Bulletin No. 321 A> Economic Geolo&y. 102 

B, Descriptive Geology, 126

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OtJS SMITH, DIKKCTOK

GEOLOGY AND OIL RESOURCES

SUMMERLAND DISTRICT

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY 

CALIFORNIA

BY

RALPH ARNOLD

WASHINGTON

G O V E K.N M E N T P R I N T ING O F F ICE 

1907

CONTENTS.

Pago.

Introduction.............................................................. 7

Preliminary statement.................................................. 7

Acknowledgments...................................................... 8

Previous knowledge of the region....................................... 8

Historical outline...................................................... 10

Location................................................................/. 17

Topography............................................................... ;|g

Geologic formations......................................................... 21

General statement. ...................................................... 21

Topatopa formation.....................................'................ 22

Name...........'................................................. 22

Lithologic character........................................ v ..... 22

Age and fossils.................................................... 23

Distribution and structure.......................................... 23

Evidences of petroleum ........................................... 23

Water from the Topatopa formation.................................. 23

Sespe formation............................................................ 24

Name............................................................ 24

Lithologic character............................................... 24

Age............................................................... 25

Distribution and structure.......................................... 25

Evidences of petroleum............................................ 2G

Vaqueros formation.........................'........................... 26

Name and correlation.............................................. 26

Lithologic character............................................... 26

Distribution and structure.......................................... 27

Monterey shale.............................................'........... 27

Name.............................................................. 27

Lithologic character............................................... 27

Age and fossils.................................................... 28

Distribution and structure............................................ 28

Evidences of petroleum............................................ 29

Fernando formation................................................... 30

Name............................................................ 30

Lithologic character in the Summerland area....................... 30

Lithologic character in the Santa Barbara area...................... 31

Age and fossils.................................................... 31

Distribution and structure.......................................... 32

Evidences of petroleum............................................ 33

Pleistocene............................................................ 33

Lithologic character............................................... 34

Distribution...................................................... 35

Evidences of petroleum............................................ 35

3
4. CONTENTS.

Page-.

Structure.................................................................. 36

General structure of the district......................................... 36

Santa Ynez anticline..:.....,......................................... 36

Arroyo Parida anticline and fault....................................... 36

Minor folds near the coast............................................... 37

Folds east of Carpinteria............................................ 37

Flexures near Summerland......................................... 37

Montecito anticline.................................................... 38

Structure near Santa Barbara........................................... 38

Description of the wells................................................... 39

General statement...................................................... 39

Area west of Lookout Park.............................................. 39

Geology and structure.............................................. 40

Wells....................................:...^.................... 40

Product........................................ ... .'. ............... 40

Companies......................................................... 40

Area north of the railroad............................................... 41

Geology and structure.............................................. 41

Wells. ............................................................ 41

Product.......................................................... 41

Companies.......................................................... 41

Area between the railroad and the beach............................... 41

Geology and structure. ................................"... ........... 41

Wells............................................................... 42

Product.......................................................... 42

Companies. .......................................'.......... ....... 43

Beach and wharf wells ................................................ 43

Geology and structure..............................................' 43

Wells............................................................. 46

Product.......................................................... 47

Companies....................................................... 48

Gas wells in the Summerland field ..................................... 49

General statement................................................ 49

. Geology and structure.............................................. 49

Production of the wells............................................ 50

Summary of conclusions concerning the oil............................. 51

Wells at other localities in the Summerland district..................... 52

Wells near Loon Point............................................. 52

Wells near Carpinteria and Eincon Creek........................... 53

Wells in the mountains northeast of Summerland..................... 55

Wells west of Summerland.......................................... 56

Conclusions concerning future development................................. 56

General statement.................................................... 56

Summerland field proper............................................... 56

Region near Carpinteria................................................ 57

Region west of Montecito. ............................................. 57

Region of the Topatopa formation (Eocene) northeast of Summerland..... 57

Physical and chemical properties of the oil................................. 58

Physical properties.................................................... 58

Color.............................................................. 58

Gravity.......................................................... 58

Viscosity......................................................... 59
CONTENTS. 0

Page. 

Physical and chemical properties of the oil Continued.

Chemical properties.................................................... 59

General statement................................................ 59

Richardson's paper................................................ 60

Anal yses.........'................................................ 61

Technology and production.............................................. ^. 04

Cost of drilling wells and producing the oil.............................. 04

Cost of drilling..................................................... 04

Cost of producing the oil........................................... 05

Separation of sand and water from oil................................... 05

Production............................................................ 00

Utilization and transportation.......................................... 00

Refinery............................................................. 00

Companies now operating............................................... 07

Plates.................................................................... 09

Index...:....................................'............................ 89

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

PLATE I. Geological and structural map cf the Summerland oil district...... 18

II. A, Summerland oil field, looking south from Ortega Hill; B, Pleistocene beds in railroad cut west of Summerland................. 20

III. A, Beach near Carpinteria asphalt mine, showing exuding tar; B,

A tar volcano in the Carpinteria asphalt mine.................... 28

IV. Unconformity near North Star wharf................................ 30

V. Geologic sections on lines A-A' and C-C" of PI. I.................... 36

VI. Structure map of Summerland oil field............................ 36

VII. A, Geologic section on line B-B' of PI. I; B, Section through Treadwell (Southern Pacific Company's) wells........................ 38

VIII. Sections showing relations of oil sands in various Summerland wells. 38

I.. Topatopa (Eocene) fossils.......................................... 70

X. Topatopa (Eocene) and Monterey (Miocene) fossils................... 72

XI. Fernando (Pliocene) Gasteropoda................................. 74

XII. Fernando (Pliocene) Pelecypoda and Brachiopoda.........:........ 76

XIII. Fernando (Pliocene) Gasteropoda................................. 78

XIV. Fernando (Pliocene) Pelecypoda................................... 80

XV. Fernando (Pliocene) Pecten...................................... 82

XVI. Fernando (Pliocene) Pecten...................................... 84

XVII. Fernando (Pliocene) Bryozoa...................................... 86

 FJG. 1. Index map showing location of California oil districts................. 18

2. Detailed section of bluff near North Star wharf...................... 34

3. Geologic sections through Lillis, Oxnard, and Sea Cliff wells........ 44

GEOLOGY AND OIL RESOURCES OF THE SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, SANTA BARBARA 

COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

By RALPH ARNOLD.

INTRODUCTION.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.

One of the most novel and interesting sights along the coast of 

Santa Barbara County is that of the derricks marking the location 

of the oil wells which start down from wharves over the Pacific 

Ocean at Summerland. Mr. George H. Eldridge examined this 

territory in February and March, 1902, with the intention of incorporating a description of it in his contemplated, exhaustive report 

on the California oil fields; but he died in June, 1905, before he had 

written anything concerning this field except a very brief note, 

which was published in Contributions to Economic Geology for 

1902. a Mr. Eldridge visited the field during the height of its 

development, and for this reason was able to obtain much valuable 

information concerning the geology of the wells which otherwise 

would have been lost. The writer has made free use of this information in the compilation of the contour map and the sections accompanying the present report.

During the summer of 1906 the writer spent two weeks in an 

examination of the Summerland field and a geologic survey of the 

contiguous region along the coast from Santa Barbara to Carpinteria and as far inland as the crest of the Santa Ynez Range. In the 

following pages the discussion of the geology is based almost entirely 

on the work of the writer. The data concerning the wells have been 

obtained largely from Mr. Eldridge's notebooks.

So far as the development of the present producing sands is concerned, the Summerland field has undoubtedly passed its acme. 

However, so much that is of service in drawing conclusions about 

less well-developed fields is to be learned from a study of a fully

oBull. U.S. Geol. Survey No. 213, 1903, pp. 313-315.
8 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

exploited territory like this that it has been deemed expedient to 

prepare the present more or less detailed report.

A brief summary of the previous knowledge of the region, followed 

by a fairly full description of its topography and geology, introduces 

the detailed discussion of the geology of the wells and conclusions 

concerning future development. This portion of the report is followed by sections devoted to a discussion of the properties of the oil, 

a statement of production, and data concerned with the technology 

of the industry. The descriptions of the geology and structure are 

elucidated by photographic views, drawings, and maps, and plates 

showing the abundant or characteristic fossils of the various formations supplement the lists in the text.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

To Mr. George H. Eldridge the writer is under the greatest obligation for the free use that has been made of notes and ideas concerning 

the occurrence of the petroleum. Where sections or direct statements are copied from his notebooks, the fact has been so recorded. 

The thanks of Mr. Eldridge to those who furnished him with information would certainly have been recorded in his report had he lived 

to write it, and the present writer feels that he is doing only what 

his predecessor would have done in recording the names of those to 

whom, as indicated by his notes, he was indebted. These are Messrs. 

Snow, of the Occidental Mining and Improvement Company; J. B. 

Treadwell; G. F. Becker; J. C. Lillis, of the Lillis Oil Company' 

Thomas D. Wood and R. A. Phelps, of the Duquesne Oil Company; 

J. E. Sloari, of the North Star Oil Company; J. W. Darling; C. C. 

Newman, of the Sea Cliff and Oxnard oil companies; W. L. Rust, of 

the Sea Side Oil Company; C. W. Robinson; G. W. Woodruff; J. H. 

