Regional Geology of Mount Diablo, California: Its Tectonic Evolution on the North America Plate Boundary
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Mount Diablo and the geology of the Central California Coast Ranges are the subject of a volume celebrating the Northern California Geological Society’s 75th anniversary. The breadth of research illustrates the complex Mesozoic to Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the plate boundary. Recent faulting and folding along the eastern edge of the San Andreas system have exposed in the mountain a core of Franciscan accretionary wedge complex faulted against Cretaceous and Cenozoic forearc strata. The Memoir includes papers on structure, stratigraphy, tephrochronology, zircon provenance studies, apatite fission track analyses, and foraminifera and calcareous plankton assemblages tied to Cenozoic climate events. Chapters also address the history of geologic work in the area and the resource development of oil and gas, mercury, coal, and sand, and road aggregate.
Petroleum occurrences in the Mount Diablo area, California
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Published:September 27, 2021
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CiteCitation
Scott Hector, Karen Blake, Tim Elam, 2021. "Petroleum occurrences in the Mount Diablo area, California", Regional Geology of Mount Diablo, California: Its Tectonic Evolution on the North America Plate Boundary, Raymond Sullivan, Doris Sloan, Jeffrey R. Unruh, David P. Schwartz
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ABSTRACT
Mount Diablo is flanked on its northeast side by a thick section of Late Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary rocks, which produced small hydrocarbon accumulations in the Los Medanos, Willow Pass, Mulligan Hill, and Concord gas fields. The first well was drilled in 1864, and today most of the active wells on the northeast flank are used for gas storage by Pacific Gas and Electric Company. These fields, which also include the Brentwood oil field, lie to the northeast of Mount Diablo and have produced 6.4 million cubic meters (225 billion cubic feet) of natural gas and over 57 million...
- California
- Cenozoic
- Contra Costa County California
- Cretaceous
- future
- gas storage
- Mesozoic
- Moreno Formation
- natural gas
- oil and gas fields
- oil wells
- Paleogene
- petroleum
- petroleum accumulation
- petroleum exploration
- production
- reservoir rocks
- Sacramento Basin
- San Francisco Bay region
- San Joaquin Basin
- source rocks
- Tertiary
- traps
- United States
- Upper Cretaceous
- Mount Diablo
- Livermore Basin
- Willow Pass Field
- Concord Field
- Mulligan Hill Field
- Los Medanos Field
- Dobbins Shale
- Nortonville Shale
- Livermore Field
- Brentwood Field
- Winters Shale