value somewhere between 1,150 and 1,660 psi,
built up until the pore fluid pressure in the strata below the casing shoe was exceeded (normal pore fluid
pressure at the casing shoe minus 514 feet is estimated to be 226 psi 514 ft X 0.44 psi/ft). At that
time, higher pressure gas and oil began flowing into
the shallow permeable beds from the deeper sands.
When the pressure of the newly energized pore fluids
in the shallow sands below the C marker had built up
to equal the "hydraulic fracturing" pressure of the
cover (estimated to be less than 360 psi at the depth
of the casing shoe and certainly not greater than the
lithostatic pressure of 514 psi for that depth), capping
rock rupturing occurred and the "boiling" seeps began.
The first outbreak occurred east of Platform A at what
is probably the structurally highest point (the B-15
marker is at minus 313 feet easterly from the A-21
surface location as compared with minus 332 feet in
well A-24). The localization of the other major "boil"
at the northeast corner of the platform may have resulted from slightly greater penetrations close to that
corner of two of the foundation pilings.
Prior to the blowout three production wells (A-20,

A-25, A-41) had been drilled without incident, cased,
completed, tested, and shut in pending completion of
pipeline facilities. The perforated vertical intervals
of each of these wells is indicated in figure 12 by a
vertical line for comparison with the uncased interval
of the well that blew out. Each of these wells was
"killed" with heavy-weight mud following the blowout; however, a casing pressure of 1,000 psi was measured at the head of A-20 some days later. This
pressure can be interpreted as indicating that the
responsible hydrocarbon fluid in the "killed" well had
a density of between 0.75 and 0.65 grams per cubic
centimeter, indicative of a hole full of oil rather than
of gas. Inasmuch as wells A-20 and A-21 both bottom
at close to the same subsea vertical depth (minus
3,334 feet and minus 3,313 feet respectively) in structurally similar locations and presumably with nearly
the same stratigraphic penetrations, the heavy gaseous
mist emitted at the time of the blowout remains puzzling in view of this shut-in casing pressure of well
A-20. The most obvious explanation, that well A-21
penetrated a small high-pressure gas reservoir in
which pressure dropped rapidly and equalized with
other reservoirs by flow to the borehole, is the simplest
of several alternative hypotheses consistent with all
available facts.
RESERVOIRS AND RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTICS
A natural petroleum reservoir is easily defined in

many oil fields where pressure communication throughout a unit is indicated by a single oil-water contact
and a hydrocarbon fluid of fixed or consistently depthvariable composition. The problem of defining a single
natural reservoir and of determining the total number
of such reservoirs is much more difficult in a large,
composite, multizone accumulation such as Dos
Cuadras field. There an obviously large number of
separate oil-water levels and fluid compositions (inconsistently depth-variable) indicate the presence of
many reservoirs that could not have been in unimpeded
pressure communication prior to drilling of the first
exploitation well.
An attempt has been made on plate 3 to portray as
accurately as the well data permit the many stratigraphic and structurally controlled subdivisions of the
oil-bearing strata of Dos Cuadras field. From the
transverse section it is evident that the thicker and
more continuous interbeds of siltstone and shale subdivide the Pliocene section in the vicinity of Platform
A into not less than six natural stratal reservoir units.
Moreover, the section-repeating thrust fault and the
high-angle normal fault in the upper block (both of
41
which appear to have constituted barriers to free fluid

communication) further divide the section in such a
manner that no fewer than eight or nine separate
reservoirs may occur in the fault blocks above the
thrust and no fewer than four or five below the thrust.
Each of these was hypothetically capable of being
separately produced, before they were placed in partial
communication through pre-blowout exploitation-well
completions and the blowout.
To combine so many natural units into "zones"
during production in such a manner as to exploit the
entire accumulation efficiently and economically requires knowledge not only of the productive characteristics of the major reservoirs and the values of
their fluid contents but also of the many and complex
economic variables affecting such a large and costly
exploitation effort.
Figure 10 shows schematically the zonal subdivisions
proposed (and thus far followed) for development
of the Dos Cuadras field by the Union Oil Co. of
Californa as operator for itself and its partners. The
diagram is self-explanatory except for two matters.
First, the so-called "Red zone" was introduced after
the blowout when it was first recognized that some of
the strata in the capping interval above the C marker
are producible. Production from this "zone" is probably not commercial because of low well productivity,
low-gravity oil, high water cuts, and limited zonal
area and thickness. Most likely it will be produced
only so long as required to aid in abatement of the
surface seepage. Secondly, well A-20 (shown on both
structure sections) was completed in the "402 lower
zone" and has been producing continuously since
March 29, 1969. This well is perforated selectively
from just below the F marker in the subthrust (or Q)
block down to the base of the dominantly sandstone
section between the H and I markers. Since May 25,
1969, it has been flowing commingled 28 oil through
a choke at a rate in excess of 2,200 barrels net oil per
day and a gas-oil ratio of about 440 cubic feet per
barrel from these three major productive intervals
(possibly as many as five separate reservoirs). No
gage of short-term open-flow potential has been obtained, but crude calculations suggest a figure possibly
in excess of 10,000 barrels per day. In contrast, a shallower well (A-41) producing continuously since early
March 1969 has yielded much less from selectively
perforated intervals between a point midway between
the C and D markers down to the F marker in the
upper ("P") block. This "Brown zone" to upper "402
upper zone" completion has had a sustained production
(pumping) of about 950 barrels net oil per day of about
24.5 oil with a gas-oil ratio averaging about 220 cubic
42
feet per barrel. Well A-21 was scheduled for a com- Survey for the period March 22 to August 31,1969, is
pletion similar to that of A-20, but when it blew out, given in Appendix B.
communication was opened, at least temporarily, from
SEEPAGE AND SUBSURFACE FLUID
the highly productive "402 lower zone" sands to all
COMMUNICATION
the lower-pressure sands up to the C marker. The
Although natural seepages of oil and gas have long
documented high rate of controlled production of well
been
a matter of record at several places (both offA-20 though a choke of less than 1 inch diameter
shore
and onshore) along the Rincon trend, no doculeads one to speculate about the possible rate of flow
mented
observation identified the Dos Cuadras sector
of well A-21 through a partly blocked bore hole of
as
a
seepage
source until work was undertaken on
unknown diameter against only moderate back presOCS
P-0241
following
the lease sale.
sure through the ruptured capping rocks to the sea
In a letter dated February 29,1968,11 months prior
floor.
to the blowout of well A-21, Mr. F. J. Simmons, DisAll reservoirs in the Dos Cuadras field are sandtrict Drilling Superintendent for Union Oil Co. of
stone with porosities ranging from nearly 40 percent
California, notified Mr. D. W. Solanas, Regional Oil
at the top of the "Brown zone" in the upper (P) block
and Gas Supervisor for the Conservation Division of
to 25 to 30 percent for sands in the "402 lower zone."
the Geological Survey, of observations made on FebAverage reservoir permeability ranges between nearly
ruary 23, and confirmed on February 28,1968, "a fairly
1 darcy at the top of the "Brown zone" to a low of 50
large oil slick with some gas bubbles" at a location
millidarcys for the interval between the G and H
within OCS P-0241 approximately 2,300 feet west and
3,500 feet south of the northeast corner of the lease.
markers in the upper (P) block. Oil gravity ranges
Mr. Simmons further stated, "From all indications and
between 18.5 API in the "Red zone" to 35 in some
records available to us, this is apparently a natural
of the thin sands below the I marker. Reservoir gasseep." This opinion is consistent with the tendency
oil ratios range from negligible in the shallower sands
toward intermittent activity of some known seeps
to 185 cubic feet per barrel for the "402 lower zone."
along the trend. The stated location is almost exactly
The crude oil in the shallower sands is strongly underon a line connecting Platforms A and B (along the C
saturated, but that in the lower sands of the "402
horizon axis of the Dos Cuadras culmination) and
lower zone" appears to be saturated. Interstitial
about 960 feet westerly along that line from the
water content appears to be low to moderate throughcenter
of Platform A.
out, but data are insufficient to permit setting figures
Somewhat
later in 1968, after tentative selections
on these quantities. Solution gas analyses are so few
had
been
made
for sites for three projected drilling
that conclusions may have to be revised, but available
platforms
on
OCS
P-0241, eight shallow coreholes
data show compositions that are normal for such crude
were
drilled
to
obtain
on-site information to aid in
oils except for a surprisingly high C02 content, sugplanning
foundations
for
these large structures. Three
gestive of an unusually oxidized (and perhaps stagcoreholes
were
drilled
in
the vicinity of what was to
nant) accumulation.
become the site of Platform A, three more at PlatProduction from the field has been so limited that
form B site, and two at the site of proposed Platform
reservoir performance cannot be evaluated. From
C, about 2,600 feet westerly from B. Technicians of
analogies between the reservoirs of Dos Cuadras field
Dames and Moore, Inc., who planned and supervised
and those of some other shallow California fields, it
these operations under contract to the operator, obmight be expected that the reservoir drive mechanism
served live oil shows while drilling and coring all
is a combination of solution gas expansion, accomthree holes at site A, and subsequently reported these
panied and followed by gravity drainage, with natural
findings along with descriptions of oil-saturated core
water drive being of minor importance. Present desamples and measurements of bulk densities indicative
velopment plans call for injection of water to help
of very high porosities for these oily shallow beds. No
maintain reservoir pressure after sufficient production
fluid hydrocarbons were reported from any of the
data are available for sound planning.
cores from the coreholes at the B or C sites.
On July 28,1969,14 wells were producing 10,000
Even though there are no earlier documented obbarrels of oil per day from the lower Pliocene zones servations of natural seepage from the Dos Cuadras
(one "Red zone," 10 "Brown zone," one lower "Brown field, there is abundant suggestive evidence that the
zone" to upper "402 upper zone," and two "402 lower accumulation may have been seeping over a long
zone" wells). A total of 635,000 barrels have been period of time. Apart from the very general and
withdrawn since controlled production for pressure
widespread evidence that most large or highly prodrawdown was authorized following the blowout. The
ductive petroleum accumulations seep at least some
amount of seepage estimated by the U.S. Geological
low-molecular-weight hydrocarbon fractions (McCul-
loh, 1969) are the facts that the shallower reservoirs

of the field are strongly undersaturated with respect
to gas and contain high- to intermediate-density crude
oils. Both of these characteristics suggest long-continued loss of the potentially gaseous and more mobile
liquid fractions from these reservoirs. Consistent with
these facts is the gradational decrease in oil density
and increase in dissolved gas content from the shallow
to the deep reservoir's (fig. 9). Finally, the exceptionally high CO 2 content of the analyzed solution gas
samples is suggestive of an unusually oxidized stagnant accumulation, another interpretation consistent
with long-continued seepage.
Whatever the duration and rate of natural seepage
from the shallow reservoirs of the Dos Cuadras field
may have been, the blowout of well A-21 on January
28,1969, drastically changed that rate and triggered
other changes more difficult to evaluate. The sequence
of events that occurred at the time of the blowout
and during the hours following already has been
described. To complete that history it is necessary
to add that the blown-out well continued to feed highpressure fluid to the low-pressure near-surface rocks
and thence through many openings of varied dimensions to the sea floor until emergency measures to kill
the well and to cement the borehole succeeded on
February 8,1969. Even after cementing, however,
there was evidence that suggested continuing movement of fluid from deeper to shallower reservoirs
through channels outside the well bore that were
opened during the lengthy period of unimpeded flow.
The well was reentered, the cement was drilled out of
the surface casing, and extensive additional cement
grouting was done before sidetracking the original
hole and redrilling the well (A-21 RD) for completion
and production from the upper part of the "Brown
zone." Net oil pumped from this well since early
March 1969 has declined from an early high of about
860 barrels per day of 25 crude to a current (August
1969) rate of about 600 barrels per day.
On February 25, while remedial work was being
done in well A-41 to help abate the decreased but continuing seepage, a high though intermittent rate of
oil flow resumed. It was thought by many at that time
that well A-41 was permitting deep-zone oil to enter
into the formation at about 900 feet below the ocean
floor and subsequently through some type of fissure
onto the channel floor. Further remedial work on well
A-41, plus the recementing of well A-21, corrected
this condition, and there have been no more such incidents. The cause of this second episode of uncontrolled flow is not known, but it is one bit of evidence
of the ease with which fluids from some of the major
reservoirs at depth are able to find egress to the
surface.
43
The natural seepage reported in February 1968,

before Platform A was emplaced, was located about
960 feet westerly from what is now the platform
center. The first conspicuous boil of oil and gas following the blowout issued with great energy from a
source or group of sources located 800-900 feet easterly
from the center of the platform along the anticlinal
crest of C horizon. A third boil erupted near the
northeast corner leg of the platform and around the
point at which the driven slant conductor pipe of well
A-41 enters the ocean floor, and smaller boils occurred
within a few hundreds of feet west of the platform.
Much gas issued with the oil during the days immediately after the blowout, posing continuous danger of
fire and forcing repeated suspensions of work and
evacuation of personnel from the platform. Although
the shallow reservoirs of the field were known to be
(and still are) strongly undersaturated with respect
to gas, large volumes of gas had evidently found a
path or paths into and through these shallow reservoirs
over an extensive area.
After the well had been controlled and the energetic
flow abated, much gas accompanied by some oil continued to seep from many sources and the area of seepage gradually expanded. Figure 13 is a map showing
the limits of the maximum area within which seepage
is known or inferred to have occurred. This map has
been compiled from aerial photographs; from personal
observations made from the air, from surface boat,
and from a submersible on the ocean floor; and from
submersible diver observations of other U.S. Geological
Survey personnel, from visual sighting observations
of U.S. Geological Survey personnel on the platform,
and from side-scanning sonar data supplied by the
operator. At its greatest extent in late February
1969, the zone or belt of seepage, as much as 500 feet
wide, extended for about 3,900 feet from a point 1,300
feet westerly of the center of Platform A to a point
on OCS P-0240 approximately 2,600 feet easterly of
the platform. The total area of seepage was about
50 acres. Gas and some oil were observed rising to
the sea surface at the easterly point in late March
1969, from a small fresh-appearing sea-floor crater
observed by U.S. Geological Survey personnel from a
submersible.
The area of seepage east of Platform A was personally observed in late April 1969 on a calm day.
The otherwise smooth water surface was ruffled over
a broad area by myriads of small breaking bubbles of
gas accompanied by rising globules of light oil that
quickly spread as they surfaced to form iridescent
films streaked with brown. On the sea floor the oil
issued as streamers from pinpoint and larger openings
in siltstone outcrops and soft sediment alike. Pits
and elongate craters on the sea floor ranged from a
44
few feet to many feet in length and up to several feet