Lundberg; B. N. Coffman, of the Marine Oil Company; J. F. Miller; 

A. C. Doane; and presumably several others whose names do not 

appear. In addition to those mentioned the writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Messrs. J. F. Goodwin, of the Pinal Oil Company; W. D. Morgan, of the G. F. Becker Oil Company; E. G. Ludlam, manager of the Southern Pacific Company's wells; A. Sattler, 

manager of the Columbia Oil and Asphalt Company of Carpinteria; 

F. F. Fluornoy, county surveyor; and Dr. Lorenzo G. Yates, of 

Santa Barbara. Dr. R. S. Bassler, of the United States National 

Museum, kindly prepared the plate and explanations of the commoner species of Bryozoa found in the Fernando (Pliocene) beds of 

the district.

PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE REGION.

Several geologists have at one time or another visited the region 

under discussion, and in the following paragraphs the writer has 

attempted to give a resume of the notes recorded by these men.
INTRODUCTION. 9

Those statements which relate to localities in this region not visited 

by the writer, or which are in publications inaccessible to most readers, are copied more or less in detail. A more complete bibliography 

of the literature referring to the geology of the southern coast ranges 

and the oil industry in California will be found in Bulletin No. 309 of 

the United States Geological Survey, pages 199-202. The following 

references are arrranged chronologically:

1853. Blake, W. P., Report of a reconnaissance and survey in 

California, in 1853. a So far as the writer is aware, W. P. Blake, 

one of the geologists of the Pacific Railroad survey, was the first to 

give any notes concerning the geology of the region about Santa 

Barbara. According to Antisell,6 Blake, in describing.., the, Santa 

Ynez Range, "puts forth the view that all of these strata from Point 

Arguello eastward have been elevated by the mass of granite forming

the San Bernardino Mountains, whose influence he believes to spread 

thus far to the west, and also to have produced the lone hills of the 

desert and basin upon the east."

1855. Trask, J. B., Report on the geology of the Coast Mountains, 

etc. c Trask, first State geologist of California) was the next writer 

to describe the Santa Barbara country, and he, too, adopted the same 

view of the origin of the Santa Ynez Range as Blake, and even went so 

far as to include the range under the name "San Bernardino Mountains."

1857. Antisell, Thomas, Santa Barbara Mountains. d Antisell, in 

his description of the geology of the Santa Barbara Mountains, was 

the first to call attention to what is believed by the writer to be one 

of the most important points regarding them. He says: e

Between the disposition of the Sierra Santa Ynez and that of the more easterly coast 

ranges there is this difference that while the other ranges are disposed so by virtue 

of their axial forces running along the direction of that range, the Santa Ynez Mountains are ridges en Echelon, interlocking with each other, and running from east to 

west.

This statement is true more particularly for the western portion 

of the range, physiographic and structural axes being approximately 

coincident in that part immediately back of Summerland.

Antisell doubtless was mistaken as to the origin of one or two of 

the rocks he describes, but in the main his descriptions of both the 

igneous and the sedimentary rocks pf the range are correct. The 

most interesting part of his report, from the standpoint of one interested in the oil industry, is the chapter devoted to "bituminous 

effusions. "-^ In this he describes the asphaltum deposit on the Hill

a House Doc. No. 129 (fide Antisell, 1857).

'- Antisoll, Thomas, Pacific R. R. Repts., vol. 7,1857, p. GO.

c Senate Doc. No. 14, Sacramento, 1855, 95 pp. (fide Antisell).

d Pacific R. R. Rcpts., vol. 7,'pt. 2,1857, pp. 05-74.

' Op. cit., p. 60.

/Op. cit., pp. 107-114.
10 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEKLAND DISTBICT, CAL.

ranch, 6 miles west of Santa Barbara, and the deposit near Rfrieon 

Creek, east of Garpinteria. He failed to record the occurrence of the 

bituminous sands where Summerland now is, or of the deposits at 

Carpinteria.

1865. Whitney, J. D., Geology of the Coast Ranges from Buenaventura to Gaviota Pass." By far the best description of the geology of the region about Santa Barbara found in any of the older 

publications is that by Whitney, the second and last State geologist. 

Those portions of his narrative which pertain to areas not visited by 

the writer will be given in detail. The descriptions are given in the 

order in which the localities were visited by his party, which journeyed 

westward from Ventura to Gaviota and thence northward across the 

Santa Ynez Mountains.

From Ventura to Carpinteria the strip of land along the southern 

face of the mountains and between the mountains and the shore 

appears to be made up entirely of bituminous shales. 6

High bluffs or steep hills skirt the coast, showing everywhere inclined strata, dipping from 25° to 30° to the southwest, with a few feet of horizontal beds of detrital 

material on the top. The slates [shales] are interstratified with fine-grained sandstones, and the formation is undergoing rapid denudation from the action of the resistless surf of the Pacific. The worn edges of the strata, planed off and polished by the 

waves, may be seen for some distance out from-the shore at low water. The strike of 

these rocks is here from N. 45° to 55° W. No eruptive rock was seen here, and only a 

few granite bowlders were observed on the beach; but immense numbers of sandstone 

pebbles were seen, some of which were quite fossiliferous.

About 5 miles southeast of Carpinteria the rock presents exactly the appearance of 

having had the bituminous matter burned out of it; it assumes various colors, such as 

bright red, rose, brown, yellow, and cream color, and it appears to have been partially 

fused in some places. These colors are made very conspicuous by the washing and 

smoothing of the rocks by the ocean.

The slates [shales] are black and highly bituminous where the outcrop strikes the

sea, 3 miles to the southeast of Carpinteria, and large quantities of tarry asphaltum 

flow from them. For a mile or more along the shore the banks abound in it, and it 

saturates the beach sand and flows clown into the sea.

The bituminous shales, and asphaltum deposits in the vicinity of 

Carpinteria are then described, together with a note on the "oil 

works" at that place: c

An establishment for distilling oil from the asphaltum was started shortly before the 

time our party visited the place (March, 1861), but access to it was not allowed nor 

information given. It is believed, however, to have been a failure, both as regards 

the quality of the oil produced and the profits of obtaining it.

These bituminous slates [shales] extend along the base of the'Santa Ynez Range to 

the west and were explored by our party as far as the Gaviota Pass, about 45 miles 

from Carpinteria; they continue beyond this, but, it is said, not as far as Point Conception. The general dip along this line is to the.south; but the strata are exceedingly contorted, being bent and twisted into every possible variety of curve. They

a Geol. Survey California, Geology, vol. 1,1805, pp. 125-135 

&Op. cit., pp. 125-120. 

cOp. cit., pp. 120-127.
INTRODUCTION. 11

are also metamorphosed and hardened, and the variations of hardness and color, as 

well as the elaborate carvings of the beds, are beautifully displayed in the broad, level 

surface worn off by the sea, and left visible at low tide. These contortions seem to be 

limited to a rather narrow belt near the shore. As we recede inland they become less 

conspicuous, and the strata regain gradually their regular southern inclination.

Hero follows a general description of the extent of the Santa Ynez 

Range and its salient geologic features, together with a description 

of the hot springs northeast of Santa Barbara. Three geologic sections elucidate Whitney's conception of the geology of the range one 

extending across it from the coast to a point north of Carpinteria, 

another from the coast to Santa Ynez River through Hot Sulphur 

Springs, and a third from a point on the coast west of Santa Barbara, 

through the Mission, and thence up toward the top of the range. 

Continuing the description of the range, Whitney says: "Metamorphic 

rock and conglomerate were seen'on that [north] side, as also serpentine at the north base of the ridge. "a

Whitney's description of the region west of Saiita Barbara 6 is given 

in its entirety, as it contains matter of much historic interest; furthermore, the writer has been over but a small portion of this country.

Wherever the [Santa Ynez] chain was examined to the west of the section last given 

[northeast-southwest through the Mission], as far as a point a few miles to the Avest of 

Gaviota Pass, the rock had always a dip to the south, at a high angle, the crest consisting of the broken edges of the sandstone, the bituminous slate [shale] resting on its 

flanks in the foothills, and both formations appearing entirely conformable with each 

other.

The bituminous slate [shale] is admirably exposed all along the seashore for several 

miles to the west of Santa Barbara. At a point 1 mile in that direction, where the 

shales were planed down to the level of the ocean and the stratification could be 

most beautifully seen, the strike was noticed to be N. 79° E. and the dip 60° to the 

south. In some places the slate [shale] forms low cliffs by the edge'of the ocean; in 

others it has been denuded, and it is now covered by a more recent deposit. The 

complication of the disturbances in these strata may be well seen * * * along the 

base of the bluff. * * * These disturbances seem particularly common in the 

immediate vicinity of Santa Barbara. In some localities the rock has evidently been 

on fire, and the bituminous matter having been burned out the operation continuing 

for several years, as it is said the slates [shales] are left of various shades of red, produced by the oxidation of the iron.

The asphaltum, or hardened bituminous matter, occurs in the greatest abundance 

on the shore at Hill's ranch, about 6 miles west of Santa Barbara, and lies along the 

beach for a distance of a mile, in large masses. The bituminous slate [shale] is here 

covered unconformably, as at Santa Barbara, by a heavy deposit of post-Pliocene age, 

which here attains a thickness of from 80 to 100 feet. * * *

The bituminous slates [shales], which are highly contorted and turned up on edge, 

lie nearly on a level with the ocean. On their edges rests a body of soft arenaceous 

and loose gravelly materials, sometimes very slightly consolidated, in which are long 

fissures filled with asphaltum; this in some cases has risen to the surface of the formation and become accumulated, in large masses, in the overlying recent or alluvial 

formation. The gradual erosion of the cliff has exposed large masses of the asphaltum 

which have fallen down and accumulated in considerable quantity on the beach.

a Op. cit., p. 129. b Op. cit., pp. 131-134.
12 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT. CAL.

* * * This locality has, for a long time, furnished all the asphaltum used for roofs 

and pavements in San Francisco, as it lies most convenient to the sea. In 1861 this 

material was sold in the city for $15 per ton, the chief expense of obtaining it being 

that arising from the difficulty of getting it on board the vessel, on a coast exposed to 

the Pacific swell. It. will be noticed that the asphaltum lies in the arenaceous rock or 

sandstone, over the bituminous shales, from which it was derived, and from.which it 

has been forced out probably by heat and pressure. Through the slates [shales] themselves the bituminous, material appears to be uniformly diffused, and not concentrated into pure masses. The asphaltum, as it lies on the shore, is necessarily much 

mixed with sand; specimens selected as of fair quality contained about 60 per cent 

of that material. No appearances of any soft, liquid, or tarry matter were noticed at 

this locality.

Extending westward from Hill's ranch, the bituminous slate [shale] occupies a strip 

from 1 to 3 miles wide, between the rugged Santa Ynez Range and the sea. It forms 

rounded hills, very green and grassy, the soil being fertile and retentive of moisture. 

The junction of the slates [shales] and sandstones could be accurately traced on the 

surface by the character of the soil and vegetation, as well as by the form of the hills. 

In ascending from the sea toward the interior, the chaparral, indicating a dry soil, is 

first met with on striking the sandstone. The ocean fogs help to supply this region 

with moisture, and few ranches in California can equal in beauty and fertility those 

situated on the bituminous slates [shales] along this part of the coast. Of these, the 

ranches of Mr. Hill and Doctor Denn (Dos Pueblos) and the Rancho El Capitan are the 

most noted. At the Tortegas ranch the belt of slate [shale] is narrower, appearing to 

be about 1£ miles wide, which width it holds as far as we traced it, to beyond the 

Gaviota Pass. Throughout the whole of this extent it has a strike nearly parallel with 

that of the chain, and everywhere a southern dip, conformable to that of the sandstone 

which underlies it. At one locality, a short distance west of camp 20, in the cliffs at 

the base of the ranch called El Capitan, the sea has made a section very nearly at 

right angles to the strike, and the dip is seen to be quite uniform, being everywhere 

from 30° to 40°. A portion without apparent break or fault was measured along the 

bluff on the beach, which represented a perpendicular thickness of about 1,300 feet 

of slate [shale]. The actual thickness is, however, much greater, probably more than 

twice as great; but, owing to breaks and faults, this is the greatest thickness measured 

in any one place, where the rocks were unquestionably not folded, and where the 

whole could be minutely examined. This portion of the slate [shale] seemed less 

bituminous than that at Santa Barbara, but still it was, in places, highly charged with 

this substance.

The last paragraph relating to the environs of Santa Barbara 

describes the fossiliferous Pliocene and post-Pliocene deposits found 

along the coast.

1882. Peckham, S. F., Examination of the bituminous substances 

occurring in southern California." No other of the earlier writers 

has taken a more optimistic view of the oil industry of California or 

has more clearly foreseen its possibilities or more intelligently 

described the surface occurrence of the bituminous products than 

Professor Peckham. . Here are his opening paragraphs in the paper 

referred to above, written in June, 1866:

To speak seriously of the "oil interests of southern California" draws forth from the 

majority of the citizens of this State a smile of incredulity or ridicule. To urge their 

claims to consideration as a field for profitable investment presents to most men strong

<j Geol. Survey California, Geology, vol. 2, Cambridge,'Mass., 1882, appendix F, pp. 49-90.
INTRODUCTION. 13

reasons for doubting your sanity. Yet the southern portion of this State has veritable 

oil interests, which only need the fostering care of men of sound judgment, aided by 

sufficient means, to enable this section to ultimately furnish this entire Pacific coast 

with both illuminating and lubricating oils, at prices that will render futile all competition of eastern products.

i Such are the facts as they exist to-day; but, at the same time, with the great mass of 

this community, and, it may be said, with that of the entire country, so far as it has at 

any time received attention, this interest was never more depressed in commercial 

value than at present. The only reason that can be assigned for such an anomalous 

condition is the fact that real merit has been obscured and rendered contemptible by 

excessive falsehood and exaggeration, and that a natural production, capable of profitable development, has been made an object of distrust and suspicion by false definitions and spurious representation.

1 Farther on in this paper 0 the asphalt deposits and bituminous 

formation exposed east of Point Conception and in the neighborhood 

of Bigg's ranch, at Rincon Point, are briefly described, and under the 

heading of "Chemical investigations," 6 the chemical properties of the 

oil and asphalt of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties 

are carefully described.

1884. Hanks, Henry G., The minerals of California.0 Mention is 

made of the Carpinteria asphalt deposits on page 287 of this report. '

1887. Finch, W. W., Infusorial earth at Santa Barbara, Cal.rf Tin's 

short paper consists of brief descriptions of the diatomaceous deposits 

north of Santa Barbara, together with some general information 

concerning diatoms.

i 1888. Goodyear, W. A., and Weber, A. H., Petroleum, asphaltum, 

and natural gas in Santa Barbara County.6 This report sums up 

the development work done in the county, which includes wells put 

down at Summerland by H. L. Williams on Ortega Hill, another well 

put down ten years previous on the flat at the foot of the hill, two 

wells sunk by the "Santa Barbara Oil Company" in Oil Canyon in 

1885, and a well sunk 3 or 4 miles north of Carpinteria. In addition 

there are brief descriptions of the asphaltum deposits at Carpinteria 

and east of Goleta (Hill's ranch).

1890. Ford, H. C., Solfataras in the vicinity of Santa Barbara/ 

As this paper contains considerable data having not only a local but 

a general bearing on the subject of the burning of the bituminous 

shales, and is published in a bulletin inaccessible to most people interested in the subject, it has been deemed advisable to reproduce a 

considerable portion of it here:

The second group of "fire wells" visited are about three-fourths of a mile below a 

point where the Rincon Creek enters the sea and near the carriage road and railway

a Op. cit., pp. 50-51.

b Op. cit., pp. 73-90.

< Fourth Ann. Rept. California State Mineralogist, 1884, pp. 07-397.

ct Bull. Santa Barbara Soc. Nat. Hist. No. l', 1887, pp. 8-11.

« Seventh Ann. Rept. California State. Mineralogist, 1888, pp. 89-91.

/ Bull. Santa Barbara Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. .1, No. 2, October, 1890, pp. 53-50.
14 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

leading from Santa Barbara to Ventura. Before the grading of the railway was accomplished, the traveler by the beach road might hove noticed some peculiar-looking 

rocks that had fallen from the cliffs above. The rocks appear to have been originally 

similar to those composing the mass'of the exposed portion of the cliff, which arc 

principally light-colored shales, but their character, both in density, specific gravity, 

and color, has been altered by the action of mineral gases and great heat. Nearly all 

shades of red, yellow, and brown, and in some cases green, are colors represented. The 

intensity of the heat at some former period seems to have contracted the strata through 

semi fusion until it is excessively hard and gives a metallic ring when struck with a 

hammer.

Reaching by an easy path a point about 300 feet above the base of the cliff, I was 

at once aware of the near existence of the "solfatara," or so-called "Rincon volcano," 

by the same exceedingly disagreeable odors that were noted in the Santa Ynez issue.

Descending 20 or 30 feet, I found hot gases bursting from numerous apertures in 

the shales, accompanied in some cases by melted bitumen that hardened in concretionary masses upon cooling. The dip of the strata Avas at an angle of 50° toward the 

mountain. Crystals of sulphur had also formed upon all objects near the issue, and 

naphtha appeared to be present. A few years ago a tunnel was run into the cliff at 

its base to the depth of 200 feet in search of oil. At this depth the workmen were 

obliged to cease operations in their endeavor to penetrate farther on account of the 

great heat. Upon entering this tunnel I found the temperature still high, but noticed 

only weak sulphurous gases. Near the entrance for 50 or 60 feet the roof and sides 

were thickly covered with attenuated colorless crystals of epsoniite hanging in tufts 

and masses.

During the cooler months, as at the Santa Ynez locality, the gases arising from the 

principal orifices are seen from distant points, and the issue of so much smoke and 

accompanying heat has given rise to a popular idea that it is due to volcanic action. 

The local journals have from time to time given voice to this idea, and the frequency 

of earthquake shocks in the neighborhood has been attributed to the struggling efforts 

of the "Rincon volcano." When the excavations of the Southern Pacific Railway 

were made at a point a mile farther west from the locality just described, a similar 

issue was discovered, and upon touching a match to the gas combustion ensued and 

continued, notwithstanding vigorous efforts were made to extinguish it. The fumes 

caused much annoyance to the laborers, and not until masses of earth were dumped

over the orifice did it cease to burn.

During the'summer of 1888 Mr. Richardson, who resides a short distance below the 

Rincon "fire wells," was startled by loud reports in their direction, and upon visiting the locality observed flames issuing to the height of several feet from the apertures. 

Parties from Santa Barbara visited the spot upon hearing of this outburst and confirmed Mr. Richardson's observations.

Apparently there have been periods of great activity, followed by long intervals of 

comparative rest. The partially fused rocks, with their altered color and density, 

would indicate a period of greater intensity of heat than at present prevails.

1894. Fairbanks, H. W., Geology of northern Ventura, Santa 

Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and San Benito counties." 