in depth. In this vicinity the sea floor was littered
with angular rock debris, some of it identifiable as
Pleistocene in age from included fossil shell fragments,
presumably ejected forcefully from the sea-floor
depressions at the time of the blowout eruptions.
Whether some of the largest crater- and fissure-like
depressions existed prior to the blowout cannot be
proved or disproved. However, the abundance of
angular soft porous rock fragments, some of them a
foot or more across, and their restricted distribution
close to and generally north of the sea floor depressions where the most energetic gas and oil flows
erupted indicate a genetic relationship. No seafloor deposit of tar or tar residues indicative of ancient
seeps has been seen or reported in this area. However, inactive craters were identified about 200 feet
southeast of the active seeps by a sonar survey (fig.
13) under charter to the operator.
Estimates of the varying rate of seepage during or
following the blowout range widely and are difficult
to evaluate. On-site estimates that 300-500 barrels
of oil per day were leaking through the sea floor during the early period of uncontrolled flow of the blownout well were widely quoted in the press. On the
other hand, Alien (1969a) has stated that "During the
first ten days of the leak many thousands of barrels
of oil were released daily onto surface waters. ..."
Alien's estimates were based primarily on his attempt
to interpret discharge from evaluation of areal limits
of the slick reported by the U.S. Coast Guard. As
noted earlier, the known production rate of well A-20,
together with the similarities between it and the blownN
,
out well, is permissive of an independent guess by the

author that the rate of uncontrolled flow might have
been any place in the range between 500 and 5,000
barrels per day.
J. M. DeNoyer of the Geological Survey has made
a special study of data regarding the oil slick and has
supplied the following comments (written commun.,
Sept. 4,1969).
Alien's first estimates were based on aerial reconnaissance
mapping of the extent of the oil slick during the first few days
of leakage. Difficulties in accurately determining the distribution of oil-covered water and open water and thickness of
oil slick are recognized by Alien (1969b). Between March 1
and March 22, 1969, the Geological Survey conducted a number
of high- and low-altitude detailed aerial photographic missions
to determine the extent of oil distribution and dynamic characteristics of oil movement. The method used for mapping the
distribution of oil within the slick was to take photographs at
frequent intervals and mosaic the sun glint pattern that shows
the presence of oil in great detail. Maps prepared from these
photographs indicate that an overestimate of the volume of
oil is obtained from the extent of the slick. The degree of
overestimation ranges between a factor of four and 10, depending on wind and current conditions and the rate of leaking.
Reducing Alien's estimates of about 5,000 bpd by a factor of
four would give an estimate of 1,250 bpd and a reduction by a
factor of 10 would suggest 500 bpd. The latter figure is in
agreement with visual estimates made by Union Oil Company
and independently by engineers and inspectors of the Geological
Survey's Conservation Division but they may be too conservative. A leak rate of slightly over 1,000 bpd during the most
severe periods of the spill is consistent with Alien's mapping
of the maximum extent when the degree of oil coverage is
taken into consideration.
Emergency measures for collecting the oil seeping

from the ocean floor were put into effect soon after
the blowout but were largely ineffective until late in
SUN OIL CO.
AND OTHERS
OCS P-0240
UNION OIL CO. AND OTHERS

DCS P-0241
Approximate maximum limits of
the seepage area from 1/28/69
1
Approximate location of natural
seepage first sighted 2/23/68
and officially reported 2/29/68\^
y^
2
Dames and Moore If

foundation core holes '
to 5/12/69 \_
( ^^
OCS P-0241
___
\
~~"A No- l
\
f~~~~"^--^ ^/^C,) cv~~"
\/
~~,/ ~~~ ~~~~^^-/^
Hocations of major boi^
7/^
-^
~^
Craters without seeps located

by Union Oil Co. soner
0
I
500
i i
1000
i
FEET
surveV 3/16/69
OCS P-0241
A No. 4
Gas seeps located by submersible

chartered by Sun Oil Co. 4/3/69V
Ax.
Oil and gas seeps located by sutH

mersible chartered by U.S.G.S.
3/15/69
FIGURE 13. Dos Cuadras oil-field oil and gas seepage area.
|SUNj
March. The Geological Survey Conservation Division

visual estimates of total seepage (collected and escaping) were ranging about 24 barrels net oil per day between March 14 and 27.
From late March 1969 to the end of July, methods
of collection improved, and methods of measuring
seepage rates also improved. A well-verified nearly
constant average daily rate of 30 barrels net oil characterize the period from March 22 through July 13,
in contrast to Alien's estimate of 200 barrels per day,
which he has since revised to a lower figure (oral
commun., September 1969). This rate was abruptly
reduced from 30 to 20 and then to 15 barrels daily
between July 13 and July 31, and it has been still
further reduced since then. (See Appendix B.) These
reductions have been a result either of shallow cement
grouting of the capping rocks in the vicinity of Platform A or of controlled fluid withdrawals from the
shallowest reservoirs or both, as consequences of the
recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Panel
Meeting of May 12-13,1969. During this same period,
the percentage of seepage oil trapped and collected
by various means has risen from an estimated 10 percent during the final week of March to more than 50
percent for the last 2 weeks of July.
As of early
September 1969, the daily seepage rate was reduced
to less than 10 barrels.
The composition of the seeping oil is important in
trying to determine its source. Colorless gas, lowdensity greenish-brown crude oil of low viscosity, and
high-density brownish-black oil are the seeping materials. These three constituents have been emitted
separately or together, and all three seem to have
seeped at one time or another from all known major
seepage sources. Of the seepage oil collected from
sources beneath and close to Platform A, most ranges
in API gravity between 18 and 20, although some
measurements range as high as 24. These high densities (low gravities) suggest a source in the shallowest sands of the "Red zone" (figs. 9,10), but the lower
densities (higher gravities) are more consistent with
possible sources in the "Brown zone." Oils from about
900 feet east of Platform A, collected on several dates,
range in API gravity between 19 and 28, and lumps
of even heavier black tarry oil have floated to the surface. Analyses of trace metals, molecular structure,
acidity, and minor element composition have been
made of these surface samples, samples from Platform
A seeps, and samples of oils produced from some of the
wells. Comparisons of these analyses, like the range
of oil gravities, suggest that the seepage oils may
come from sources ranging in depth from the shallowest reservoirs of the "Red zone" to at least as deep as
the upper part of the "402 lower zone."
45
SUBSIDENCE POTENTIAL
The possibility must be considered that withdrawal

of fluids from the reservoirs of the Dos Cuadras oil
field may be accompanied and followed by shallow
subsurface readjustments and localized subsidence of
the sea floor. The exceptionally shallow depth of
much of the reservoir volume, the very high porosities
and permeabilities of the reservoir rocks, the imperfect
caprock seal above the shallowest major reservoir,
and the intentional reduction of reservoir pressures,
particularly in the shallowest reservoirs, all suggest
that fluid withdrawals may be accompanied by reduction of pore pressure and gradual compaction of the
petroliferous rocks. If compaction occurs, readjustments of the demonstrably weak capping stratum
would follow, and highly localized differential subsidence of the crestal region of the anticline would
occur. It is possible that subsidence would be accompanied by localized peripheral tensional fracturing
of the capping layers. It is very difficult to judge
whether or not such fracturing, if it did take place,
would permit further sea-floor seepage of oil and gas.
Peripheral water injection may be feasible and
prove effective in maintaining reservoir pressures in
the producing intervals below the F electric-log
marker. Water injection into reservoirs above the F
horizon in the upper fault block must be pursued with
great care and forethought to avoid upsetting the delicate pressure balance. The risks unavoidably entailed
in shallow injection may prove to be so undesirable
that the risks of differential deformation of the capping layer and the sea floor will be regarded as
preferable.
The numerous complexly interrelated variables that
determine whether or not subsidence occurs when pore
fluids are withdrawn from a reservoir are understood
so poorly that accurate prediction beforehand of the
amount of subsidence is difficult, if not impossible.
Some perspective may be gained for a view of the
possibility that Dos Cuadras offshore field may undergo subsidence during exploitation by comparing it
with other fields in the same region in regard to those
geologic and reservoir parameters that enter into the
mechanisms of compaction. The Wilmington, Calif.,
oil field is well known as a place where oil-field operations have led to extreme surface subsidence (Gilluly
and Grant, 1949). Located in the same region, and
an offshore field in part, the Wilmington field is the
one most closely resembling Dos Cuadras for which
the pertinent data are published.
Similarities between the Dos Cuadras and Wilmington fields are numerous and close, and the differences,
small (table 2). Nevertheless, opinions of those with
46

TABLE 2. Comparison of certain geologic and engineering characteristics of the Dos Cuadras oilfield with the Wilmington,
Calif., oilfield
Wilmington, Calif.
(extracted from, Gilluly
and Grant, 1949)
Dos Cuadras
(compiled by T. H. McCiMoh)
About 2,200
("Tar")
About 483 (subsea)

About 296 (below mudline)
("Brown")
Mean depth of principal

zones contributing to
subsidence, in feet.
About 2,500
("Tar" and "Ranger")
1,800
(All zones)
Age of reservoir rock_
Early Pliocene
("Repetto Formation")
Early Pliocene
("Repetto Formation")
Average porosity, percent.
30
28
Oil gravity range API _ _
12 -25
21-33
340
299
Depth of top of shallowest

zone, in feet.
Maximum total net oil

sand, in feet.
Fluid pressures _________
Near normal hydrostatic
Near normal hydrostatic
Max 2,700
Min50
Max 2,200+
Min 50(?)
Well productivity, in
barrels of oil
per day.
Maximum flank dip
angle.
Maximum width of field
(productive limits),
in miles.
Productive area, in acres
Maximum surface subsidence,
in feet.
33
About 3
About 1
1 7,800
1,000
29 (to 1966)
lHalbouty (1968).
whom the author has had opportunity to discuss the

matter range from the extreme that no subsidence
would occur at Dos Cuadras in any case to the opposite extreme (one held by the author) that some subsidence will occur no matter what preventive measures
are employed. The consensus of expert opinion since
the May 12-13, 1969, meeting of the Presidential

Advisory Panel appears to be that subsidence would
accompany production of hydrocarbons, but that maintainance of "optimum" pressures through water injection will limit and control the amount of subsidence.
Seismicity and
Associated Effects
Santa Barbara Region
By R. M. HAMILTON, R. F. YERKES, R. D. BROWN, JR., R. O. BURFORD,
and J. M. DENOYER
GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 679-D
CONTENTS
Page
Seismicity _ _ ______________________________________________
Recent (instrumental) evidence ________________________________
Historic record- __________________________________________
Geologic record-_________________________________________
Future earthquakes ________________________________________
Associated effects ___________________________________________
Ground motion and failure-___________________________________
Tsunamis ______________________________________________
Seismic effects on oil field installations ___________________________
Oil-field operations ________________________________________
Summary.________________________________________________
47
47
49
50
63
63
63
64
64
65
66
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
FIGURE 14. Map showing earthquakes of magnitude 6 and greater in southern

California since 1912_ ______________________________
15. Map showing epicenters of earthquakes in the Santa Barbara Channel region from 1934-67 _____________________________
16. Map showing epicenters of 1968 earthquake sequence in the Santa
Barbara Channel __________________________________
17. Map showing bathymetric contours and structural features of the
central part of the Rincon trend _______________________
48
49
49
51
TABLE
Page
TABLE 3. Partial list of earthquakes felt in the vicinity of Santa Barbara Channel, 1800 to 1952___-,_------_________--_-_-----_---ill
52

By R. M. HAMILTON, R. F. YERKES, R. D. BROWN, JR.,

R. O. BURFORD, and J. M. DeNoYER
SEISMICITY
The Santa Barbara Channel region is located within the circum-Pacific seismic and volcanic belt and
has been tectonically active throughout much of
Cenozoic time. This tectonism seems to have been
accelerated during the latter part of this era, maximum activity having occurred in Quaternary time.
One way of depicting the seismic setting of the Santa
Barbara Channel region in relation to the rest of
southern California is to show the distribution of
recent large earthquakes (fig. 14). Since 1912, more
than 20 earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or larger have
occurred in southern California. The San Jacinto
fault zone, which trends southeast from San Bernardino
and is part of the San Andreas fault system, was the
site of eight of these shocks; four others occurred
near Bakersfield during the Kern County earthquake
sequence of 1952; and two were located in the Santa
Barbara Channel. The 1927 earthquake of magnitude
7.5, west of Point Arguello, should perhaps be grouped
with the other two events in the channel region because all three may have occurred on faults in the
Transverse Range province.
RECENT (INSTRUMENTAL) EVIDENCE
In California, the installation of instruments for

recording earthquakes began in the 1920's. Since
1934, southern California earthquake locations have
been reported by the Seismological Laboratory of the
California Institute of Technology in its quarterly
bulletin. Records of earthquakes for the period 1934
through 1967 within about 85 km (53 miles) of Santa
Barbara were recently selected from the Seismological
Laboratory data by A. G. Sylvester of the University
of California, Santa Barbara, and were kindly made

available for use in this report.
Epicenters of the 1934-67 earthquakes in and near
the channel are plotted in figure 15, which shows
most of the events greater than magnitude 3 and a
few smaller ones. Each symbol represents at least
one earthquake; the dots represent shocks of magnitude 4 or larger. The epicenters-prior to June 1961
are given to the nearest minute (aftout 2 km), whereas more recent ones are given to 0.01 minute; the
precision of the earlier data introduces several short,
artificial lineations in the epicenter pattern.
The largest shock (magnitude 6.0) during the period
occurred on June 30, 1941, approximately 15 km (9
miles) southeast of Santa Barbara. The symbol for
this earthquake also represents 72 aftershocks. Although epicenters are scattered throughout the Santa
Barbara Channel region, they tend to be more heavily
concentrated in its eastern part. In contrast, the
western part of the channel has been relatively quiet
seismically since 1934. No conspicuous trends are
evident in the epicenter pattern.
The reliability of an earthquake location depends
on the number of seismograph stations recording the
event and on the geometry of the station distribution;
maximum precision is obtained where stations are
numerous and uniformly distributed around the earthquake source. The difficulty in locating an earthquake with a poorly distributed station net is analogous
to determining position by triangulation where either
the base line is much shorter than the distance to the
point, or the point is near the trend of the base line.
Most of the locations in figure 15 were plotted
using readings from seismograph stations that cover
47
48
Modified from Alien and others. 1965
FIGURE 14. Earthquakes of magnitude 6 and greater in southern California since 1912. Modified from Alien and others (1965).
an azimuthal range of about 135 around the channel.