This description of the general geologic features of the southern 

Coast Ranges is the most comprehensive one yet published. The 

statement is made on page 501 that the main portion of the Santa 

Ynez Range is Miocene. This is certainty not true for those portions 

examined by the writer, as in the region north of Summerland and

a Twelfth Ann. Rept. California State Mining Bureau, 1894, pp. 493-526,

I___
INTRODUCTION. 15

Santa Barbara the range is largely Eocene (Topatopa). The asphaltum and petroleum deposits of Santa Barbara and vicinity are mentioned on pages 31 and 357, respectively, of the same report. On 

the latter page is a description of the Occidental wells and the Santa 

Monica Oil Company's wells north of Summer!and.

1897. Watts, W. L., Oil and gas yielding formations of Los Angeles, 

Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties." In part 3 of this report, 

devoted to the region between Santa Paula, Ventura County, and 

Summerland, Santa Barbara County, Watts describes the Punta 

Gorda asphalt mine east of Rincon Creek; the Las Conchas mine 

and asphaltum works and the Higgins well at Carpinteria; the 

Fischer oil wells at Loon Point, near Ortega station; the Occidental 

oil wells, 5 miles northeast of Summerland; the Santa Monica Oil 

Company's wells, 2 miles north of Carpinteria, and the oil wells at 

Summerland belonging to H. L. Williams; Darling & Turner; Alameda and Santa Barbara Development Company; Bachus & Cravens; Cole; Dewlaney; Doulton & Wilson; Forester & Tread well; 

Loomis; Moore; Stevens & Roberts; and Darling Brothers; also the 

Cone gas wells. In addition to the above there is a brief description 

and resume" of the geologic formations and a geologic sketch map of 

the field.

1900. Watts, W. L., Oil and gas yielding formations of California.6 

In chapter 1 of part 6, which is devoted to the Summerland oil field 

and productive wells in Santa Barbara County, Watts describes the 

development Avhich had taken place since the time of his previous 

visit in 1895, together with some general observations concerning 

the geology of the wells, value of the oil, etc., and includes a list of 

the oil producers and wharf owners at Summerland. Under the 

heading "Prospect wells in Santa Barbara County" the following 

wells, found within the Summerland district, are mentioned: Arctic 

Oil Company's wells Nos. 1 and 2, 7 miles south of Rincon Creek, 

and No. 3, 1J miles east of Carpinteria; Denn ranch we.lls, 3 miles 

west of Goleta; J. Pleath's well, near mouth of Rincon Creek; Illinois Oil and Asphalt Company's well at Montecito; Robinson well, 

near Serena; Santa Barbara and Naples Oil and.Development Company's well, 15 miles west of Santa Barbara; Stevens, Clark & Duncan well, at Loon Point; and the Tread well well, between Loon Point 

and Serena. Some distillation tests of the Summerland oil are given 

on page 203 of the report. (See table on page 63 of this bulletin.)

1901. Eldridge, George H., The asphalt and bituminous rock 

deposits of the United States. 0 The general geologic features and the 

asphalt deposits of the region from Gaviota to Punta Gorda are

"Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 11, 1897, 94 pp., 35 figs.

b Ibid., i\o. 19, 1900, 230 pp., 35 figs., 13 maps.

c Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 1, 1901, pp. 209-452, pis. 25-53, figs. 1-52.

1783 Bull. 321 07 2
16 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, GAL.

described by Eldridge in this report, pages 439 to 446. The deposits 

in the vicinity of Gaviota, Mores Landing (La Patera mine), Carpinteria (Las Conchas quarry), and Punta Gorda are treated in detail, 

the text being supplemented by many fine illustrations.

1902. Arnold, Delos and Ralph, The marine Pliocene and Pleistocene stratigraphy of the coast of southern California." In this paper 

the Packards Hill and Bath-house Beach beds are briefly described 

and correlated with similar beds at other poin'ts-along the coast.

1903. Eldridge, George H., Petroleum fields of California.6 A section of this summary report (pages 313-315) is devoted to a description of the Summerland field. The conclusions reached by the writer 

agree in the main with those expressed by Eldridge in this report."

1903. Arnold, Ralph, The paleontology and stratigraphy of the 

marine Pliocene and Pleistocene of San Pedro, Cal. c On pages 50 to 

54 of this paper the writer describes the Pliocene and Pleistocene 

deposits in the vicinity of Santa Barbara in more or less detail, supplementing the notes on the geology by lists of the species of fossils. 

(See p. 32.)

1904. Prutzman, Paul W., Production and use of petroleum in 

California.6* In this valuable paper Prutzman devotes a brief section to a description of the Summerland field, together with a statistical table of the number of producing wells, etc., in December, 1903. 

References to the refinery at Summerland and to the physical and 

chemical properties and uses of the oil found there are included in the 

body of the report.

HISTORICAL OUTLINED

The first oil well in the Summerland field of Avhich we have any 

record was sunk on the flat one-fourth mile east of Ortega Hill about 

1877/ This well is said to have penetrated to a depth of about 180 

feet and to have encountered quicksand with oil. It was never operated. About ten years later (1887) H. L. Williams sunk two wells, 

one 455 feet deep, on Ortega Hill. These penetrated two oil sands. 

In 1891 Darling Brothers drilled a well about 1,200 feet northwest of 

the Summerland station and obtained a flow of gas under an 8-pound 

pressure sufficient to supply 17 families with fuel. A year later the 

same men sunk another well in the same vicinity and obtained similar 

results. Sometime previous to 1895 two gas wells, known as the 

Cone wells, were sunk in the northwestern part of Summerland. 

Between 1891 and 1895 there was considerable activity in the field,

aJonr Gcol., vol. 10., No. 2,1902, pp. 134-135.

l> In Contributions to Economic Geology for 1902: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 213, 1003, pp. 300-321. 

cMern. California Acad. Sci., vol. 3, 1903, 420 pp., 37 pis.

d Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 32,1904, 230 pp., 29 tables, 04 half-tones, 54 figs. 

« Most of the historical data here recorded have been gleaned from Watts's two reports on this field 

in Bulletins Nos. 11 and 19 of the California State Mining Bureau. (See p. 15.) 

/Seventh Ann. Kept. California State Mining Bureau, 18S8, p. 90,
INTRODUCTION. 17

and by the end of the latter year there were 28 productive wells, 

which produced 16,904 barrels of oil in 1895. Up to this time the 

development was confined mostly to the terrace on which the town of 

Summerland is located, although Mr. Williams had three wells on the 

beach at the west end of the town.

Stimulated by the success of the wells previously drilled, and doubtless guided somewhat by the suggestions offered by Watts in Bulletin 

No. 11, the development in 1896 began along the beach and finally 

extended out toward the ocean, the wells being drilled from wharves 

built out over the water.

In June, 1900, there were at Summerland 305 producing wells, 59 abandoned wells, 

and 15 well sites at which drilling operations had been commenced. These wells 

yield from 1 to 60 barrels of oil a day, the average yield being 5 barrels a day. The 

value of the oil in 1899 was 90 cents a barrel f. o. b. at Summerland. The cost of production is said to range from 25 to 35 cents a barrel.a

There were 22 companies operating and 12 wharves in use in 1899.

Development continued up to about 1901 or 1902, at which time 

there were still about 20 companies in the field. . Since 1902, owing 

to certain adverse conditions of price and marketing, the field has 

been declining. At the end of 1903 b there were 198 producing 

wells, 114 not producing, and 100 abandoned. The approximate 

price per barrel at that time was 80 cents. At the present time (October, 1906) there are 189 producing wells out of the 412 which at one 

time or another have been drilled in this field. The companies still 

operating, 14 in number, are listed on page 67.

[LOCATION.

The Summerland oil district is situated in Santa Barbara County, 

on the coast of California, between 80 and 90 miles west-northwest 

of Los Angeles and about 350 miles southeast of San Francisco. 

(See fig. 1.) The region mapped comprises an area of about 52 

square miles, in the shape of a rectangle 13 miles in extent east and 

west along the shore by about 4 miles in width north and south. It 

includes at its west end the city of Santa Barbara (population 6,587 in 

1900), one of the oldest settlements in California, which lies at 34° 25' 

north latitude and 119° 42' west longitude. The district is reached 

by the Coast division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which here 

follows the coast, and by vessels which touch at the port of Santa 

Barbara. The town of "Summerland, at which the only productive 

oil field so far developed in the district is situated, lies nearly 6 miles 

east of Santa Barbara.

o Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 19, 1900, p. 103. 

b Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 32, 1904, p. 32.
18 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF STJMMEBLAND DISTBICT, CAL.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The Santa Ynez Mountains, which extend for over 60 miles from 

Ventura River to Point Conception, are the dominant topographic 

feature of the region. (See PL I.) These mountains are part of 

the east-west system of ranges "which prevails in the region south 

of the upper end of the great interior valley of California, and

Area mapped and covered ~

report

Areas already mapped, on 

wh ich reports are now going'through the press

Other principal oil-producing 

regions of the State

McKittricK

3 Midway

4 Sunset

5 Santa Clara 

Santa Maria

7 BaKersfield

8 LOS Angeles

9 Puente Hills

10 Summerland

FIG. 1. Index map of a portion of southern California, showing location of district described in this 

bulletin and of the other important producing Districts of the State.

determines the trend of the coast along this part of the State. 

They terminate between Points Conception and Arguello, the two 

salients about which the coast bends abruptly from an east-west to a 

north-south trend. The mapped area embraces the south flank of 

that portion of the range lying back of Summerland and Santa
O <D - c W"0 O ffl t

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EOCENE OLiGOCENE OR EOCENE MIOCENE PLIOCENE

i J!9-

TOPATOPA FORMATION SESPE FORMATION
TOPOGRAPHY. 19

Barbara. The mountains present a bold, rugged front and a more 

or less serrate crest, the variation in altitude along the summit being 

from 3,300 to nearly 4,000 feet. La Cumbre Peak, elevation 3,985 

feet, 5 miles north of Santa Barbara, is the highest point in the region.