From 1957 to 1968, a seismograph was operated on
San Nicolas Island, about 72 miles south of Santa
Barbara, but its data were of limited value for locating
earthquakes in the channel region. Because of the
inadequacy of the network and because of the lack of
knowledge of crustal structure in the channel region,
individual epicenters cannot be located within 5 or 10
km (3 or 6 miles), and errors at some places exceed 25
km (16 miles). Consequently, the epicenter locations
are inadequate to identify or delineate specific active
faults in the region.
The principal seismic activity in the Santa Barbara
Channel region after 1967 was the earthquake sequence
in June, July, and August of 1968. Nineteen of these
earthquakes were felt in the Santa Barbara-Goleta
Valley area (A. G. Sylvester, written commun.). The
largest shock (magnitude 5.2) occurred on July 4

(Pacific time) and in Goleta caused minor damage to
merchandise, windows, light fixtures, and acoustic
tile; cost of the damage amounted to $12,000. Minor
damage also occurred at Carpinteria, but no structural
damage is known to have resulted from this earthquake.
Epicentral locations for 63 earthquakes (magnitude
>2.8) in this sequence are shown in figure 16. The
epicenters cluster in the channel approximately midway between Santa Cruz Island and the mainland.
When the sequence began, only two seismograph
stations were operating in the channel area; one at
Santa Barbara and the other at Santa Ynez Peak.
This coverage was improved on July 7,1968, by the
installation of portable stations on Santa Cruz and
Santa Rosa Islands and at several other mainland
49
120l 00'
sites. These stations recorded through July 31,1968,

and substantially increased the precision of locating
the epicenters for that period. Overall distribution
of the epicenters for earthquakes during the period
of operation of the island stations is not significantly
different from the distribution of the earlier ones, but
10 of the 22 shocks recorded in this period were
grouped in the northeastern part of the area.
The earthquake sequence was centered about 16
miles southeast of Santa Barbara and 10 miles southwest of the Carpinteria Offshore oil field. Pertinent
information concerning the relationship between the
earthquakes and the drilling operations was also provided by A. G. Sylvester:
According to company officials, production was in no way
affected by the earthquakes. A temporary oil well drilling
platform, WODECO VI, drilled two exploratory holes in the
main fault-bounded anticline and was in the process of drilling
a third when the swarm commenced. The drilling was not
interrupted, the hole was dry, and it was capped. At least two
more dry holes were drilled on the anticline and were capped
after the swarm. Platform A, which blew out on 28 January
1969 and resulted in a massive oil spill... was not constructed
until 14 September 1968, and drilling did not commence until
November 1968.
HISTORIC RECORD
The seismic history prior to the installation of

seismographs is given, though in a more qualitative
and nonuniform manner, by numerous written descriptions of earthquake effects. Reliable accounts
of California earthquakes date from about 1800. The
earliest reports are found in notes of Spanish explorers
and early settlers, and in the records of the Franciscan
Missions. Earthquakes that affected the Santa
Barbara Channel region prior to 1953 are listed in
table 3.
Four of these earthquakes were especially destructive. The earliest, in 1812, destroyed Missions Santa
Barbara and Purisima Concepcion (about 10 miles
northeast of Point Arguello) and caused a tsunami
along the north coast of the channel. Reported estimates of the high-water mark of this tsunami were
as much as 50 feet near Gavita. A recent detailed
study*of historic records, however, concludes that such
accounts are unsubstantiated and cannot be accepted
at face value. Several asphalt (crude oil) springs
reportedly began to flow at places inland from the
coast, and a burning oil spring near Rincon Point was
enlarged. In the area of Santa Barbara the destruction had a Rossi-Forel intensity of IX to X. The reported damage and other effects resemble those
1 "Examination of Tsunamis Potential at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station,"
unpublished report submitted to Southern California Edison Co. by Marine Advisers,
Inc., in 1965.
Santa Rosa
Islan
SanMiguel
Island
FIGURE 15. Epicenters of earthquakes in the Santa Barbara

Channel region from 1934-67. Q > magnitude less than 4;
, magnitude greater than or equal to 4.
accompanying other California earthquakes of magnitude 7.

An earthquake on June 29, 1925, caused widespread
damage in coastal communities from Pismo Beach on
the northwest, through Santa Barbara, to Ventura on
the east. Twenty people were killed. Almost the
entire business section of Santa Barbara was destroyed
or rendered unsafe. The damage was estimated at
$6 million and this figure does not include damage to
residences. Mission Santa Barbara again was heavily
damaged with partial destruction of two bell towers,
120^00'
Santa Ynez Mountains

.Santa Ynez Peak
Santa Cruz .
Island .
FIGURE 16. Earthquake sequence in 1968 in the Santa Barbara Channel (Sylvester and others, unpub. data).
,
epicenters of earthquakes that occurred during the period
June-August 1968;O, epicenters of earthquakes that occurred during the period July 1967 to June 1968.
50
collapse of the front facade, and failure of some older mapped at the time, but contemporary accounts and
interior adobe walls. Nunn (1925) reports that crude recent geologic studies (Wallace, 1968; Vedder and
oil was extruded through beach sand at several points Wallace, 1968) demonstrate substantial right-lateral
along the Santa Barbara coast about 3 hours before displacement on a fault break at least 150 miles long.
the main earthquake and at approximately the same The effects of this earthquake are comparable to those
time as a series of slight foreshocks began. An oil of more recent earthquakes of about 8.0 magnitude.
spout also was observed at the shoreline near the west Early descriptions indicate that all the houses in
end of the present Summerland oil field one night Santa Barbara were damaged (Wood, 1955) and that
after an earthquake in 1883 (Goodyear, 1888). The shaking in the Santa Clara River Valley east of
epicenter of this magnitude 6.3 earthquake was prob- Ventura was severe. Differential subsidence occurred
in the river bed, and long cracks formed from which
ably less than 10 miles southwest of Santa Barbara.
The third major earthquake occurred on November water was ejected to heights of 6 feet.
11,1927, northwest of the channel off Point Arguello
GEOLOGIC RECORD
(Byerly, 1930). This shock, with a magnitude of 7.5,
An indication of long-term seismic activity is proranks as the second largest California earthquake
vided by data on the amount, rate, and nature of
since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Effects
crustal deformation at the earth's surface. Accurate
were most pronounced at Surf and Honda, just north
dating of the deformation of such features as young
of Point Arguello, where people were thrown from rock units, terraces, drainages, or other geologic
their beds, the concrete highway was cracked, a railmarkers yields a useful and reliable extension of
road bridge was damaged, and several hundred
historic and instrumental records.
thousand cubic feet of sand were shaken down from
The Santa Barbara Channel region is a part of the
a beach cliff. Buildings were damaged along the
Transverse Range province, in which west-trending
coast from Cambria, about 80 miles northwest of Point
structures and topographic features contrast with the
Arguello, to Gaviota, 28 miles to the east. A seismic
predominantly northwest structural and topographic
sea wave was generated by the main event, and seistrends found elsewhere in California, especially those
mic disturbances from the main shock and some of its
of the adjoining Coast Range, Sierra Nevada, and
stronger aftershocks were felt in ships at sea. The
Peninsular Range provinces (fig. 1). Many of the
seismic sea wave, or tsunami, was observed at Surf
latest fault movements in the Santa Barbara Channel
and Pismo Beach, 10 and 40 miles, respectively, north
region seem to involve vertical slip, although many
of Point Arguello. The wave was at least 6 feet high
and resembled a large storm wave. At Port San Luis of the larger fault zones, such as the Santa Ynez,
(Avila) near Pismo Beach, a 5-foot wave was followed Big Pine, and Santa Monica, may have had major leftlateral components of movement in the geologic past.
by 1 hour of water agitation. Tide gage records at
The Santa Ynez fault zone, which trends westward
San Francisco and San Diego confirm this tsunami.
for
about 82 miles along the northern margin of the
The last of the four important earthquakes occurred
Transverse
Ranges (fig. 1), exhibits some physiogon June 30,1941. Its magnitude was 5.9-6.0, and its
raphic evidence that suggests recent movements, and
epicenter was located in the channel about 5 miles
it has been considered an active tectonic feature by
south of the coastline between Santa Barbara and
some geologists (Page and others, 1951). The magCarpinteria. Several communities along the Santa
nitude 7.5 earthquake off Point Arguello in 1927 may
Barbara coast were damaged.
have occurred on the westward extension of the Santa
The historic records of the channel region document
numerous periods characterized by sequences of fre- Ynez fault zone.
The Big Pine fault, a major left-lateral fault with
quent or nearly continuous low-magnitude seismic
activity without exceptionally large shocks (table 3). oblique slip near its western end, may have had
Such sequences are called "earthquake swarms" and measurable movement during historic time. The
are commonly associated with volcanic activity; how- southern California earthquakes of November 1852
ever, there is no evidence of a volcanic origin for the (table 3) were accompanied by about 30 miles of surearthquake sequences in the Santa Barbara Channel face faulting in Lock wood Valley (Townley and
region.
Alien, 1939) about 40 miles northeast of Santa Barbara.
A more distant earthquake, but one that strongly The exact trend and location of the surface faulting
shook the northern part of the Santa Barbara Channel is unknown, but geologic evidence and contemporary
(Wood, 1955) occurred January 9,1857. Its epicenter reports indicate that it may have been along the Big
was on the San Andreas fault near Fort Tejon, about Pine fault. Independent evidence of very young
50 miles northeast of Santa Barbara. The surface movement along the fault includes scarplets that cut
faulting that accompanied this earthquake was not Quaternary terrace deposits and apparent left-lateral
51
offset of stream channels (Vedder and Brown, 1968). because they conformably overlie older rocks, they
The Malibu Coast fault, a segment of the Santa provide clear evidence that the structure has been
Monica fault zone southeast of the Santa Barbara formed since early Pleistocene time. At Loon Point,
Channel, is not known to have had recent movement 6 miles east of Santa Barbara, upper Pleistocene
However, faulting and local warping associated with alluvial fan deposits are tilted and cut by a northeastthe fault have deformed upper Pleistocene marine- trending thrust fault that offsets the base of the
terrace platforms and their deposits at seven known oldest fan by at least 400 feet (Lian, 1954). This
localities along a 20-mile segment of the fault border- faulting may have continued into Holocene time.
ing the south side of the Santa Monica Mountains Faulted terrace deposits are well exposed about 2
(Yerkes and Wentworth, 1965).
miles southeast of Carpinteria, where highway cuts
That recent topographic surfaces and very young reveal a southwest-dipping (40) reverse fault that
rock units have been deformed in the eastern part of juxtaposes upper Pleistocene marine terrace deposits
the channel region has long been recognized. In the and highly deformed Tertiary sandstone and siltstone.
Ventura anticline, lower Pleistocene strata form the This fault may also cut the present topographic surupper part of a sedimentary sequence that is more face; presumably it has moved during Holocene time.
than 40,000 feet thick. These lower Pleistocene beds
Several west-trending faults have been mapped in
dip 35-60 on the south flank of the anticline, and, the northeast part of the channel (fig. 17), and sub119 35'
Santa
Barbara Q
3420'
EXPLANATION
____1____
Fault
Bar and ball on downthrown side
Location of gravity core
SMILES
Platform
BATHYMETRIC CONTOUR INTERVAL 3 FEET
Anticlinal axis
Bathymetry by R. G. Martin, Jr.. 1969.
from U S Geological Survey
precision fathometer records
FIGURE 17. Bathymetric contours and structural features of the central part of the Rincon trend.
11
May
i ftnn
1812
7-8 to
7-9.
I IIH?)
I IIK?)
10:30
12-21
1815 - 1-18 to
1-30.
IX
Morning
12-8
i q qn
I IIK?)
VTTT
Local time
10-8 to
11-18.
99
Month
and day
Year
Maximum
R.F.
intensity 1 Magnitude
-do-
Santa Barbara-
Santa Barbara and

Purisima Concepcion
Missions.
-do-
San Juan Capistrano-
-do-
General location of
maximum intensity area
and (or) epicentral area
IX-X
VTTT
R.F. intensity 1
Santa Barbara area
DT OCTO _
Six felt shocks, (probably

swarm of microearthquakes).
Several small shocks felt

(probably swarm of
microearthquakes).
Santa Barbara and Purisima Concepcion Missions destroyed

(adobe construction). Santa
Ynez Mission heavily damaged. Tsunami broke along
Santa Barbara coast; wave
height unknown, but runup
possibly as high as 30 50
feet at some points between
Santa Barbara and Gaviota
according to unconfirmed reports. Several "asphaltum
springs" formed in the
mountains.
Mission San Juan Capistrano

destroyed, with loss of 3045 lives; 28 buried in rubble
from collapse of massive
stone church walls. Possible
seaquake damaged Spanish ship!
at anchor 38 miles from Santa
Barbara.
Shocks for 40 days. (Probably a swarm on coast or

offshore faults near Mission San Juan Capistrano.)
Unconfirmed southern California "swarm" activity,

lasting 4.5(?) months.
San Juan Capistrano, and

Santa Barbara.
San
Remarks
[Question mark entries are used for original queried entries, or where present author entered an interpretation based on incomplete data. Remarks enclosed in parentheses are interpretations drawn from incomplete
accounts. The primary source for the information presented is the catalog of Townley and Alien (1939); data after 1928 have been compiled from various sources and are limited to the larger events]
TABLE 3. Partial list of earthquakes felt in the vicinity of Santa Barbara Channel, 1800 to 1952
ro
O
W
H
>
03
>
03
B
ii
o
F
O
f
O
to
3-26
1862
1872
02:30
19:30
15:00
VIIK?)
See footnote at end of table.
4-16
I860
3-14
IX-X
1-9
IX
VIK?).
VIII,
7-10
VI
IX X
1-f
20:15
6-25
1855
1857
14:00
- 4-20 to
5-31.
3-1
- 1-29
11-27 to
11-30.
1854
1853
1852
Owens Valley-
Goleta
Fort Tejon
Santa Barbara-
Fort Tejon-
Santa Barbara-
Los Angeles-
VIK?)
III(?)
VIIK?)
VI
Santa Barbara
-do-
V('
San Luis Obispo
Probably the greatest earthquake

in California's recorded history. Shock was felt over
nearly all of California and
Nevada and over parts of Utah
Livestock frightened; trees

swayed; people stood with difficulty.
Felt in Santa Barbara.
Severe shock felt in Santa

Barbara and Montecito.
Roof of mission at San Buenaventura (Ventura) fell in. All

houses in Santa Barbara were
damaged, according to unconfirmed reports. Several new
springs formed near Santa
Barbara. One of California's
greatest earthquakes, centered
50 miles east-northeast of
Santa Barbara on San Andreas
fault.
Several slight shocks and one

severe shock. Many other
southern California shocks.
Tsunamis broke on coast at Port

San Juan (Avila), which indicates possible movement of offshore fault.
Also felt strongly in Santa

Maria.
(Probable earthquake swarm.) Sea

waves generated during the
largest shock of series on
May 31, at 4:50 a.m., and many
people were alarmed. The large
shocks seem to have terminated
the series.
Felt in Santa Barbara.
(Probably a local slight shock.)
Santa Barbara
(Probably either on San Andreas

or Big Pine fault 40-50 miles
northeast of Santa Barbara.)
Northern Ventura County-
CO
W
>
8H
"d
*J
ui
O
O
VI
O
HH
H
02
do
III
VI
19:00
04:30
8-30
9-5
1881
1883
u u
i no3
VI(?)
01:20 to
08:15.
7-9
(?)
03:14
6-14
1890
III
02:00
4-7
1885
HI
8-2 to 4
1884
9-13
Santa Barbara
22:30
11-12
08:30
4-12
1880
do
Santa Barbara
Ventura
do
do
Ventura
Ventura County-
-----
V ( "> 1
V(?)
IV(?)
IIK?)
IIK?)
V(?)
Ill
IIK?)
IV(?)
IIK?)
do
1-8
1878
V VI
R.F. intensity 1
Santa Barbara area
do
6-23
1877
23:50
12-21
1875
Local time
Year
General location of
Month
and day
Maximum
R.F.
An
shonk ppn1-pr>pri
near Newhall, 35 miles north

of Los Angeles. Strongly felt
at Ventura, San Bernardino,
and Mojave. Felt only lightly
at Los Angeles and Santa Ana.
-i n-t-pnsia lon^l
"Quite a heavy shock."
A limited swarm of five moderate

earthquakes. Felt shocks were
of long duration, awakened
most sleepers.
A moderate earthquake also felt

at Los Angeles.
Also felt at Ventura and possibly at Bakersfield.
A few very slight shocks felt.
Strong shock felt from Santa

Barbara to Los Angeles.
Two slight shocks.
(Probably a local, slight shock.)
Probably a severe shock in

vicinity of San Buenaventura
(Ventura and lands to northeast. )
(Probably a local slight shock.)
Three shocks. Also felt in

Bakersf ield.
and Arizona, possibly also over

the northern part of Mexico.
Many widely distributed aftershocks within Inyo County also
felt throughout large areas.
Remarks
TABLE 3. Partial list of earthquakes felt in the vicinity of Santa Barbara Channel, 1800 to 1952 Continued
Jr1
td
td
Kj
1 1
fO
d
o
i
f
O
0
O
f
Cn
VIK?)
Unusual widespread swarm of felt

shocks attaining local intensities as high as R. F. IX.
Several events felt at Santa
Barbara, but no reports of
damage there. Heaviest intensities and most frequent
Los Alamos, Santa
Barbara, Lompoc, Santa
Maria, and San Luis
Obispo.
VIIIIX.
7-27 to
8-14.
Severe local shock probably centered near Los Alamos, 35

miles west-northwest of Santa
Barbara. Considerable local
damage at Lompoc and Los
Alamos. No damage reported at
Santa Barbara.
IIK?)
Los Alamos -
VIII
7-27
22:57
(Probably slight local shock

near Pine Crest, Santa Barbara
County.)
One light shock Feb. 7, 1902,

followed by moderate shock
on February 9 causing general alarm, but no reported
damage.
Pine Crest-
Santa Barbara-
One light and one heavy shock

felt in Santa Barbara and vicinity. Heavy shaking on
June 3 felt throughout Santa
Ynez Valley. Heaviest shock
for some years at Santa
Barbara.
Santa Ynez Valley-
Do.
Local slight shock.
Widely felt earthquake, most severe at Mojave and Los Angeles.
A few light shocks and two strong

shocks.
UK?)
V(?)
Considerably heavier than event

on May 18, 1893. Also felt in
Ventura and Ojai. Followed by
light aftershocks.
Widely felt shock, most severe

southeast of Ventura. Felt
from San Diego to Lompoc and
inland to San Bernardino. No
damage reports. Possible submarine origin off Ventura
coast.
Santa Barbara and

vicinity.
-do-
Santa Barbara-
Southern California
Santa Barbara-
VI(?)
IIH?)
vim
mm
IIH?)
VII
VII
Ventura
7-21
2-7 to
2-9.
1902
21:30
12-23
5-29 to
6-3.
16:10
7-26
1895
1898
21:12
7-29
1894
6-24 to
7-19.
04:00
6-1
1897
16:35
5-18
as
O
ii
O
u
>
Cd
>
>
M
"3
M
O
as
o
0202
o
II
II
02
OJ
21:30
9-10
7-3
1907
August
01:10
3-18
1905
IIK?)
IIK?)
VI
20:40
10-20
Slight local shock near Ojai

felt at Santa Barbara.
"Slight earthquake felt on same
day and hour as at Santa
Barbara City."
IK?)
IK?)
Pine Crest-
Ojai
Shocks were heaviest at

McKittrick and Sunset oil
fields. Flow of oil wells was
increased. Shock felt at
Nordhoff (Ojai), in Ventura
County 25 miles east of
Santa Barbara.
Bakersfield-
(Probably slight local shock at

Snedden Ranch near Ventura.)
Ventura
IIK?)
10-15
Light shock probably centered

near Los Angeles. Felt at
Santa Barbara and Sierra
Madre.
1904
IIK?)
All of north Santa Barbara

County shaken by severe quakes.
Light damage at Los Alamos and
Santa Maria. Felt at Lompoc,
San Luis Obispo, and Santa
Barbara.
Three shocks; the first quite

severe. No damage reports.
Felt in Lompoc.
Severe shock preceded by days of

light shocks.
reports concentrated at Los

Alamos, 45 miles westnorthwest of Santa Barbara.
Shocks probably originated on
various western extensions and
branches of the Santa Ynez
fault zone. Heavy shocks near
Lps Alamos on July 31, preceded by 5 days of frequent
minor shocks; drove nearly the
entire population away.
Remarks
Los Angeles-
UK?)
10-14
UK?)
IK?)
do
-do
UK?)
R.F. intensity 1
Santa Barbara area
Los Alamos
General location of
(Probably slight local shock.)
VIII
12-12
10-21
Local time
Maximum
R.F.
Ventura
Year
Month
and day
!>
a!
H
OJ
O
II
H
OJ
M
a!
H
OJ
TJ
M
H
O
f
M
.9
O
&
O
f
O
57

M
P
rO
H
)-> h
T3 V C rO rO
(U 4-1
-P
rO
+J
,Q
r-l
fc
(U bO fc
<1) -P , C rO
H 3 -H -H PQ
C f> 3 ^
(U
O rO rO
O > M 1 -H
O
M C
>> C M-i
rO
H -H O -H CO
> T)
fi
rO k -H bO fc
,Q rO M -H rO
O C O J (U
fc fc S
C
0)
4-i
ft (!)
PQ -H rO **
^
3 -H O
0 C O C -H
O rfl 1 h -H
1 CO bO O O
M
3 4-1 (U
k O -H -H
(U rfl fc H C
bO (1) ,C rO O
k C -H O S
rO
J
O
M
H
OJ
-H
rO
-H
rO
H
(U
4-i
H
(U
M-i
O
M
H
rO
O
M
H
rO
^
O-H
O rO
f, -n
03 O
A:
r-l T3
H
rO -H
OM
O (U
H
rO
OO
O -M
fc
r-l -H
O
H
, 0)
bO C
H -H
r-IPu
O
ft (U
fc-l->
rO C
rC O
MS
<C
<C
rO C
0 rO
O
H rO
fc
-)-) 3
, !->
bO C
-H (U
r-l >
<
,x
O
O
ff.
M
O
O
fi
M
M rO
(U
(U k
H rO
rO
fc rO
(U fc
*O rO
to
e ^
rO >,
O PQ H
-H
3 M
rO 1-3 (U
-M -H
H
. C A! (U
bO rO O bO
-HCOOC
r-l
,C <
C
-H
M
H
>, O
rO-l->>J
^ H rO
(U (U 0) -M
> (4n rCrO
(1)
co
M
M
M
1
M
M
M
M
M
O
M
H
rO
O ^1 r-l
H
H
Q)
^ C -H
O O H
O
(U
1
r f^
+J
3
rO
O
-M
M >, C
r-l rO
C
rO
CO rO
fc
k rO
rO â
(U ^
C rO
PQ
C â co
H rO
(U
^
rO
3
â -o
T3
O C
^ rO
Pu
^ rO
f,
H rO
f^-H
rO C
(U ^
O
M
(U
^
rO
3
o*
3
-H
C

'-N
r-l -H
rO
(U H
rO
MH rO -H k
O ,^~i rO
>i
bO >
i 1 C "H ^
Q) ^ i 1 rO
O (U M DQ
H
3
H
^
bO
*H
H
M
(U
f-i
(U
H
C
(U
O
rO
-P
C
rO
CO
rO
-H
C
rO
CO
-H
rO
>.
H
-H
.
bO
-H
H
M
"O
(U C -H
^ rO H
rO H (U
O'M
(U
-M
rO
î
(U
O
"O
SO
E- H
S
P-L,
rO
H >, k
Q) -I-* rO
3 C â
bO 3 4
-H O rO
S 0 PQ
<
-H
n3
rO
C1) -H
i
H
T3
C
(DC
T3 fM rrj
C1)
M
S4
C1) >! (U
+J -H i-l
cJ C 

H
K
O H
H co
T3
J.^
^t
t>0 "H
H-O -H
i~H 4 rC *
rO bO-H
' U C -H rO
( U X r-l -n
J^ O 03 O
S. :
H
H rO -H -H C
fc-H 3 rO
^ 3 S â
rO -H
rO
(U C rO ^ h
C (U ft rO rO
> O (U >
(U
O3^
^ <-H
rO
rO -H ^
PQ
3 rO rO >
cT-nS Hd rO
0
j -H
ft
"O M C
fc -H C M rO
rO rO rO M CO
_r^
CO
^~
H\
H\
M
M
M
M
J >
-M
,
bO
-H
H
M
>>
H
_Q
rO
â
O
^
PU
fa [/)
rO-H M C
3 O -H
(U J J
-o
H C

(U -H fl) ft!>
> rO bO (U
O
C fc "O
X
C
H M
-H rO
H
M rO
(U M O T->H
4-i rO J 0 M >,
S
M H
X
T3 T3
(U
O >1 C C M >
O -)-) (d rO (U -H
XI -H
-H -H
M M O M -H O
C ft O-H (U
bO (U M > M ft
C -H -H -H CM
O C ft r-l fl
C 0
rO
H
H
3
rO
rO
H
H
H 3 (U
rO J bO
rO
H C S
i 1 rd TO
0) (/)
MH
S
>i O
H fc
r-l 4-i
rO
h "O
(U C
C rO
(1)
U)
rO
T; 3
J-.
n0
f
5
O
r-l
<1)
3
bO
-H
CO
M
M
OJ
PU
C
O
n
H
M
rO
(U
k
O
^
ft
O
O
-H
^
rO
S
MH
c o
rO
CO
^
O
ft
(1)
CO M ^
,
1
1
1
^t
^_i
C
3
O
O
-H
3
O
rO O "O
PQ ft 0)
rC
(1)
C
rO
CO
H
H
.|_J
0-
M
M
M
M
M
H
C
3
O
O
i:3
"rC
-H bO
-H C
ft<C
(U
O M
^ O
(U J
ft
.
rO
(1)
K*l
rO
h
rd
>
h
rO
PQ
4-i H
(U (U
(U >iH H
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
O
C
H
"O
h
rO
C
k
<1)
PQ
-H
"4-i rO
(U T3 O
fa
rO
^
^
rO
PQ
rO
H
rO
CO
T3
0
S
-H
rO
-n
0
6.3
04:00 to
23:00.
II IIK?)
-do-
7-5
VIK?)
do
10:21
Eleven-shock swarm of felt

tremors. A thermograph instrument recorded almost continuous vibrations between 7
and 10 a.m.
Sharp and heavy. Instrumental

records indicate this was
strongest Santa Barbara
aftershock.
Also felt at Pasadena, III;

Ojai, III; and Ventura IV(?).
7-3
VIK?)
Santa Barbara-
08:38
7-3
VIK?)
Forty-two earthquake reports

from Santa Barbara area. Most
of these were aftershocks associated with the event of
June 29, 1925. About 32 reports from Santa Barbara alone
yield a count of 10 strong
aftershocks. Only the aftershocks of some special significance will be listed
separately.
Santa Barbara and
Ventura Counties.
6-29 to
10-9.
Two slight shocks.
Two "sharp, heavy blows."
High intensity of VIII IX near

the source in small area of the
western part of Inglewood.
Barely felt at Ventura.
Sharp quake, felt also on Santa

Catalina Island. (Reports
seem to indicate an origin
on submarine fault in the San
Pedro Channel.)
Remarks
Strong, destructive local earthquake practically destroyed

the business section of Santa
Barbara. Felt from Watsonville
on the northwest to Santa Ana
on the southeast and inland to
Mojave.
Imperial Valley swarm-
IK?)
IIK?)
R.F. intensity 1
Santa Barbara area
Santa Barbara-
IX
6-29
06:42
II VII
2-7 to
4-15.
IV
Ojai------------------
09:30
1-28
Inglewood, Los Angeles

County.
Los Angeles region-
1925
IX
VIIK?)
Santa Barbara
18:48
6-20
1920
General location of
12-30
02:08
6-18
Year
Maximum
R.F.
1924
Local time
Month
and day
>
>
o
H
W
>
II
CO
M
i
.3
O
F
M
Oi
00
1926
V
IIIC?)
UK?)
IV
02:15
10:18
05:53
8-12
8-13
10-30
1-12
2-18
5-3
17:30
15:21
6-27
6-29
VIIK?)
Shock from possible offshore

fault exactly one year following destructive 1925
earthquake. Child killed by
falling chimney. Glass broken,
cracks in walls enlarged; surf
agitated violently (probably
due to seaquake, possibly due
to small tsunami).
Santa Barbara
Felt from Los Angeles to Buellton, 30 miles west-northwest

from Santa Barbara, where
shock was felt by all; plaster
was cracked.
Two shocks, abrupt; bumping;

felt by many.
Two shocks, like sharp blows,

felt by all; pendulum clocks
stopped.
Also felt as slight shock at

Santa Barbara.
Felt at San Luis Obispo, 100

miles to northwest. Ventura
intensity VK?). Slight tremor
at Santa Barbara. No mention
of tsunami.
Windows broken at Santa Barbara

school, water pipe broken in
roundhouse. Felt along the
coast from San Luis Obispo on
the northwest to south of Santa
Ana, a distance of 200 miles.
No mention of tsunami.
Abrupt bumping, awakened many

sleepers. Felt at Santa
Barbara.
"Little jolt," followed by sharp

shock. Second event felt at
Ventura also.
(Several light shocks.)
Abrupt bumping also felt at

Ventura (IIK?)).
Several felt earthquakes.
Continued activity during aftershock sequence.
VenturaVIIK?)
Santa Barbara-
07:30
6-24
IV
IIK?)
Ojai
5-14
VI(?)
IIK?)
IIK?)
IIK?)
Origin at sea southwest

of Ventura.
Ojai-
Santa Barbara-
Ojai
Santa Barbara, Ventura,

and vicinity.
-do-
Origin at sea southwest

of Point Hueneme,
Ventura County.
VK?)
VI+
IVC?)
7-30
7^6 to
7-9.
O
II
H
>
Cd
>
CO
H
O
H
CO
H
H
O
H
O
CJ
CO
CO
H
ii
CO
CO
1927
Year
15:00
09:45
09:42
20:12
09:49
7-3
7_6
8-6
8-8
9 ~ 28
00:17
03:20
17:55
04:24
1-1
5-15(?)
7-15
8-4
Ventura
Imperial Valley-Santa Monica Bay-
V+
VI+
Imperial Valley
V+
VIII
Ventura
III+
12-19(7)
to
12-20(?)
____
Santa Ana, Yorba Linda,