Many canyons cut the range at right angles; these are steep and 

narrow and in many places toward their heads have precipitous sides. 

They usually drain cirque-like basins which lie close to the axis of the 

main ridge. Streams flow from the larger canyons and debouch over 

alluvial fans onto the sloping terrace which skirts the coast. In the 

summer these streams are comparatively small, but during the rainy 

season they sometimes assume torrential proportions and carry 

bowlders of enormous size out onto the lowlands for distances of over 

a mile. The vegetation of the mountains is confined largely to dense 

growths of chaparral and other brush, with sycamores and alders in 

the canyons. Live oaks are found over the lowlands in places, 

especially in the vicinity of Montecito.

Back of both Summerland and Santa Barbara, between.the mountains and the sea, are long comparatively flat-topped hills which rise 

to elevations of 600 to 1,100 feet. These ridges, and the long, low 

knolls which lie in the Montecito Valley between them, are doubtless 

blocks which have been faulted up relative to the region on their 

north. Their north sides, coinciding with the fault zone, are steep, 

while their south slopes are more gentle.

Mission Ridge, back of Santa Barbara, and the eastward continuation of this ridge bej^ond Sycamore Canyon, show marked evidence 

of terracing. These terraces, which are of marine origin, have been 

subjected to differential uplift since their formation, as is indicated 

by their varying elevations at different points. The highest terrace, 

represented by the top of the ridge, is about 850 feet above sea level 

in its western portion, but immediately west of Sycamore Canyon it 

is only a little more than 750 feet; just south of the canyon the highest 

remnant of the same terrace lies at 666 feet, and this slopes off to a 

little more than 550 feet west of Montecito. This change in elevation of approximately 300 feet takes place in about 2^ miles. On 

the south side of Mission Ridge there are remnants of old terraces at 

elevations of 600 feet at the west end and 650 feet at the east end. 

Traces of terraces can be seen, at elevations of 250 to 300 feet, south 

of Sycamore Canyon. There are also evidences of terraces in the hills 

back of Summerland and Serena, but none as marked as those on 

Mission Ridge.

The lowland along the coast represents an old terrace which is in 

large part of marine origin. The terrace, or possibly terraces, for 

there is no direct connection between some of the isolated flats, 

varies in elevation from sea level to over 150 feet the latter being
20 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, GAL.

near the light-house 2 miles southwest of Santa Barbara. Ortega 

Hill and the little hill southwest of Ortega station (see PI. II, A) are 

local elevations, due, at least in part, to differential elevation of 

the terrace along lines coincident with anticlinal axes. The surfaces 

of these old terraces, and also nearly the whole surface of the region 

adjacent to the base of the Santa Ynez Mountains, are covered by 

detrital deposits, more or less waterworn (see PI. II, B). These are 

discussed under the heading "Pleistocene deposits" on pages 33-35.

Estuarine conditions are prevalent along the coast east of Santa 

Barbara and west of Carpinteria, and indicate local subsidence coincident in.time with the elevation which has taken place over most 

of the coastal belt.

 The valley in which the city of Santa Barbara is located is broad, 

and slopes gradually back from the ocean toward the north and west. 

The depression is due largely to structural causes, although erosion 

has played some part in the development of its minor features. The 

hills bounding this valley on the west are composed of soft Pliocene 

sediments which have been faulted into their present elevated position, the fault line probably being coincident with their northeastern 

base.

The local relief in the group of hills back of Summerland has been 

due in a measure to the composition of the exposed formations, and 

follows in a general way the strike of the rocks, which is here northwest and southeast. The terrace on which Sumnierland is situated is 

a quarter of a mile wide and from 30 to 60 feet in elevation, and 

slopes gently from the hills to its western boundary, a sea cliff. (See 

PI. II, A.)

Drainage lines, such as San Roque Creek, Sycamore <Canyon; and

Toro Canyon, which cut directly through the outer hills, were in 

existence before the movements which produced the salient local 

topographic "features took place.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL.

J. SUMMERLAND FIELD. FROM ORTEGA HILL, LOOKING SOUTH.

Showing general configuration of coast, terrace on which Summerland and some of the wells '< 

situated, and location and relative lengths of the various wharves.

li. PLEISTOCENE BEDS IN RAILROAD CUT WEST OF SUMMERLAND. LOOKING NORTH.

Dark sandstone at base is heavily charged with asphaltum derived from overturned oil-bearing 

Fernando beds below.
GEOLOGY AND OIL OP SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL. 21 

GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. 

GENERAL STATEMENT.

The formations involved in the geology of the Summerland district 

are 9,000± feet of conglomerate, sandstone, and shale of the Topatopa 

(Eocene); 4,300d= feet of conglomerate, sandstone, and shale of the 

Sespe (Eocene or Oligocene); 2,400± feet of sandstone and shale of 

the Vaqueros (lower Miocene); 1,900+ feet of shale and volcanic ash 

of the Monterey (middle Miocene); 1,000+ feet of conglomerate, 

sandstone, and clay shale of the Fernando (upper Miocene-Pliocene); 

and 50+ feet of gravel, sand, and clay of the Pleistocene in all, 

1S,650± feet of sediments, practically all of Tertiary age.' Unconformities occur between the Monterey and Fernando formations and 

between the latter and the Pleistocene. Reference to the geologic 

and structural map (PI. I, p. 18) will elucidate many of the points in 

the descriptions of the formations which follow.

Tentative correlation of formations of Summerland district with the standard California 

Coast Range and Santa Clara Valley sections.

Era.

6

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6

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o

?3

System.

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0)

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n1-5

Series.

Recent.

Pleistocene.

Pliocene

Miocene.

Oligocene.

Standard Coast Range 

section.

Alluvium.

San Pedro.

Merced.

Purisinm.

San Pablo.

Monterey.

Vaqucros. '

San Lorenzo.

Martinez.

Chico.

Horsetown.

Knoxvillc.

Franciscan.

Granite, schist, etc.

Summerland district 

section.

Alluvium.

Marine and stream deposits.

Fernando.

Monterey.

Vaqueros.

al Red beds.

(?)

Franciscan? (fldcWhitney).

Santa Clara Valley 

section.

Alluvium.

Sand and gravel.

Fernando.

6 [Shale. 

"3 1 Upper sandstone, 

"gj Shale. 

% (Lower sandstone.

Vaqucros.

d (Upper. 

%\ Red beds.

$ I Lower.

(?)

Granite, gneiss, etc.
22 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL, 

TOPATOPA FORMATION.

Name. The name Topatopa was given by Eldridge a to a formation 

of conglomerate, sandstone, quartzite, and shale exposed in the Topatopa Range north of the Santa Clara Valley, Ventura County, about 

30 miles east of the Summerland district. As the deposits thus 

described are directly traceable into a similar series occurring in the 

Santa Ynez Range in this district, Eldridge's name Has been employed 

to designate the latter formation.

Lithologic character. Four zones, the upper three each approximately 2,500 feet in thickness, the lowest at least 1,200 feet thick, are 

recognizable in the Topatopa formation north of Summerland. The 

lowest zone is predominatingly dark-drab to greenish shale, generally 

thin bedded, with varying amounts of yellowish, grayish, and drab 

interbedded sandstone. The sandstone layers range in thickness 

from a fraction of an inch to several feet and in grain from fine to 

pebbly. The sand grains are largely quartzitic and the pebbles granitic, as they are also throughout the remainder of this and the succeeding (Sespe) formation. The shale contains some carbonaceous 

material, scattered fish integuments, and what are supposed to be 

ostracods.

The second zone is similar to the first except tnat in the second the 

sandstones are relatively much more important than the shales, some 

of the sandstone beds approaching 25 or 50 feet in thickness.

Above this sandstone zone is a very prominent band of dark-gray 

to greenish thin-bedded shale, which, owing to its soft composition, 

forms a swale in all the ridges running down from the crest of the 

range for many miles along its front. Some decidedly calcareous 

beds are associated with the shale, as are also some thin beds of sandy 

material. Many tar springs occur in the shale about the region of 

Toro and Oil canyons, and in it the wells of the Occidental Oil Company, in the latter canyon, described on page 55, were drilled.

The uppermost zone of the Topatopa consists largely of hard sandstone and conglomerate, with here and there more or less prominent 

belts of gray shale, and is sparingly fossiliferous throughout. The 

sandstone beds vary in thickness from a few inches to 50 or 60 feet, 

the thicker beds appearing near the stratigraphic top of the series, 

toward the foot of the steep slopes. A row of prominent knobs on 

the transverse ridges of the south face of the range (immediately in 

front of the swales described as being weathered out of the shale) are 

determined by the position of the hard sandstone beds at the base of 

this uppermost member of the Topatopa.

Some very good building stone is obtained from the Topatopa formation near the base of the mountains and also from bowlders of the 

same rock found on the detrital slopes south of them.

a Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 309,1907, p. 5.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS.

Age arid fossils. The age of the Topatopa formation is Eocene, as 

shown by characteristic fossils found in it both in the type locality 

and in the region of Santa Barbara. Many fossiliferous layers occur 

throughout the upper sandstone member of the formation, but most 

of these contain only poorly preserved oysters. However, at one 

locality on the La Cumbre trail, on the ridge between Rattlesnake 

and Sycamore canyons, north of Santa Barbara, the writer collected 

the following fauna from the sandstone about 1 ; 000 feet stratigraphically below the top of the Topatopa formation:

Eocene fossils from the Topatopa formation on the ridge between Rattlesnake and Sycamore canyons, Santa Barbara, Cal.

Cardium brewerii Gabb (Young) (PI. IX,

fig. 5). 

Galerus excentricus Gabb (PL X, figs.' 3a

and 3b). ' 

Leda gabbi Conrad (PI. X, fig. 1). 

Mactra near ashburneri Gabb (PI. X,

fig. 6). 

Meretrix uvasana Conrad (PL IX, fig. 1;

PL X, fig. 5).

Meretrix sp. indot. 

Modiolus ornatus Gabb (PI. X, fig. 4). 

Ostrea idriaensis Gabb (PL IX, fig. 2). 

Phacoides cretacea Gabb (PI. IX, fig. 4). 

Phacoides sp. (small, gibbous). 

Spirocrypta pileum Gabb (PL X, figs. 8,

9a, and 9b). 

Thracia (?) sp. 

Turritella uvasana Conrad (PI. X, fig. 7).

Distribution and structure. The Topatopa formation occupies the 

whole front of the Santa Ynez Mountains from the region of the Ojai 

Valley at least as far west as Santa Barbara. In the region north 

of the Ojai Valley it. forms the heart of a great anticline overturned 

toward the south; farther west, in the region of Chismahoo Mountain, the same anticline is normal; but still farther west, in the region 

back of Summerland and Carpinteria, the anticline is again overturned toward the south and the beds, from the foot to the summit 

of the range, all dip northward at angles varying from 40° to 90°, the 

youngest apparently being at the bottom of the series. Northeast 

of Summerland and north of Carpinteria a long, narrow block of 

uppermost Topatopa sandstone and shale, dipping steeply to the 

south, is thrown up on the south side of a prominent east-west fault.

Evidences of petroleum. The Topatopa is petroliferous in the type 

locality in the Sespe region, and, as previously mentioned, tar springs 

are found in the upper shale member of the formation in Oil and Toro 

canyons. Furthermore, wells put down in the vicinity of these lastmentioned springs have yielded some 14° to 17° oil. Besides these 

occurrences, oil seepages are said to occur in the Topatopa brown 

sandstones and shales in the canyon of Arroyo Parida, northeast of 

Serena, and at several other localities in the same formation along the 

south face of the Santa Ynez Range. Taken as a whole, however, 

the structure of the formation in the Summerland district offers only 

moderate inducements for prospecting with the drill.

Water from the Topatopa formation. Hot springs emanate from 

the rocks of the Topatopa formation in Hot Spring Canyon, 4 miles
24 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

northeast of Santa Barbara. According to Whitney,0 the waters 

from these springs are highly charged with sulphur, and had in March, 

1861, temperatures ranging from 112° to 118° P., the larger ones being 

usually the warmer.

The following is an analysis b of water from the tunnel or one of the 

wells of the Occidental Oil Company in Toro Canyon, which are sunk 

in the upper Topatopa shale zone:

Analysis of water from Occidental wells, Toro Canyon, 3 miles northeact of Summerland. c

Parts per 

million, j

Silica.................................................................... 29. 344

Oxide of iron and alumina............................................... 2. 787

Carbonate of lime.......'................................................. 105. 045

Carbonate of magnesia.................................................... 74. 812

Sodium and potassium sulphate.......................................... 17.186

Sodium and potassium chloride........................................... 22. 572

Sodium and potassium carbonate.. ......................................... 57. 832

Oil and organic matter................................................... Trace.

309.578

This water passed directly into a boiler without going through the 

heater would scale and cause some pitting, but in the heater the lime 

and magnesium are largely precipitated. '

SESPE FORMATION.

Name. The name "Sespe brownstone formation" was first used 

by Watts d in describing the peculiar reddish-brown sandstone series 

found in the region of the Sespe Canyon, north of Fillmore, Ventura 

County. Later the name was used by Eldridge e for the characteristic reddish formation of which the Sespe brownstone is a part. 

The name is used in this report to designate the reddish formation 

which occurs along the flanks of the Santa Ynez Range north of 

Santa Barbara and Summerland, and which is directly traceable 

into Eldridge's areas in Ventura County.

Lithologic character. Two general divisions are recognizable in 

the Sespe formation a sandy basal portion about 1,900 feet thick 

and a shaly upper portion about 2,400 feet thick. The middle of 

the formation is of a decidedly characteristic reddish color, but i-his 

fades out gradually both toward the bottom and toward the top. 

The lowest zone in the Sespe is about 300 feet of heavy-bedded coarse

a Geol. Survey California, Geology, vol. 1,1865, p. 128.

b This analysis was found in Mr. Eldridge's notebook, accompanied by the following note: " Given 

me by Mr. Rust, of the Seaside Oil Company. Analysis by Dearborn Drug and Chemical Company, 

Chicago, September 6, 1900."

c Expressed by analyst in grains per gallon; recomputed to parts per million at United States 

Geological Survey.

d Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 11,1897, p. 25.

« Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 309,1907, p. 7.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. . 25

pinkish sandstone with a fe\v conglomerate layers. Above this is 

340 feet of heavy-bedded, coarse yellowish granitic sandstone; then 

330'feet of heavy-bedded granitic sandstone, locally pinkish in color; 

and, finally, 950 feet of medium-bedded, characteristic reddish-brown 

siliceous conglomerate and coarse sandstone, with minor amounts of 

clayey shale. The upper horizon has 1,815 feet of thin to thick 

beds of characteristic brownish-red clayey shale with minor amounts 

of sandstone and conglomerate, the whole becoming lighter colored 

toward the top, and about 575 feet of light-brown shale, with white 

to pinkish calcareous concretions, these latter beds being transitional 

into the Vaqueros shale above.

Some of the harder Sespe conglomerate makes excellent road 

material and is quarried extensively for this purpose at different

points along the base of the mountains. Good building stone could

doubtless be obtained from the formation at certain localities, 

although at present the only place where the rock is quarried is in 

Sespe Canyon, Ventura County.

Age. No fossils have been found in the Sespe formation in the 

Summerland district. Watts and Eldridge, from their studies in 

Ventura County, are of the opinion that the Sespe is largely Eocene, 

although their evidence for this belief is not conclusive. It is quite 

probable that the base of the formation is Eocene, as characteristic 

Eocene forms have been found in the top beds of the Topatopa formation, which conformably underlies the Sespe. It seems possible 

that at least a part of the Sespe is Oligocene, fof.it grades at the 

top into beds which at several localities are known to contain lower 

Miocene fossils.

Distribution and structure. The Sespe formation is exposed aimost 

continuously from the type locality in Sespe Canyon at least as far 

west as Santa Barbara, and probably much farther. What is thought 

to be an outcrop of the Sespe is also exposed in the core of the anticline of Vaqueros sandstone south of Santa Ynez, nearly 40 miles 

west of Santa Barbara. In the Summerland district the Sespe lies 

stratigraphically above the Topatopa, with which it is conformable, 

forming a band averaging about a mile in width immediately south 

of that formation at the base of the Santa Ynez Range. North of 

the eastern part of the city of Santa Barbara the band of Sespe 

deposits is affected by the overturn and dips northward at steep 

angles under the older Topatopa beds; north and northwest of the 

Mission the beds occupy their normal relation to the Topatopa and 

dip toward the south. The belt of Sespe at the base of the range 

northeast of Summerland lies in a syncline overturned toward the 

south; farther east, however, this syncline rights itself arid extends 

as a broad trough as far east as the Ojai Valley.
26 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

Another band of the Sespe occupies the flanks of the ridge between 

Toro Canyon and the east end of the area shown on the map; it 

also extends westward from Toro Canyon, forming a large part of 

the group of hills immediately northeast of Summerland. In this 

band the Sespe dips south at a steep angle, its base being determined 

by exposures of the underlying Topatopa, while its upper beds are 

for the most part hidden under the Pleistocene deposits of the lowland. A little isolated outcrop of Sespe forming the two knolls in 

the bend of Ficay Creek, 1J miles northeast of Summerland, is a part 

of the uppermost light-brownish shale of the formation. As this 

exposure lies in the direct line of strike of the basal sandstone beds 

of the Sespe outcrop in the ridge immediately to the southeast, it 

is very evidently separated from the beds in the ridge by a profound 

fault, with a downthrow on the north.

Evidences of petroleum. No evidences of petroleum, were found by 

the writer in the Sespe beds in the Summerland district. However, 

the same formation is petroliferous in the region of Sespe and Sisar 

canyons, farther east, and it is said that certain indications of oil 

have been found by others in the Sespe northeast of Summerland. 

The well of the Final Oil Company, on the west side of Arroyo Parida, 

starts down in the basal sandstone of the.Sespe, but it is thought 

that this well was located with the intention of tapping the shales at 

the top of the Topatopa formation, which lies just below, rather 

than with the idea of obtaining oil from the Sespe. ..

VAQUEROS FORMATION.

Name and correlation. The name Vaqueros was proposed by Homer 

Hamlin for a characteristic sandstone formation underlying the 

Monterey shale in Los Vaqueros Valley, Monterey Count}r, and was 

first used by H. W. Fairbanks a for the lower Miocene of the San Luis 

quadrangle. Owing to its characteristic fauna, the formation has 

been recognized over much of the Coast Range belt. Although what 

is called the Vaqueros formation in the Summerland district contains 

no characteristic fossils, its stratigraphic position and lithologic similarity to certain characteristically fossiliferous beds in the Ojai Valley 

to the east leave no doubt in the mind of the writer as to its correct 

correlation.