Los Angeles.
Ventura-
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara region
do
do
General location of
Imperial Valley
V-VI
VC?)
V+(?)
IV
II
Maximum
R.F.
11-24
11-4 to
11-11.
Local time
Month
and day
IIK?)
IK?)
IV (0)
________________
________________
R.F, intensity 1
Santa Barbara area
Origin located offshore. Felt

from Ventura to Anaheim on
coast and to San Bernardino
Series of shocks (in brief

swarm).
south of Point Hueneme.
Pronounced shock which cracked

windows in Ventura. Probably
series of shocks (including

part of swarm suggested above
for Nov. 24, 1926, to
Feb. 23, 1927).
Two slight shocks 1 hour and 40

minutes apart.
Valley swarm, Nov. 24, 1926,

to Feb. 23, 1927.)
strumental refford for many of

these .
Located at sea southwest of

Ventura. Felt at Santa Barbara
and Ojai also.
caused noticeable swinging of

chandeliers .
also felt at Ojai and

Ventura.
Buildings swayed.
minute period. Felt by very

few.
Remarks
GEOLOGY,
DSECHANNEL,
PVSANTA
EBICAL
TSLARMORPILMBCEAIUNTRMYA,
OS
O
03:25
17:54
3-10
6-30
4-1
1930
1933
1941
1945
IV
VII-IX
IX+
VIII
VI-VII
15:43
23:51
19:32
05:51
11-4
8-5
03:00 to
03:30
11-4
11-18
04:40
8-26
Santa Barbara-
Santa Rosa Island-
5.4
Long Beach
---
Santa Barbara
UK?)
VIII
IIK?)
IV(?)
Santa Maria-'
--
VI-VII
IK?)
At sea west of Point

Arguello.
5.9
6.3
7.5
Point Arguello, Lompoc--
Santa Barbara-
Felt along the coastal area

from Santa Maria, south
through Santa Barbara and
Ventura to Simi.
Most damaging earthquake since

1925, with origin in Santa
Barbara Channel area. Total
damage about $100,000. Many
structures affected had been
damaged in 1925 and had not
been adequately repaired.
An event of moderate magnitude

similar to Santa Barbara 1925
quake, but $40 million in
damages and 115 lives lost
because of proximity to
heavily populated area with
many poorly constructed
buildings and poor foundation
conditions.
Largest earthquake in California

following 1906 San Francisco
event, until July 21, 1952
(7.7). Much stronger shock
than 1925 Santa Barbara event.
Seaquakes generated during
some larger aftershocks. Small
tsunami broke along coast at
Surf and Port San Luis.
Tsunami also recorded on tide
gages at San Diego and Santa
Barbara. Felt from Morgan Hill
on the northwest to Whittier
on the southeast. Many aftershocks, including some destructive tremors, occurred
through Dec. 31, 1927, and
later.
Four shocks preceding strong

event at 05:51.
Two sharp shocks, causing

much alarm. Also felt at
Ventura.
as
H
S
O
W
>
OT
H
o
H
d
H
as
!SH
8-27
7-21
Year
1949
1952
03:52
06:52
VI
Maximum
R.F.
Local time intensity 1
7.7
4.9
Magnitude
VIII(?)
Kern County
I. Microseismic shock. Recorded by a single seismograph

or by seismographs of the same model, but not by
several seismographs of different kinds; the shock
felt by an experienced observer.
II. Extremely feeble shock. Recorded by several seismographs of different kinds; felt by a small number
of persons at rest.
III. Very feeble shock. Felt by several persons at rest;
strong enough for the direction or duration to be
appreciable.
IV. Feeble shock. Felt by persons in motion; disturbance
of movable objects, doors, windows, cracking of
ceilings.
V. Shock of moderate intensity. Felt generally by everyone; disturbance of furniture and beds, ringing of
some bells.
Largest earthquake in the continental United States since

1906. Strongly felt along
southern California coast,
including Santa Barbara
area. Centered about 60 miles
northeast of Santa Barbara.
Caused damage to buildings
in Santa Barbara with losses
estimated at $400,000.
Strong effects at Arlight and

Lompoc.
Remarks
VI. Fairly strong shock. General awakening of those asleep,

general ringing of bells, oscillation of chandeliers,
stopping of clocks, visible agitation of trees and
shrubs, some startled persons leaving their dwellings.
VII. Strong shock. Overthrow of movable objects, fall of
plaster, ringing of church bells, general panic but no
damage to buildings.
VIII. Very strong shock.- Fall of chimneys, cracks in the walls
of buildings.
IX, Extremely strong shock. Partial or total destruction of
some buildings.
X. Shock of extreme intensity. Great disaster, ruins, disturbance of the strata, fissures in the ground, rockfalls from mountains.
III(?)
R.F. intensity 1
Santa Barbara area
Near Point Conception-
General location of
'The most commonly used form of the Rossi-Forel (R.F.)

scale reads as follows (Richter, 1958):
Month
and day
fed
t"
o
r
I-H
"d
CO
>
Cd
fed
fed
fed
tr1
O
d
K
bottom profiles show that they extend at least several

hundred feet beneath the sea floor. Some of the profiles, and especially the two that bound the offshore
extension of the Rincon anticline, form scarps in very
young bottom sediments (fig. 17). These bordering
scarps are evident on precision depth records; one lies
about 1% miles south of Platform A, the other about
2 miles north.
Three short gravity cores collected in unconsolidated
sediments across the axis of the anticline in the
vicinity of Union Platform A (fig. 17) penetrated a
shell-rich zone. The shells occurred from 0-4.7 inches
in core SB-2, 5.3-6.6 inches in SB-5, and 9.8-16.0
inches in SB-6. Meyer Rubin of the U.S. Geological
Survey dated these shells by using the radiocarbon
method. The following ages were obtained: SB-2,
8,750 300 years (W-2297); SB-5, 13,140350 years
(W-2298); SB-6, 13,920350 years (W-2299). The
locality of core SB-6 is just north of the south boundary
fault of the Rincon trend. Because this fault has
produced a scarp in the bottom sediments, it probably
has moved since the shells were deposited. Core SB-2
is 3,300 feet south of the north boundary fault of the
Rincon trend. Again, the presence of a scarp indicates
that faulting may have occurred less than 8,750 300
years ago. The facts that the scarps are preserved
in relatively soft bottom sediments, and that movement presumably occurred after the shell layer was
buried at core SB-6, suggest that the last movement
on these faults may have been more recent than the
radiocarbon dates.
The fault scarps indicate Holocene tectonic activity,
some of which may have been accompanied by felt
historic earthquakes in the Santa Barbara Channel.
At least two earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or larger
have occurred in the channel; both were large enough
to have resulted in surface faulting.
FUTURE EARTHQUAKES
Although the Santa Barbara Channel region is not

known to have been the site of a great (magnitude >
8.0) earthquake, the historic record shows that it ha^
experienced several severe shocks. In addition, the
geologic record shows that a high level of tectonic
activity has continued at least through late Tertiary
and Quaternary time.
The history of destructive earthquakes provides an
indication of what might happen in the future, but
due to the small number of such events the record
does not provide a statistically reliable basis for prediction. In many areas, however, the number of large
earthquakes that occur in a region is simply related
to the number of small earthquakes. More specifically,
the numbers of shocks of different magnitudes are
63
related by the equation

logloN=a-bM
where M is the Richter magnitude, N is the number
of events greater than magnitude M, and a and b are
constants that vary with the seismic region being
considered (Richter, 1958).
Alien and others (1965) found that for the southern
California region (Bishop to Ensenada) the smaller
earthquakes provide a fairly good estimate of the rate
of occurrence of the larger events. They calculated
that on the average a magnitude 6.1 earthquake
should occur each year in this entire region, and a
magnitude 8.0 earthquake should occur once in 52
years. Such a great earthquake anywhere in southern
California probably would have destructive effects in
the Santa Barbara Channel region. Its aftershocks,
many of which also would be destructive, might be
expected to occur over an area the size of southern
California.
The record of small shocks could also be used to
estimate the frequency of occurrence of large earthquakes in the Santa Barbara Channel region. However, Alien and others (1965) found that for other
areas of southern California such an analysis was
unreliable and in some places misleading. The best
indicator of future activity in the channel region,
then, is the historic record.
Since 1900, two earthquakes of magnitude 6 have
occurred in the area (in 1925 and 1941). No magnitude
7.5 earthquakes are definitely known, although the
1812 event could have been of that size. The magnitude 7.5 earthquake that occurred in 1927 was
located outside the channel area, but it could have
relieved stored seismic energy in the region, because
it may have been associated with an extension of the
Santa Ynez fault. The magnitude 7.7 Kern County
earthquake of 1952 along the White Wolf fault, which
is also alined transverse to the general structural
trend of California, may have had a similar effect.
ASSOCIATED EFFECTS
GROUND MOTION AND FAILURE
The intensity of ground shaking during an earthquake depends largely on local geologic factors; chief
of these are the thickness and physical properties of
the materials composing the uppermost few hundred
meters beneath the site. In general, the greatest amplitudes and longest durations of ground motion
have been observed on thick, water-saturated, unconsolidated materials.
Although field experimental data that bear on
ground amplification are sparse, research has been
been done on seismic waves generated by underground nuclear explosions in Nevada and recorded
64
in the San Francisco Bay region (Borcherdt, 1969).

Ground-motion amplitudes recorded on soils and sediments near the margins of the bay were compared
with those recorded on nearby bedrock outcrops.
Maximum amplifications (in the horizontal component
of ground motion) were observed on thick sections
of "younger Bay mud" near the margins of the bay.
At such sites, the peak ground-motion velocities were
as much as 10 times larger than on nearby bedrock
sites; and corresponding peak values in the ratio of
the Fourier spectra (which reflect the duration and
amplitude of shaking) were as much as 30 times larger
than those observed on bedrock. This means that
the amount of power or energy that is dissipated at
a given frequency can be as much as 30 times greater
on unconsolidated sediments than on bedrock.
It is probable that soft sediments in the Santa
Barbara Channel region would also suffer such
amplified shaking. The resulting failure could take
one or more of several forms, such as liquefying,
cracking, lurching, slumping and sliding, and generating of turbidity currents, with associated effects on
bottom installations in the channel. Failures of this
nature on the sea floor would be most likely to occur
on the steeper offshore slopes. Maximum persistent
sea-floor gradients within the channel are 12Ms -15
along a short segment of the shelf break about 4 miles
southwest of Coal Oil Point. About 12 miles south
of Ventura, the steepest gradients on this same feature are as much as 7. Similar slopes occur about 3
miles north of Santa Cruz Island. For comparison,
the steeper persistent slopes on the south flank of the
Santa Ynez Mountains are about 25 and shorter
slopes are as much as 38 (fig. 3).
TSUNAMIS
The two largest tsunamis known to have been

generated on the western coast of the United States
formed in the Santa Barbara Channel region. The
earthquake of 1812 near Santa Barbara caused waves
that reportedly flooded the lower part of the town,
and the 1927 shock off Point Arguello caused waves
at least 6 feet high. The channel region is not known
to have experienced high waves from externally
generated tsunamis.
Sudden vertical movement of the sea floor is the
most effective means of generating a tsunami, but
alternate methods include horizontal movement on a
sea floor of high relief and submarine landsliding.
Energy radiation by tsunamis is greatest in the direction perpendicular to the axis of sea-floor deformation. Because faults in the channel generally are
subparallel to the shoreline, the largest wave amplitudes from a locally generated tsunami probably
would be directed toward the Santa Barbara coast or

the north sides of the islands. In view of the possibility that tsunamis could be produced in the channel
region, their effects on oil installations in Alaska
after the 1964 earthquake will be reviewed.
SEISMIC EFFECTS ON OIL-FIELD INSTALLATIONS
Some of the effects that might accompany earthquakes in the channel region have been demonstrated
by several moderate earthquakes in the Los Angeles
area, the Kern County earthquake of 1952, and the
Alaska earthquake of 1964.
In October 1941, a moderate earthquake (magnitude
4.9) affected the southwest part of the Los Angeles
basin. The epicenter (as located instrumentally) was
about 3 miles southeast of the Dominguez oil field on
the Newport-Inglewood zone of faults and folds. On
the same date, 15 flowing wells in the western part
of the Dominguez field were damaged by subsurface
movement on and near a previously recognized southdipping reverse fault that trends west, subparallel
to the Dominguez anticline. Bravinder (1942) concluded (1) that the faulting was due to relief of preexisting stresses near the crest of the anticline, and
(2) that the relieved stresses were chiefly tectonic in
origin.
In November of the same year (1941) a second
earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.4, occurred with
an instrumental epicenter about 4 miles south of that
of the October earthquake. No subsurface damage
was reported, although the Long Beach oil field is
less than 2 miles from the epicenter; however, surface
installations in the Torrance-Gardena area northwest
of the epicenter were damaged. Two storage tanks
on unconsolidated alluvium were "destroyed" and two
more were badly buckled, a 6-inch oil pipeline (broken
in one place during the October earthquake) was ruptured in four additional places, and an 8-inch naturalgas pipeline was broken. Ground cracks formed near
the broken oil line (Wood and Heck, 1941).
Two and a half years later, on June 18, 1944, two
moderate earthquakes (magnitude 4.4 and 4.5) occurred, with instrumental epicenters between that of
the October 1941 shock and the Dominguez oil field.
Later the same day, 16 oil wells in the Rosecrans
field, 4J/4 miles northwest of the epicenters and 2Ms
miles northwest of the Dominguez field, were found
to be damaged by subsurface movement on a southdipping reverse fault that trends west at a small
angle from the axis of the Rosecrans structure
(Martner, 1948). The faulting of October 1941 and
June 1944 is attributed by Richter (1958) to direct
seismic shaking or readjustment of the local strain
pattern.
Three oil wells in the Inglewood field, also located

along the Newport-Inglewood zone, were damaged
during two small earthquakes (magnitudes 3.4 and
3.0) in February and March, 1963 (Hudson and Scott,
1965). The damage occurred at depth along previously recognized faults, but the instru men tally
located epicenters were about 6 and 17 miles away.
Hudson and Scott (1965) imply that the subsurface
displacements at Inglewood were triggered by the
earthquakes.
Oil pipelines, storage tanks, and subsurface installations were slightly affected by the Kern County
earthquake of July 21, 1952. The magnitude of the
shock was 7.7; damage occurred chiefly on unconsolidated alluvium, although pipelines were severed
elsewhere by landslide movements and by repeated
flexing. Other damage included settling of the ground
around wells, which affected the pumping equipment,
and collapsing of casing or kinking of tubing in shallow
wells. The shock also caused collapse of the supports
of two large spherical butane tanks at a gas-cycling
plant and rupture of connecting pipelines and release
of their contents, which led to an explosion and a
costly fire (Johnston, 1955; Steinbrugge and Moran,
1954).
Oil-storage tanks sustained great damage as a
result of the 1964 Alaska earthquake, chiefly from
seismic shaking; in a few places, tanks were also
affected by earthquake-associated subsidence or by
landsliding, and some were affected by seismic sea
waves. Storage tanks were damaged in Anchorage,
Kodiak, Nikiski, Seward, Whittier, and Valdez. At
Seward, ground motion caused almost immediate rupture of the storage tanks on the waterfront, and spills
and widespread fire resulted; a submarine landslide in
the alluvial deposits then carried a large part of the
waterfront, including many of the tanks, into Resurrection Bay. The landsliding was followed by seismic
sea waves, which inundated the entire waterfront
area and severely damaged the remaining fuel tanks.
Damage to the tanks was chiefly by seismic vibration,
which caused rupture or buckling; some were totally
destroyed by fire or waves.
Reports indicate that well equipment was not
damaged in the Swanson River oil field and Kenai
gas field. A 12-inch gas pipeline extended 93 miles
from the Kenai field to Anchorage; an 8-mile, 2-pipe
segment embedded in bottom silt of the Turnagain
Arm of Cook Inlet was not seriously damaged, and
only one small break occurred in the entire line. Extensive rupturing of the gas-distribution system in
Anchorage resulted chiefly from landslides (Eckel,
1967).
65
The Kodiak-Valdez region was a natural laboratory

for full-scale testing of a number of standard-design
oil-storage tanks, some of which were fully loaded
and others of which were partly loaded. Rinne (1967),
who investigated the damage to tanks in Seward,
Nikiski, and Anchorage, classified the effects as
follows: (1) buckling of the shell (tank wall) near its
base, (2) buckling of conical roofs and top covers,
(3) damage to floating roofs and accessories, and (4)
damage to connecting piping. The buckling response
of the tank shells near the base received the most
study and is attributed to lateral forces that probably acquired substantial amplification during several
minutes vibration. Rinne (1967) found that standarddesign tanks in the 20- to 70-foot diameter range were
considerably less resistant to buckling than other
sizes; tanks of about 30 feet diameter were found to
be most susceptible. All the damaged tanks were
founded on unconsolidated alluvial deposits. Fisher
and Merkle (1965) suggest that the buckling may
have been due to vertical displacement of the concrete
base. The displacement accelerated the liquid and
increased the fluid pressure acting on the lower part
of the tank.
Seismic sea waves caused much of the damage
after the Alaska earthquake, especially at Valdez
and Seward. High-water marks of about 30 feet
above "normal tide level" were recorded at several
places, including Cordova, Kodiak, Seward, and
Whittier. In addition, a mark of 170 feet was recorded
at Valdez (Grantz and others, 1964, fig. 7). The
effects of the waves were devastating in most of these
areas, but many of the tanks vulnerable to them had
already failed.
OIL-FIELD OPERATIONS
The removal of large volumes of fluid from Cenozoic clastic strata, such as those that contain California
oil reservoirs, has led to complex readjustments within and above the reservoirs. Such readjustments
commonly result in differential subsidence of the
ground surface over and around the reservoir, and,
in some places, in earthquakes and fault displacements. Although these effects may be prevented or
minimized by maintaining original reservoir fluid
pressures through fluid injection during extraction of
the petroleum, fluid injection itself has recently been
recognized as the probable cause of earthquakes in
two places.
More than 40 examples of differential subsidence,
horizonal displacement, or surface faulting have been
associated with the operation of 28 California and
Texas oil fields (Yerkes and Castle, 1969). Maximum
66
recorded movements are: more than 29 feet of differential subsidence and 11 feet of horizontal displacement in the Wilmington oil field and 2.4 feet of fault
displacement in the Buena Vista oil field, California.
Differential subsidence is the most common and
widespread of the effects, but it is easily detected
only in shoreline areas where it may result in local
flooding. Where level surveys have determined the
size and shape of the subsidence bowl, the subsided
areas are centered over and extend well beyond the
producing area. Subsidence was first reported in 1926
over the Goose Creek oil field near Houston, on the
Texas Gulf Coast (Pratt and Johnson, 1926). The
most spectacular and costly example of differential
subsidence in the United States is that of the Wilmington oil field, where an elliptical area of more than
29 square miles has been affected. Large subsidence
bowls also have been delineated over California oil
fields at Huntington Beach, Long Beach, and Inglewood.
Centripetally directed horizontal displacement of
the ground surface accompanies differential subsidence, but can be precisely documented only by triangulation surveys, and hence has been determined
in only three United States oil fields: Buena Vista,
Inglwood, and Wilmington, all in California. Surface
installations such as foundations, piers, and piles are
most seriously affected by such displacements.
Surface faulting, in addition to being the most conspicuous and easily documented effect, may also occur
suddenly, and it is therefore potentially more damaging to oil wells and surface structures. Subsidenceassociated surface faulting is most commonly high
angle and normal, peripheral to the subsidence bowl,
and downthrown on the oil field side; it commonly
trends subparallel to the isobase contours. Examples
of this type have developed over the Goose Creek and
Mykawa fields in Texas and over the Inglewood and
Kern Front fields in California. The surface fault at
Kern Front developed over a preexisting subsurface
fault; the surface break extends for 3 miles and is the
longest known example of this type. Displacement
has been virtually continuous for at least 20 years
and totaled more than 1 foot in 1968.
A thrust fault has formed in response to intense
horizontal compression induced by measured subsidence in a unique example at the Buena Vista oil field
in California. The fault sheared about 20 wells at
depths no greater than 794 feet below the surface and
no further than 1,800 feet from the fault trace, but
the fault has not been detected in numerous other
wells it should intersect if it were a tectonic feature.
Cumulative displacement during 38 years of nearly
continuous movement totals more than 2.4 feet.
Subsurface effects associated with oil-field operations also have been observed at the Wilmington oil
field. In the central part of the field, sharply defined,
nearly horizontal shear movements occurred at average depths of 1,550 and 1,770 feet in December 1947
and November 1949 (Frame, 1952). The movements
were recorded at Pasadena, 28 miles away, as seismograms that were characterized by unusually large
developments of long-period motion, suggestive of
a shallow focus and lack of sharpness at the beginning
of the motion (Hudson and Scott, 1965). Oil wells
intersected by the slippage surfaces were damaged
during each event; the maximum horizontal displacement in each event was about 9 inches (Frame, 1952),
but the sense of displacement was not recorded. The
November 1949 event was a major economic disaster,
involving 302 wells, chiefly in the central part of the
subsidence bowl; damages exceeded $9 million. Similar, less costly events also occurred in August 1951
and January 1955.
Fluid injection seems to have caused earthquakes
in at least two places. The injection of water into a
12,000-foot deep well at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal
northeast of Denver, Colo., is generally considered
to have initiated the earthquake sequence that began
there in 1962 (Healy and others, 1968). Three of
these earthquakes had magnitudes greater than 5 and
resulted in minor damage. The probable cause of the
earthquakes was weakening of rock through increased
pore pressure, which allowed natural rock stresses to
be released. Another situation that possibly is similar
to that in Denver was subsequently recognized in the
oil field near Rangely, Colo. (Healy and others, 1968).
The earthquakes there occurred in areas of highpressure gradients generated by injection of water
for purposes of secondary recovery.
SUMMARY
The Santa Barbara Channel region is seismically

active: since 1900 it has experienced two earthquakes
of magnitude 6, and in 1812 it was the site of a shock
that may have attained magnitude 7. Several earthquakes greater than magnitude 7 are known to have
occurred in nearby regions of California. Tsunamis
have been generated in the channel region; however,
none was associated with the magnitude 6 earthquakes
of 1925 and 1941, which were located under the channel. Earthquakes of magnitude 6 and larger can be
expected to occur in the future in the vicinity of the
channel, and it would be consistent with past behavior
if several such events occurred in the next century.
At present it is not known which of the several channel faults are seismically active, because the quality
of the existing seismograph network does not allow

accurate epicenter location. The possibility must be
recognized that natural earthquakes or tectonic deformation could occur in the channel region and mistakenly be associated with oil-field operations. In
the past, onshore southern California oil wells have
been damaged by subsurface faulting during natural
distant earthquakes, as well as by locally induced subsurface and near-surface faulting. No surface spills
have resulted from any of these events. Surface installations, chiefly storage tanks and pipelines, have
been damaged by the effects of seismic shaking during
both moderate- and large-magnitude earthquakes.
A large earthquake (magnitude 7 or greater) in the
Santa Barbara Channel region would cause intense
shaking with associated ground deformation and failure, particularly in artificially-filled areas, alluviated
valleys, and unstable hillside slopes. The resulting damage to manmade structures would no doubt be great,
especially during the wet season when water saturated ground would slide more easily. Oil installations
would probably also suffer damage, but not out of
proportion with other damage. Effects from such
damage can be reduced by certain reasonable precautions, many of which are standard practice. The
hazards to oil installations, in order of what is considered to be decreasing importance, are tabulated
below.
Hazard
Remarks
Rupture of storage tanks resulting in leakage and fires.
This hazard can be minimized

by: (1) Selecting firm
ground for necessary storage areas, (2) designing
storage tanks to withstand
earthquake forces, (3) using
only the minimum number
of tanks necessary, (4) constructing well-engineered
containment dikes for adequate volumes, and (5) providing fire equipment
adequate to cope with numerous, simultaneous fires.
This hazard exists irrespective
of the oil operations and
would normally be considered " an act of God;" however, the possibility exists
that an earthquake could
reopen cracks or reactivate
leaks that originated from
oil field exploitation.
Equipment for collecting
oil both from the ocean surface and from the leak at
the sea floor, techniques for
plugging leaks, and oil-slick
dispersants can reduce effects from this hazard.
Fracture of ground resulting

in oil migration from depth
to the surface and into the
67
Hazard Continued
Remarks Continued
Damage to oil wells, such as

sheared casings, resulting
in oil leakage into the ocean.
Many wells have been sheared

by movement in California
without causing serious
leaks. In many places the
effect of the movement is
to pinch off the well casing,
which would actually inhibit
leakage. The possibility of
leakage caused by fault
movements in the Santa
Barbara Channel region,
however, cannot be ignored.
If high subsurface pressures
were released to the surrounding rocks in shallow
reservoirs and fractures
formed to the sea floor, a
leak could result. Procedures for coping with an
event such as this are similar to those described for
the preceding hazard.
Rupture of pipelines carrying

oil from the platforms to
shore resulting in oil leakage into the ocean.
This type of accident would

release only a limited volume of oil. A break in the
deeper parts of the pipeline
would release less oil than
a break near shore, but
would probably be more
difficult to repair. Present
regulations require cutoff
valves in the pipelines to
prevent further oil pumping
if a leak occurs. The volume
of oil carried in an existing
6-mile-long pipeline owned
by Phillips Oil Co. is 515
barrels per mile; a Union
Oil Co. pipeline 10 V6 miles
long contains 731 barrels
per mile.
Partial or complete destruction of a drilling platform

by an earthquake or tsunami.
The major loss in platform

destruction would be a financial loss to the producer
with minor danger to the
environment unless wells
are at critical stages of
drilling or development.
Completed wells have chokes
and automatic cutoff valves
at the sea floor. Their
control does not depend on
the integrity of the platform. Uncompleted wells
present special problems
and must be dealt with as
special problems. It is
noteworthy that platforms
have been destroyed by gulf
coast hurricanes and have
not resulted in significant
oil spills.
68
Operators have provided the information that platforms on offshore Federal leases have been designed
by engineering consultants in conformance with
regional construction code standards. For example,
the platforms on Dos Cuadras field have a freeboard
that exceeds the height of any predicted storm wave

or tsunami at that location and are designed for a
seismic load factor of 0.15 g (maximum ground
acceleration),
69
Eckel, E. B., 1967, Effects of the earthquake of March 27,1964,

on air and water transport, communications, and utilities
systems in south-central Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof.
Abbott, C. C., 1879, Chipped stone implements: U.S. Geog.
Paper 545-B, 27 p.
Surveys west of the 100th meridian (Wheeler), v. 7 (Arche- Eldridge, G. H., 1901, The asphalt and bituminous rock deposits
ology ), p. 49-69.
of the United States: U.S. Geol. Survey 22d Ann. Rept.,pt.
Alexander, A. B., 1892, Coast of southern California, in Report
1, p.209-452.
of the Commissioner for 1888, Part XVI: U.S. Commissioner Fewkes, J. W., 1889, Across the Santa Barbara Channel: Am.
of Fish and Fisheries, p. 451.
Naturalist, v. 23, p. 387-394.
Alien, A. A., 1969a, Spreading characteristics of the Santa Bar- Fisher, W. E., and Merkle, D. H., 1965, The qreat Alaska earthquake: U.S. Air Force Weapons Lab., Kirtland Air Force
bara oil spill [abs.]: Eos, Am. Geophys. Union Trans., v. 50,
Base, N. Mex., Tech. Rept. AFWL-TR-65-92, v. 1,100 p.
no. 6, p. 456.
Frame, R. G., 1952, Earthquake damage, its causes and prevention
1969b, Santa Barbara oil spill, statement presented by
in the Wilmington oil field in California oil fields, Summary
General Research Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., May 20,1969,
of operations: California Div. Oil and Gas, v. 38, no. 1, p. 5-65.
to U.S. Senate Interior Comm., Subcomm. Mineral and Fuels: _____1960, California offshore petroleum development in
12 p.
California oil fields, Summary of operations: California Div.
Alien, C. R., St. Amand, Pierre, Richter, C. F., and Nordquist,
Oil and Gas, v. 46, no. 2, p. 5-46.
J. M., 1965, Relationship between seismicity and geologic Gilluly, James, and Grant, U. S., 4th, 1949, Subsidence in the Long
structure in the southern California region: Seismol. Soc.
Beach Harbor area, California: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v.
America Bull., v. 55, p. 753-797.
60, no. 3, p. 461-529.
Arnold, Ralph, 1907, Geology and oil resources of the Summer- Glenn, W. E., 1950, A study of reservoir performance of the
land district, Santa Barbara County, California: U.S. Geol.
First Grubb Pool, San Miguelito Field, Ventura County,
Survey Bull. 321, 93 p.
California: Am. Inst. Mining Metall. Petroleum Engineers
Bickmore, D. K., 1967, Offshore-onshore petroleum study, Santa
Trans., v. 189, p. 243-260.
Barbara Channel. Phase I, effects of Federal leasing, outer Goodyear, W. A., 1888, Santa Barbara County, in Petroleum,
continental shelf (prelim, rept.): Oil Well Inspection Dept.,
asphaltum, and natural gas: California Mining Bur., 7th
Santa Barbara County, Calif., 1 volume.
Ann. Rept. State Mineralogist, p. 89-91.
Borcherdt, R. D., 1969, Effects of local geology on ground motion Grantz, Arthur, Plaf ker, George, and Kachadoorian, Reuben,
near San Francisco Bay: Seismol. Soc. America Bull. (In
1964, Alaska^s Good Friday earthquake, March 27,1964, a
press.)
preliminary geologic evaluation: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 491,
Bravinder, K. M., 1942, Los Angeles basin earthquake of Octo35 p.
ber 21,1941, and its effect on certain producing wells in Halbouty, M. T., Giant oil and gas fields in United States: Am.
Dominguez Field, Los Angeles County, California: Am.
Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 52, p. 1115-1151.
Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 26, no. 3, p. 388-399.
Healy, J. H., Raleigh, C. B., and Coakley, J. M., 1968, Earthquakes
Bremner, C. S. J., 1932, Geology of Santa Cruz Island, Santa
near Rangely, Colorado, may be related to fluid injection
Barbara County, California: Santa Barbara Mus. Nat. His[abs.]: Geol. Soc. America, Cordilleran Sec.-Seismol. Soc.
tory, Occasional Paper 1,33 p.
America-Paleont. Soc., Pacific Sec., 64th Ann. Mtg., Tucson,
Byerly, Perry, 1930, The California earthquake of November 4,
Ariz., 1968, Program, p. 64.
1927: Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v. 20, no. 2, p. 53-66.
Healy, J. H., Rubey, W. W. Griggs, D. T., and Raleigh, C. B., 1968,
California Division of Oil and Gas, 1961, California oil and gas
The Denver earthquakes: Science, v. 161, no. 3848, p. 1301field maps and data sheets Part 2, Los Angeles-Ventura
1310.
basins and Central Coast Ranges: San Francisco, Califor- Heizer, R. F., 1943, Aboriginal use of bitumen by the California
nia Div. Oil and Gas, p. 495-913.
Indians: California Div. Mines Bull. 118, p. 74.
California Oil World, 1969, Field development: California Oil Hertel, F. W., 1929, Ventura Avenue oil field, Ventura County,
World, v. 62, no. 4, February, p. 44-47; v. 62, no. 7 [13], July,
California: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 12, no.
p. 32-35.
7, p. 721-742.
Conservation Committee of California Oil Producers, 1969, Hudson, D. E., and Scott, R. P., 1965, Fault motions at the BaldAnnual review of California oil and gas production, 1968:
win Hills reservoir site: Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v.55,
Los Angeles, Calif., Conserv. Comm., California Oil Producno. 1, p. 165-180.
ers.
Imray, J. F., 1868, Sailing directions for the West Coast of North
Dibblee, T. W., Jr., 1950, Geology of southwestern Santa Barbara
America, Part 1: London, James Imray and Son.
County, California; Point Arguello, Lompoc, Point Con- Jennings, C. W., 1959, Geologic map of California [Olaf P.
ception, Los Olivos, and Gaviota quadrangles: California
Jenkins ed., Santa Maria sheet]: California Div. Mines,
Div. Mines Bull. 150, 95 p.
scale 1:250,000.
_____1966, Geology of the central Santa Ynez Mountains, _____1969, Geologic map of California [Olaf P. Jenkins ed.,
Santa Barbara County, California: California Div. Mines
Los Angeles sheet]: California Div. Mines and Geology.
and Geology Bull. 186,99 p.
(In press.)
Duggan, D. E., 1964, Porosity variations in two deep Pliocene Johnston, R. L., 1955, Earthquake damage to oil fields and to the
zones of Ventura Avenue anticline as a function of strucPaloma cycling plant in the San Joaquin Valley in Earthtural and stratigraphic position: Riverside, California Univ.,
quakes in Kern County, California, during 1952: California
master's thesis, 57 p.
Div. Mines Bull. 171, p. 221-225.
REFERENCES CITED
70
Kleinpell, R. M., 1938, Miocene stratigraphy of California: Tulsa,