Lithologic character. The basal portion of the Vaqueros consists of 

several beds of fine to coarse, more or less arkose, light-brownish sandstone, interbedded with minor quantities of dark earthy to sandy 

shale, about 785 feet in all. This sandy zone is apparently somewhat 

more resistant to weathering than the shale above, as is indicated by 

its presence in the row of knolls one-half mile northeast of Summerland. Above the sandy.zone and grading into the overlying Monte-

 ,

o Geologic Atlas U. S., folio 101, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1904, p. 3.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. 27

rey shale is about 1,650 feet of grayish clayey shale, with many layers 

of gray to yellow calcareous shale or calcareous concretions; the shale 

is darker colored toward the top and apparently less sandy than lower 

down. The whole shaly portion of the formation weathers into black 

adobe soil, in which the hard lime concretions are abundant; the 

sandy portion of the Vaqueros produces a lighter colored soil than the 

shale.

The Vaqueros in this district contains little of the coarse sandstone 

which is so characteristic of the formation in the region at the west 

end of the Santa Ynez Range. In this respect it is like the Vaqueros 

of the Sespe and Ojai regions, which is made up largely of shale.

No indications of petroleum were noticed by the writer in any of 

the exposures of the Vaqueros in the Summerland district.

Distribution and structure. The Vaqueros fine sandstones and 

shales lie conformably above the light-colored shale of the Sespe formation in the region north of Summerland and also north and northwest of Santa Barbara. In the Summerland area the beds vary in 

dip from 70° to 90° NW., with a strike of northwest-southeast. In 

the region north of Santa Barbara the same beds appear to be overturned and dip steeply northward, with a west-northwest strike parallel to the major structural features of the range.

MONTEREY SHALE.

Name. In 1855 William P. Blake a described the diatom'aceous 

shales in the vicinity of Monterey.and applied to them the name that 

has been accepted ever since by west-coast geologists to designate the 

characteristic shale formation of the middle Miocene, which has so 

widespread a distribution in the Coast Ranges of California.

Lithologic character. As in many portions of .the Coast Ranges, the 

Monterey in the Summerland district is in general distinguished by its 

diatomaceous character. Unusually pure diatomaceous earth, or 

tripoli, as it is sometimes called, is found in the areas of Monterey 

adjacent to Sycamore Canyon and southwest of Montecito. These 

deposits have been the subject of a special paper by Finch. (See p. 13.) 

Similar deposits in the northern part of Santa Barbara County are 

described by the writer and Robert Anderson in "Contributions to 

Economic Geology for 1906." 6 This diatomaceous earth usually 

contains from 70 to 85 per cent of silica, is white to light-yellowish in 

color, very light in weight, and fairly resistant to weathering. The 

siliceous shells of the individual diatoms are usually distinguishable 

under a lens in most hand specimens, of this material.

In the region of the Carpinteria asphalt quarry the shales are 

highly bituminous, and have assumed contrasting alternations of

oProc. Acacl. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, vol. 7, 1855, pp. 328-331. 

6 Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 315, 1907, pp. 438-447.
28 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

black, brown, and white, which are rendered more conspicuous by 

the action of the waves. Along the railroad immediately east of the 

area shown on the map the shale is interbedded at rare intervals by 

4-inch to 24-inch, fine, brownish, more or less bituminous sandstone 

layers.

Volcanic ash occurs at two horizons toward the base of the Monterey 

northwest of Summerland, as shown on the map (PI. I, p. 18). The 

lower deposit is about 125 feet and the upper about 75 feet in'thickness. The lower is slightly coarser grained than the upper. The ash 

is white and very gritty, and consists largely of angular grains of 

quartz and lath-shaped feldspar crystals, some more than 2 or 3 mm. 

in length.

The Monterey shale becomes strongty porcelaneous in the area 

northwest of the Santa Barbara Mission, and in some places even 

approaches a flint in texture. The beds here are harder than any 

others occurring in this formation in the district.

The following log shows the character of the Monterey in the hills 

immediately north of Summerland:

Log of well in Monterey formation one-third mile north of Summerland Station.

Thickness.

Feet. 

50

50

1

14

174

Depth.

Feet. 

50

100

101

120

Thickness.

Feet. 

80

300 -

Depth.

Feet.

. CQQ

Salt water below sea level in this well.

Age and fossils. Recognizable marine molluscan fossils, were found 

in the Monterey at only one locality in the district. This was on the 

south face of the 675-foot hill just east of Diablo Canyon and a little 

more than a mile northwest of the Mission. Here the semiporcelaneous shale and an interbedded fine sandstone layer yielded the 

following fossils: Area sip. (small), Pecten pecJchami Gabb (abundant 

and beautifully preserved as casts; PI. X, fig. 10), and PJiacoides sp. 

(small, gibbous).

Distribution and structure. The Monterey formation occupies a 

belt lying conformably above the Vaqueros in front of the whole 

length of the Santa Ynez Range in the Summerland district. Over 

much of the territory the shale is covered by the Pleistocene deposits, 

but at certain localities erosion has stripped the beds clear of their 

overlying mantle and they are shown in all their complexity of structure. Beautiful sections are disclosed in the sea cliff for many miles 

southeast of the mouth of Carpinteria Creek (see.PI. Ill, A), while 

west of Punta del Castillo and Santa Barbara Point there are other
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL. I

A. BEACH NEAR CARPINTERIA ASPHALT MINE, SHOWING UPTURNED AND CONTORTED 

MONTEREY SHALE.

The exuding tar cements seaweed, pebbles, and rocks into a firm conglomerate. Eluff in rear is 

composed of sands heavily impregnated with asphaltum.

11. A TAR VOLCANO IN THE CARPINTERIA ASPHALT MINE. 

Showing how oil exudes from joint cracks in the upturned Monterey shale forming the floor of mine.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. 29

excellent exposures. North of Summerland and north of Santa Barbara are isolated patches of this formation.

In the western part of the district the shale dips northward at angles 

of 40° to 90°, being affected by the overturn which controls the position of the beds in the Santa Ynez Range; north of Summerland it 

dips steeply to the southwest, while at the asphalt quarry at Carpinteria it stands exactly vertical, changing, however, to a northeasterly 

dip farther east along the coast. Toward the east edge of the area 

mapped, the shale is folded into an anticline striking a little north of 

west, with dips of 30° on its northeast flank and 45° on its southwest 

flank, near the axis. The shale is much contorted and fractured 

locally, especially in the region along the coast half a mile east of 

Carpinteria. The well of the Columbia Oil and Asphalt Company, 1 

mile southwest of Carpinteria, is located near the axis of this anticline.

Evidences of petroleum. The Monterey'shale is probably the ultimate source of most of the oil occurring within this and most of the 

other productive oil fields of the Coast Ranges. The petroleum is 1 

thought to be the product of a slow and complicated process of metamorphism and distillation affecting the hydrocarbon material in the 

diatoms and other organic remains which play so prominent a role in the 

formation of these shales. This subject is more fully discussed in 

Bulletin No. 322 of the United States Geological Survey.

In the vicinity of the^Carpinteria asphalt mine and to the southeast 

along the shore for about a mile the shale is very petroliferous, tar 

oozing from the joint cracks at many places. This substance not only 

forms black coatings over the exposures on the beach, but cements 

sea weed, shells, and pebbles into a firm conglomerate which forms a 

layer over the rocks near the water. (See PL III, A..} Deposits of 

asphaltum are formed from the oil or tar which exudes from the 

shales and penetrates the overling Pleistocene sands. PL III, B, 

shows a characteristic seepage of oil from the Monterey shale forming 

the floor of the Carpinteria asphalt mine. Wells drilled in the shales 

in this vicinity also yield small amounts of heavy oil. This occurrence 

of petroleum in the shale is associated with a zone of fracture and a 

fold, parallel to this zone, affecting the Monterey along this part of the 

coast.

At many places west of Santa Barbara as far as Gaviota the Monterey shales exude oil and tar, some localities furnishing asphalt in 

commercial quantities." Wells in the Summerland field which penetrate the Monterey usually strike small quantities of gas, but no oil 

worthy of mention.

With the exception of the exposures along the coast the surface 

evidences of petroleum in the Monterey are not noteworthy. Certain

a See Mem. California Acacl. Sci., vol. 3, 1903, pi. 32, fig. a.
30 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

shales exposed in the Arroyo de las Ortegas, northwest of Summerland, show some signs of petroleum, as do the shales in one or two 

other exposures farther west, but these are of little importance.

FERNANDO FORMATION.

Name. The name "Fernando" was used on a manuscript map by 

Homer Hamlin several years ago to specify a certain formation containing Pliocene fossils and unconformably overlying the Monterey 

shale in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles County. It has since 

been used by Eldridge and Arnold" to designate the same formation 

throughout the oil fields of Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange counties, 

and still more recently by Arnold and Anderson 6 for an equivalent 

formation in northern Santa Barbara County.

Lithologic character in the Summer-land area. The Fernando, in the 

region east of Santa Barbara, consists of clay and clayey shale, sandstone, and conglomerate. The last two contain oil toward the base 

' of the formation over much of the territory south and southeast of 

Summerland.