Okla., Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, 450 p.
Lian, H. M., 1954, Geology of the Carpinteria district, Santa
Barbara County, in Jahns, R. H., ed., Geology of southern
California: California Div. Mines Bull. 170, Map Sheet 25,
scale 1 inch to 1 mile.
McClellan, H. W., and Haines, R. B., 1951, San Miguelito oil field,
Ventura County, California: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 35, no. 12, p. 2542-2560.
McCulloh, T. H., 1969, Oil fields, gravity anomalies and surface
chemical manifestations correlations, causes, and exploration significance [abs.]: Soc. Explor. Geophysicists, Pacific
Sec., 44th Ann. Mtg., Los Angeles, Calif., 1969, Program, p.
17-18.
Mallory, V. S., 1959, Lower Tertiary biostratigraphy of the California Coast Ranges: Tulsa, Okla., Am. Assoc. Petroleum
Geologists, 416 p.
Martner, S. T., 1948, The Dominguez Hills, California, Earthquake
of June 18,1944: Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v. 38, no. 2, p.
105-119.
Nunn, Herbert, 1925, Municipal problems of Santa Barbara:
Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v. 15, no. 4, p. 308-319.
Orr, P. C., 1960, Late Pleistocene marine terraces on Santa Rosa
Island, California: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 71, no. 7, p.
1113-1119.
Page, B. M., Marks, J. G., and Walker, G. W., 1951, Stratigraphy
and structure of the mountains northeast of Santa Barbara,
California: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 35, no.
8, p. 1727-1780.
Popenoe, W. P., Imlay, R. W., and Murphy, M. A., 1960, Correlation of the Cretaceous formations of the Pacific Coast
(United States and northwestern Mexico): Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 71, no. 10, p. 1491-1540.
Pratt, W. E., and Johnson, D. W., 1926, Local subsidence of the
Goose Creek oil field [Texas]: Jour. Geology, v. 34, no. 7,p.
577-590.
Putnam, W. C., 1942, Geomorphology of the Ventura region,
California: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 53, no. 5, p. 691-754.
Records, L. R., 1968, Engineered concept optimizes deep drilling:
Petroleum Engineer, March 1968, p. 66-68, 71-72, and 74.
Redwine, L. E., chm., and others, 1952, Cenozoic correlation section, paralleling north and south margins, western Ventura
basin, from Point Conception to Ventura and Channel
Islands, California: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, Pacific
Sec., Geol. Names and Correlations Comm., Subcomm. on
Cenozoic, 2 sheets.
Richter, C. F., 1958, Elementary seismology: San Francisco,
W. H. Freeman and Co., 768 p.
Rinne, J. E., 1967, Oil storage tanks in Wood, F. G., ed., Research
studies seismology and marine geology, Part A, Engineering seismology, Volume 2 of The Prince William Sound,
Alaska, earthquake of 1964 and aftershocks: U.S. Coast and
Geod. Survey Pub. 10-3, p. 245-252.
Rintoul, Bill, 1969, Deep oil revives Santa Barbara: Offshore,
v. 29, no. 9, p. 37-40.
Roof, J. G., 1959, Variation of fluid properties with elevation in
high-relief oil reservoirs: Jour. Inst. of Petroleum, v. 45, no.
432, p. 373-379.
Sage, B. H., and Lacey, W. N., 1939, Gravitational concentration
gradients in static columns of hydrocarbon fluids: Am. Inst.
Mining Metall. Petroleum Engineer Trans., v. 132, p. 120-131.
Schenck, H. G., and Kleinpell, R. M., 1936, Refugian stage of the

Pacific Coast Tertiary: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists
Bull., v. 20, no. 2, p. 215-225.
Standing, M. B., 1952, Volumetric and phase behavior of oil field
hydrocarbon systems: New York, Reinhold Publishing Corp.,
123 p.
Steinbrugge, K. V., and Moran, D. F., 1954, An engineering study
of the southern California earthquake of July 21,1952, and
its aftershocks: Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v. 44, no. 2B,
p.210-462.
Stevenson, R. E., Uchupi, Elazar, and Gorsline, D. S., 1959, Some
characteristics of sediments on the mainland shelf of southern California, Section 2 of Oceanographic survey of the
continental shelf area of southern California: California
Water Pollution Control Board Pub. 20, p. 59-109.
Swayze, R. O., 1943, La Goleta gas field: California Div. Mines
Bull. 118, p. 384-385.
Thomas, R. G., Marliave, E. C., James, L. B., and Bean, R. T., 1954,
Geology and hydrology of Ventura County in Jahns, R. H.,
ed., Geology of southern California: California Div. Mines
Bull. 170, pt. 6, p. 19-28.
Townley, S. D., and Alien, M. W., 1939, Descriptive catalogue of
earthquakes of the Pacific Coast of the United States, 1769
to 1928: Seismol. Soc. America Bull., v. 29, no. 1, p. 1-297.
Upson, J. E., 1949, Late Pleistocene and recent changes of sea
level along the coast of Santa Barbara County, California:
Am. Jour. Sci., v. 247, no. 2, p. 94-115.
Vedder, J. G., and Brown, R. D., 1968, Structural and stratigraphic relations along the Nacimiento fault in the southern
Santa Lucia Range and San Rafael Mountains, California,
in Dickinson, W. R., and Grantz, Arthur, eds., Proceedings
of conference on geologic problems of the San Andreas
fault system: Stanford Univ. Pubs. Geol. Sci., v. 11, p. 242259.
Vedder, J. G., and Wallace, R. E., 1968, Map showing recently active breaks along the San Andreas and related faults
between Cholame Valley and Tejon Pass, California: U.S.
Geol. Survey open-file map, scale 1:24,000.
Vernon, J. W., and Slater, R. A., 1963, Submarine tar mounds,
Santa Barbara County, California: Am. Assoc. Petroleum
Geologists Bull., v. 47, no. 8, p. 1624-1627.
Wallace, R. E., 1968, Notes on stream channels offset by the
San Andreas fault, southern Coast Ranges, California, in
Dickinson, W. R., and Grantz, Arthur, eds., Proceedings of
conference on geologic problems of the San Andreas fault
system: Stanford Univ. Pubs. Geol. Sci., v. 11, p. 6-21.
Watts, E. V., 1948, Some aspects of high pressures in the D-7
zone of the Ventura Avenue field: Am. Inst. Mining Metall.
Petroleum Engineers Trans., v. 174, p. 191-205.
Whalen, H. E., 1968, Understanding and using frac pressures in
well planning: Petroleum Engineer, no. 10, v. 40 (Sept.), p.
75-76; 81-82.
Whitney, J. D., 1865, Geological survey of California Geology,
Volume 1; Report of progress and synopsis of the field work
from 1860 to 1864: California Geol. Survey, 498 p.
Wood, H. E., 2d, chm., and others, 1941, Nomenclature and correlation of the North American continental Tertiary: Geol.
Soc. America Bull., v. 52, no. 1, p. 1-48.
Wood, H. O., 1955, The 1857 earthquake in California: Seismol.
Soc. America Bull., v. 45, no. 1, p. 47-67.

Wood, H. O., and Heck, N. H., 1941, Earthquake history of the
United States; Part 2, Stronger earthquakes of California
and western Nevada [revised ed.]: U.S. Coast and Geol.
Survey Ser. 609,30 p.
Yerkes, R. F., and Castle, R. O., 1969, Surface deformation associated with oil and gas field operations in the United States:
Internal. Symposium on Land Subsidence, UNESCO, Tokyo,
Sept. 1969. (In press.)
Yerkes, R. F., McCulloh, T. H., Schoellhamer, J. E., and Vedder,
J. G., 1965, Geology of the Los Angeles Basin, California
an introduction: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 420-A, p.
A1-A57.
Yerkes, R. F., and Wentworth, C. M., 1965, Structure, Quaternary
history, and general geology of the Corral Canyon area, Los
Angeles County, California: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file
report.
APPENDIX A
History of Well No. A-21, Lease OCS P-0241, as Compiled by M. V. Adams,
Petroleum Engineer, U.S. Geological Survey, June 1969
The notice to drill this well was approved by the

U.S.G.S District Engineer on January 9, 1969. The
coordinates of the rotary table were X= 984,848 and
Y= 804,198 with the proposed bottom hole coordinates
of X= 984,715 and Y= 803,750 at a measured total
depth of 3,455' KB(3,179' EOF), or 3,400' KB(3,124'
EOF) true vertical depth.
There is 20", 104.13 Ib conductor driven to 291'
KB(15' EOF). The well was spudded with drilling
mud at 4:00 p.m. on January 14,1969, using the Peter
Bawden vertical rig. A 12%" directional hole was
drilled to 520' KB(244' EOF) with full returns. The
hole was opened to 17^" and a string of 13%", 61 Ib,
J-55, surface casing was run to 514' KB(238' EOF).
The casing was cemented with 300 sacks of class "G"
cement with 25 Ib of Gilsonite per sack added followed
by 100 sacks of class "G" neat cement. Cement returns
to the surface were obtained.
While standing cemented a 13%", 3,000 psi working
pressure, Shaffer unitized well head was installed.
Blowout prevention equipment consisting of a 12"
series 900 double Shaffer gate with blind and 4W
pipe rams and a 12" series 900 GK Hydril was installed
and tested prior to drilling out the 13%" shoe.
Between January 17 and January 28, a 121/4" directional hole was drilled to a total depth of 3,479'
KB(3,203' EOF) measured depth. A directional survey
(apparently the last taken) at 3,222' KB(2,946' EOF)
showed a true vertical depth of 3,143.67' KB(2,867.67'
EOF), a deviation of 230' and a direction of N. 19 W.
The coordinates of the hole at this point were 417.72'
south and 134.59' west of the surface location.
On the morning of January 28, the drilling crew
started out of the hole to run logs. It was reported
that the first five stands of drill pipe pulled tight but
71
the next three pulled free. However, while breaking

out the eighth stand (at 10:45 a.m.) the well started
blowing through the drill pipe. An attempt was
made to stab the inside blowout preventer but the
well was blowing too hard to do it. They then set
out to pick up the kelly to stab it into the drill pipe
but in picking it up the rotary hose caught on a bull
plug in the standpipe and broke it off. With the
standpipe open it was considered too great a fire
hazard to pursue stabbing the kelly. Accordingly,
they picked up the drill pipe with the elevators until
a tool joint was above the pipe rams, closed the rams
to hold the pipe while they unlatched the elevators,
then opened the rams and dropped the drill pipe down
the hole. They then closed the blind rams (at 11:00
a.m.) to shut the well in.
Shortly after closing the well in the surface pressure
was 400 psi and boils of gas began to appear on the
surface of the water. An attempt was made to kill
the well by pumping 90-lb mud down the casing
through the kill line and bleeding off the gas through
the choke line. This operation was not successful so
stripping drill pipe into the hole, under pressure,
through a pair of GK Hydril blowout preventers was
commenced.
By late January 29 adequate drill pipe had been
stripped into the hole and was successfully screwed
into the fish. It was attempted to circulate through
the drill pipe but the bit was plugged and even at
5,000 psi circulation could not be established. An
attempt was then made to pull the drill pipe but although it did move some 7', it would not pull free.
Several attempts were made to back off the drill
pipe deep enough to kill the well with mud but in
each instance the pipe backed off above the top of
the original fish. During this operation the pressure
on the casing was on the order of 180 psi which
would drop to 40 to 80 psi by flowing through the
casing. Also, sea water was pumped into the casing
at rates as high as 15 barrels per minute which would
drop the pressure to 60 psi but it would quickly build
back up to 180 psi.
When the drill pipe was originally snubbed into the
hole to screw into the fish it was, of course, necessary
to blank off the inside of the drill pipe at the bottom
of the first joint. This was done with a Gray inside
blowout preventer. Then, since the drill pipe could
not be backed off deep enough to kill the well it was
decided to mill out the Gray float. The milling was
done using a 2W mill run on 2%" tubing driven by a
power swivel. Milling began at 4:30 a.m. on February
3, at a depth of 731' KB(455' EOF).
The milling was completed later in the day and a
Schlumberger l 9/ie scallop gun was successfully run
72
to a depth of 2,942' KB(2,666' EOF). Since there was

heavy weight drill pipe up to 2,913' KB(2,637' EOF),
it was decided to perforate in the lighter pipe above
this point. Accordingly, the pipe was perforated with
97 holes, 0.34" in diameter, in the interval from 2,860'2,883' KB(2,584'-2,607' EOF). Before perforating,
the drill pipe was pressured to 500 psi which bled to
zero after perforating, indicating that the perforating
job had succeeded.
While rigging up to kill the well, sea water was
pumped down the drill pipe at a rate of 23 barrels per
minute and a pressure of 2,100 psi with no indication
that it was killing the well. On February 5, 100
cubic feet of water with green dye was pumped into
the drill pipe and displaced with 685 barrels of water
at a rate of 14 barrels per minute and a pressure of
1,000 psi. An additional 100 cubic feet of dye water
was pumped down the casing and displaced with 565
barrels of water at a rate of 14 barrels per minute
and a pressure of 1,050 psi. None of this dye appeared
on the surface of the ocean. The dye water was followed with 250 barrels of 100-lb mud pumped at a
rate of 8 barrels per minute and a pressure of 275
psi. After pumping the mud the casing pressure was
180 psi. Pumping sea water down the drill pipe was
continued during the night of February 5, and part
of the day of February 6, while assembling and hooking up additional HOWCO pumping units on the platform and waiting on a mud barge with an additional
supply of mud. While pumping down the drill pipe
the annulus was blown down from 190 psi to zero in
10 minutes but when it was closed in, it built back up
to 190 psi in 2 hours.
After checking out and testing the HOWCO pumping units 1,000 barrels of sea water was pumped down
the drill pipe at a rate of 27 barrels per minute and
a pressure of 2,500 psi. The water was followed with
210 barrels of 116-lb mud pumped at a rate of 27
barrels per minute and a pressure of 2,650 psi. At
this point a line blew off the fracing head and it was
necessary to shut down the HOWCO pumps to repair
it. After effecting repairs the mud in the drill pipe
was displaced with 230 cubic feet of sea water and
the well was shut in. During the entire operation
the casing pressure on the well had remained at 190
psi. However, after pumping the mud the bubble at
the east end of the platform was noticeably smaller
but after 10 minutes it had returned to its original
size.
In the meantime a massive effort had been made
on the part of essentially all of the operating and
service companies in the area to assemble mud, equipment and cement for a maximum effort to kill the
well. This effort commenced at 11:05 a.m. on February
7, by pumping sea water with dye, calcium chloride
water and mud down the drill pipe while repairing
leaks in lines and organizing the pumping operation.
Steady pumping down the drill pipe began at 4:00
p.m. and by 5:00 p.m. all nine HOWCO units were in
operation pumping mud down the drill pipe at a rate
of 30 barrels per minute and a pressure of 3,750 psi.
At this time the rig pumps started pumping mud
down the annulus. By 5:30 p.m. the bubble began to
decrease and the well was eventually killed with 13,000
barrels of 90-lb to 110-lb mud.
73
APPENDIX B
Seepage at Lease OCS P-0241 estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey for the
period March 22 to August 31, 1969
Time period
To
From
Mar.
Apr.
May
May
22 3
3
3
23*
June
June
June
June
July
July
July
July
Aug.
15 5
19
27 5
29
2s
3
14 5
16 6
I6 7
Days
elapsed
Apr. 2
May 2
May 22
June 14
June 18
June 26
June 28
July 1
-- July 13
July 15
July 31
Aug. 31
Totals
Barrels recovered 1 2 Barrels lost (estimated) 2 Seepage (estimated) 2

Total Daily rate
Total
Daily rate
Daily rate
Total
36
220
354
599
37
182
12
30
20
23
4
8
2
3
1
11
2
16
31
12
51
1
253
4
128
86
163
1,954
3 .0
7 .3
17 .7
25 .6
9 .2
22 .8
6
17
1
23
2
8
2 .8
324
681
246
101
83
57
48
39
29
77
36
112
224
-- -
360
901
600
691
120
239
27
22. 7
12. 3
4. 4
20. 8
7. 2
24
13
29
7
18
7
7. 2
60
90
30
330
40
240
310
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
30
20
15
10
4,011
2,057
" Large tents added east of Platform A.

5 Hose line damaged.
6 Remedial shallow drilling and grouting program in progress.
7 Large tent, 800 feet east of Platform A,
damaged.
1 Measured oil recovery (net barrels) from

hoods, funnels, and tents, plus oil recovered on
surface by skimming boats. Oil slicks, monitored
by photographs and daily observations.
2 0ne barrel equals 42 gallons.
3 First installation of collecting devices.
APPENDIX C
Drilling Programs Authorized for Lease OCS P-0241 Following Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Panel Transmitted June 2,1969
Programs authorized June 9, 1969
Well
Rig
Drilling Producing
distance, zones
in feet
A-3
Vertical
1,260
plug
back
1,159
A-22
Vertical
475
A 24
Vertical
A-44
Slant
Perfs.
(RT)
Casing depth vertical penetration, in feet, for in______dicated casing diameter, in inches________
20
16
13 378
10 3/4
9 5/8
(cement
(drive) (cement) conductor) (cement) (cement) (cement)
Brown
608-1,140
19
104
Red
344-471
16
107
1,092
Brown
578-1,082
101
1,971
plug
back
1,705
Brown--
713-1,677
10
B-13-- Vertical
1,284
Brown--
738-1,279
B-18-- Vertical
1,150
core
hole
B-30
Vertical
1,275
Brown- -
B-40
Slant
1,610
B-47-- Slant
1,588
plug
back
1,400
276
801
196
255
797
101
261
832
15
92
310
886
15
98
299
670-1,264
14
101
315
861
Brown--
813 1,601
90
332
900
Brown
826 1,395
10
284
811
Brown
test
and
shut-in
648-53
772-97
1,089-94
108
867
74

Programs authorized August 1, 1969
Well
Rig
Drilling
distance, Producing zones
in feet
Perfs.
CRT)
Casing depth vertical pentration, in feet,

for indicated casing diameter, in inches
7
10 3/4
20
16
13 3/8
(cement
(drive) (cement) conductor) (cement) (cement)
Upper zones
A 37
Slant
2,300
Yellow
Purple
1,385-2,210
10+
101
234
857
E
1,744
A ,_! I o
o T -i -* +- _
ocnn
Yellow
Purple
Yellow
1,350 2,385
10
100
235
855
E
1,975
R Ul
^1 an-h
Yellow
Purple
Yellow
1,470-2,400
10+
98
345
879
1,831
Yellow
Purple
Yellow
1,565-2,662
B-U3
Slant
U7^
2,750
12
100
237
827
E
1,912
Lower zones
A-30
Vertical
3,500
Purple
Orange
Green
2,180-3,438
10+
100
255
1,052
E-2
3,107
A-36-- Vertical
4,250
Purple
Orange
Green
2,810-4,160
11
100
255
1,015
E-l
3,445
B-29-- Vertical
3,900
Purple
Orange
Green
2,060-3,818
10+
100
360
1,134
E-l
3,330
B-2
4,150
Orange
Green
2,960-4,090
10+_
101
306
1,151
E-l
3,231
Vertical
75
APPENDIX D
Status of wells drilled from Platform A on Lease DCS P 0241, May 10, 1969, showing selective pressure
drawdown zones authorized
Well
A-20
Rig
Vertical
Drilling
distance,
in feet
Producing
zones
Perforations
(drilled depth, in feet)
Production
(bbl oil per day)
3 cno
Purple
Orange
Green
2,131 3,427
2,110
591-1,070
564
2,433-3,876
1,056
plug
back
3,442
A-21
Vertical
1,081
(redrill)
Brown
A-25
Vertical
4,550
plug
back
3,900
Orange
Purple
Orange
Green
A-38
Slant
3,030
plug
back
1,086
Brown
685-1,010
/Will-
Slant
3,010
plug
back
1975
Brown
Yellow
946 1,916
Shut in
982
76
APPENDIX E
Blowouts from outer Continental Shelf drilling and workovers since enactment of OCS Lands Act of 1953
Wells drilled for oil and gas on OCS-1953 to Aug.

102 salt and sulfur wells):
Drilling wells----------- -----Wells completed for production or service
completions: 5607, oil; 1717, gas)
Dry or abandoned holes-- --- ----- -Total wells drilled
No.
Area and block,

lease and well No., and
operator
1, 1969 (excludes 254 wells drilled prior to 1953 and

-- -(7324 zone
-
--
Type blowout, depth,

and out-of-control
period
____
-
---
How
controlled
__
---
Volume
oil spill
___
__
133
--
4428
3299
?860
Extent of damage
Gulf coast region

1
2
3
4
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 -16 -
Vermilion Block 26
OCS 029, well A-l
Union Oil of California
Eugene Island Block 175
OCS 0438, well A-6 Sinclair Oil S Gas Co.
South Pass Block 27
OCS 0353, well 25
Shell Oil Company
West Delta Block 45
OCS 0138, well E-7
CATC
S. Timbalier Block 134
OCS 0461, well D-l
Gulf Oil Corporation
Vermilion Block 115
OCS 0770, well 1
Phillips Petroleum
Co.
Grand Isle Block 9
OCS 035-S, well 1-34 B
Freeport Sulphur Co.
West Delta Block 28
OCS 0384, well 3
Chevron Oil Company
West Delta Block 117
OCS-G-1101, well A-5
OCS-G-0987, well 4
Pan American Petroleum
Corp.
OCS-G-1220, well B-3
Shell Oil Company
S. Marsh Island Block
48 OCS 0786, well B-4
OCS 0263, well 70
Ship Shoal Block 208
OCS G-1294
Union Oil of California
Eugene Island Block
275 OCS G-0988, well A-9
Texaco Inc.
OCS 020, well C-12
Humble Oil B Refining
Co.
Gas; 11,435';
6-8-56 to
11-7-56.
Drilled
relief
well.
Lost platform,
rig, and two
wells by crater.
Gas; 11,290';
10-19-57
(11 hours).
Gas; 1,869';
6-14-58 (2
hours).
Oil; (swabbing);
10-15-58 to
11-21-58.
Bridged-
Caught fire but

continued with
same rig.
Caught fire but
little damage.
Gas; 4,880';
7-27-59 (4 hours).
Bridged
Gas; 13,001';
11 18-60 (4
hours).
Bridged
None reported.
Gas; (shallow);
3-18-62 (36
hours).
Gas; 10,871';
1-15-64 (12
hours).
Gas and oil; (completed); 1 20-64
to 1-27-64.
Gas; 684'; 6-30-64
(2 days)
Ceased----
Fire. Lost platform and rig.
Mud
No damage.
BridgedBy last of
three
relief
wells.
Bridged -
(None reported. )
Explosion, then
fire. Two other
wells also. Lost
platform. Seven
casualties.
Caught fire but
little damage.
(None reported.)
Caught fire. Platform damaged extensively .

Explosion, fire.
Drilling vessel
sank. Casualties 22.
(None reported.)
--- ----
(None reported.)
Ceased
Gas; 15,867';
3-15-65 (5
days).
Gas; (shallow);
9-16-65 (Several
days).
Gas; 11,716';
9-25-65 to
10-8-65.
Oil; (workover);
2-5-66 (15 min.).
Bridged
Installed
valve.
(None reported.)
(None reported.)
Oil and gas;

10,561' ;
2-13-66 (2 days).
Gas; 1,477';
4-17-67 (8 hours).
Ceased----
(None reported .)
Little damage.
Ceased---Ceased
Bridged-
Removed rig before

well .cratered.
One corner platform settled.

Area and block,
lease and well No. , and
operator
Type blowout, depth,

and out-of-control
period
How
controlled
77
Volume
oil spill
Extent of damage
(None reported.)
Caught fire, rig

destroyed.
Gulf coast region Continued

17
1 Q
19
20
21
22
90
24
S. Timbalier Block
OCS 0463, well J-15
South Pass Block 62
OCS G-1294
Shell Oil Company
Grand Isle Block 43
OCS 0175
Continental Oil Co.
OCS 020, well C-16
Humble Oil & Refining
Co.
S, Marsh Island Block
38 OCS 0784
Pan American Petroleum
Corp.
Vermilion Block 119
OCS 0487, well D-ll
Continental Oil Co.
Vermilion Block 46
OCS 0709, well A-3
Mobil Oil Corporation
Ship Shoal Block 72
OCS 060, well 3 Mobil
Oil Corporation
Oil; (workover);
2-21-68 (1 hour).
Closed
valve .
Gas; 8,426; 4-68.
Cemented
drill
pipe.
Gas; 14,184'; 9-68

(several days).
Gas; 910'; 9-28-68
(9 hours).
Later removed
rig, platform
settled.
Gas; 387'; 10-30-68

(1 day).
Gas; 9,544';
11-24-68
(12 hours).
Gas; 8,168' 3-14-69
to 5-16-69.
Oil; 9,034',
3-16-69 to
3-19-69.
Mud
Capped----
900 bbl
per day;
2,500 bbl
total.
No damage,
300-500 bbl
per day
(None reported
on platform.)
Pacific region
1
Santa Barbara Channel

OCS P-0241, well A 21
Union Oil Co. of California
Oil and gas; 3,479 ' ;

1-28-69 to
2-7-69.
Cemented
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1969 O - 365-228

Whitter Field EOR

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Whitter Field EOR

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Whitter Field EOR

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Geology, Petroleum Development,

and Seismicity of the Santa Barbara

Geology, Petroleum Development,

C. Geologic Characteristics of the Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1969

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Library of Congress catalog-card No. 70-603491

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

PLATE 1. Generalized geologic map of the Santa Barbara Channel region.

Index map showing major geomorphic provinces of southern California- ____________

GEOLOGY, PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT, AND SEISMICITY OF THE

GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION

By J. G. VEDDER, H. C. WAGNER, and J. E. SCHOELLHAMER

The Santa Barbara Channel region forms the

has a length of nearly 80 miles, a width of about 25

Strata in the western Ventura basin and Santa

GEOLOGY, PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT, SEISMICITY, SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL, CALIF.

BASIN AND RANGE

FIGURE 1. Index map showing major geomorphic provinces of southern California.

CRETACEOUS MARINE ROCKS

Modified from Yerkes and others (1965).

Paleocene rocks are very limited in extent within

GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION

of interlayered sandstone, claystone, and conglomerate

that range in age from Uintan to Arikareean (Wood,

The diverse Miocene stratigraphic succession can

Thick-bedded shallow marine sandstone lenses, in

Sedimentary breccia beds and associated sandstone

GEOLOGY, PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT, SEISMICITY, SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL, CALIF.

stratigraphic position is interbedded in the volcanic

Along parts of the mainland coast an indistinctly

Extrusive and intrusive sequences of basaltic,

rocks are more than 15,000 feet thick; on Santa Cruz

Outcrops of interbedded siltstone, sandstone, and

GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION

has two connotations; in the eastern part it is applied

Limited exposures of marine sandstone, siltstone,

slope-wash detritus or stream deposits. Both the

Alluvial deposits composed of clay, silt, sand, and

The Santa Barbara Channel is a tectonic depression

GEOLOGY, PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT, SEISMICITY, SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL, CALIF.

CENTRAL SANTA YNEZ MOUNTAINS

Organic shale and

Rhyolite and basalt,

Sand, silt, and gravel

Sand and silt

i ' ';-. V-kVi'tTTs5

Sandstone and siltstone

.r. ." i_o

Shale and thin

Very thick to thin

fe"S <s - o" o

Sandstone and siltstone

Shale and claystone

Sandstone and claystone

Sandy silt, sand, conglomerate, and clay;

gravel; silty clay;

Sandstone and conglomerate