Clayey shale appears to comprise something like 400 feet of strata 

at the base of the Fernando in the Summerland region. Some exposures of this shale occur in a cut on the north side of the county road 

in the eastern part of the town, and also at two places along the beach 

between the easternmost Duquesne wharf and Loon Point. The shale 

is rather soft, gray to brown in color on fresh surfaces, but rusty in the 

joint cracks, of which there are many cutting the rock. Gypsum 

occurs in numerous small veins in the outcrop on the county road, 

and gypsum and sulphur both are abundant in the outcrops along 

the beach. Sandy clay shale and bluish and grayish clay are also

interbedded with the sandstones and conglomerates, which overlie 

the basal shale. The clays usually slack on exposure. The gypsiferous sandy clay shale exposed in the bluff opposite the cemetery 1 

mile north of Montecito Landing probably represents a zone higher 

up in the formation than the similar beds at Summerland.

Sandstone and conglomerate with some interbedded clays make up 

the upper portion of the Fernando, the coarse sediments being composed largely of waterworn Eocene sandstone with scattered pebbles 

of quartzite and other hard rocks. (See PI. IV.) From one-eighth 

to one-half mile west of the westernmost Summerland wells the formation is very conglomeratic, and contains bowlders up to 2 feet in 

diameter, the average, however, being under 6 inches. The pebbly 

bodies are incoherent and form strata and great irregular masses. 

Fine yellowish to pinkish sands and one or two streaks of dark-gray 

clay are interbedded with the conglomerate at this locality. At the

«Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 309, 1907, p. 22.

& Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 317,1907, p. 19; and No. 322, 1907.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL, IV

UNCONFORMITY NEAR NORTH STAR WHARF. LOOKING WEST. 

Pleistocene deposits resting : ^early vertical oil-bearing Fernando sandstone and conglomerate.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. 31

west end of the field the beds are lower in the formation than those 

just described, but closely resemble them. Larger bowlders, some up 

to 4 feet in diameter, occur in these lower beds, and interstratified 

blue clays become more abundant as the base of the formation is 

approached. Evidences of petroleum are first encountered in that 

part of the formation exposed in the railroad cut near the westernmost wells, in the sandy and conglomeratic layers, and from this horizon down (stratigraphically) for over 200 feet the beds are more or less 

petroliferous. The oil-bearing strata are also encountered near Loon 

Point, where they consist of yellowish to reddish sandstone and conglomerate. Similar rocks outcrop in the bluffs 1 mile north of Montecito Landing.

Litliologic character in tlie Santa Barbara area. The Fernando formation in Packards Hill southwest of Santa Barbara, consists of 

fossiliferous sandy marl, sandstone, and sandy shale dipping slightly 

west of south at angles varying from 15 to 45 degrees. In the bluffs 

at the eastern end of the hill, near the bath house, the formation consists largely of bryozoan marl and sandstone, certain layers being 

exceedingly fossiliferous. The more 'fossiliferous layers are much 

the harder, and form protruding shelves-along the face of the bluff."

Age andj'ossils. No fossils have been found in the Fernando formation in any of the outcrops at Summer-land, Loon Point, or Montecito, but in the area southwest of Santa Barbara an abundant 

marine fauna representing two horizons is present.

The fossiliferous beds are certainly of marine origin, and are known 

to represent horizons in the body of this formation; the beds in the 

Summerland areas are of unknown origin, but are undoubtedly at the 

base of the Fernando and rest on beds of middle Miocene (Monterey) 

age. The fossil-bearing strata are certainly Pliocene, and may 

extend over into the Pleistocene, so that it is probable 'that the lower 

or unfossiliferous part of the formation is either lower Pliocene or 

upper Miocene.

«Mcm. California ACcicl. Sci., vol. 3, 1903, pi. 31, fig. b.

1783 Bull. 321 07 3
32 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

The following species have been found in the marine beds southwest 

of Santa Barbara:

Fossils collected from the Fernando formation at Santa Barbara.®

Bathhouse 

Beach.

Packard s 

Hill.

Acmsea insessa Hinds.................................................................. X

Admete gracilior Carpenter............................................................ X

Amphissa corrugata Reeve (PI. XI, fig. 7)............................................. X

Balanus concavus Bronn....................................................................... X

Bela fidicula Gould..................................................................... X

Bittium barbarensis Bartsch (PI. XI, fig. 15).......................................... X

Bittium catalinensis Bartsch (PL XI, fig. 13).............................. 1........... X

Bryozoa sp. (?) (See PL XVII)........................................................ X

Cardium corbis Martyn................................................................ X

Calliostoma gemmulatum Carpenter.........................................................

Chrysodomus tabulatus Baird......................................................... X

Clathurella conradiana Gabb (PI. XI, fig. 9)........................................... X

Columbella (Astyris) gausapata Gould................................................ X

Columbella (Astyris) gausapata var. carinata Hinds..'................................ X

Columbella (Astyris) tuberosa Carpenter {PL XI, fig. 10)............................. X

Crepidula adunca Sowerby................................................ ............ X

Crepidula navicelloides Nuttall........................................................ X

Crepidula princeps Conrad (PI. XIII, figs, la, Ib, Ic).................................. ........ X

Cythara branneri Arnold.............................................................. X

Diastoma sp. (?).............................................................. ......... X

Fusus robustus Trask................................................................. X

Galerus mammilaris Broderip (PL XI, fig. 14)......................................... X X

Glottidia albida Hinds. ......................................................................... X

Lacuna compacta Carpenter (PL XI, fig. 2)........................................... X

Laqueus jeflreysi (?) Ball...................................................................... X

Leptothrya bacula Carpenter (PL XI, fig. 3)........................................... X

Leptothyra paucicostata Dall (PL XIII, fig. 3)........................................ X

Macoraa sp. (?)^....................................................................... X

Mangilia angulata Carpenter............................................................. X

Mangilia interfossa var. pedroana Arnold.................... ..............'.......... X

Mangilia tabulata Carpenter (PL XI, fig. 4)........................................... X

Margarita pnpilla Gould...............................................................' X

Mercenaria perlaminosa Conrad (PL XV, figs, la, Ib, Ic).............................. X X

Mitramorpha filosa Carpenter var. barbarensis Arnold (PL XI, fig. 1)................ X

Modiolus fornicatus Carpenter......................................................... X

Nassa mendica Gould.................................................................. X

Nassa perpinguis Hinds (PL XI, fig. 8)................................................ X

Natica clansa Broderip and Sowerby (PL XVI, fig. 2)................................ X X

Ocinebra barbarensis Gabb............................................................ X

Ocinebra lurida Middendorf (PL XI, fig. 11)........................................... X

Ocinebra lurida var. aspera Baird ...................................................... X

Ocinebra perita Hinds................................................................... X

Odostomianucifqrmis var. avellanaCarpenter............ X

Odostomia gouldii Carpenter...................... '...'........... \......\.............. x

Olivella biplicata So.werby. ............................................................... X

Panopea generosa Gould....................................................................... X

Pecten (Pecten) bellus Conrad (PL XV, figs, la, Ib)................................... ........ X

Pecten (Patinopecten) caurinus Gould (PL XVI, figs, la, Ib)........:................ X X

Pecten (Chlamys) hastatus Sowerby (PL XIV, figs. Oa, 6b)........................... X X

Pecten (Chlamys) hastatus Sowerby var. strategus Dall.............................. X ' X

Pecten (Chlamys) jordani Arnold (PL XIV, figs. 5a, 5b).............................: ........ X

Pecten (Chlamys) opuutia Dall (PL XIV, figs. 3, 4)........................................... X

Phacoides annulatus Reeve............................................................. X X

Phacoides californica Conrad ........................................................... X

Pododesmus macroschisma Deshayes.................................................. X

Protocardia centifilosa Carpenter.......................:........................-...... X X

Psephidia barbarensis Arnold (PL XII, fig. 3)........................................ X X

Puncturella cuculata Gould.................................................................... X

Puncturella delosi Arnold (PL XI, figs. 5a, 5b)....................................... X

Sernele pulchra Sowerby var. montereyi Arnold (PL XIV, fig. 1)...................... X

Strongyloccntrotus purpuratus Stimson............................................... X

Terebratalia hcmphilli Dall (PL XII, figs. 4a, 4b)............................................. X

Tornatina culcitella Gould (PL XI, fig. 6)............................................. X

Trophon (Boreotrophon) gracilis Perry................................................ X

Trophon (Boreotrophon) orpheus var. prtBcursor Arnold............................. X

Trophon (Boreotrophon) stuarti Smith (PL XI, fig. 12)............................... X

Turbonilla tridentata Carpenter....................................................... X

Venericardia monilicosta Gabb (PL XIV, fig. 2)...................................... X X

Venericardia yatesi Arnold (PL XII, figs. 2a, 2b)...................................... X X

a Mem. California Acad. Sci., vol. 3, 1903, p. 52.

Distribution and structure. Only a very small percentage of the area 

discussed in this report is occupied by the Fernando, but as it is the
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. 33

formation that contains the productive oil sands of the Summerland 

field it is one of the most important. The contacts of this formation 

with those adjacent, as shown on the map, are at nearly every place 

arbitrarily determined, owing to the soft composition, of both the 

Fernando and the Monterey and the similarity of the overlying Pleistocene deposits to the Fernando. Three general areas are shown on 

the map. That at Summerland borders the coast and is affected by 

one. or more irregular, undulating anticlines which parallel in a general 

way the other structural lines of the region. Another small area, also 

lying-in an anticlinal position, is exposed in the bluff 1 mile west of 

Montecito Landing. The third and most important district occupies 

Packards Hill,, south west of Santa Barbara, where the formation lies 

in a great southwestward-dipping monocline at least as far as the 

mid die of the area. This outcrop was not studied in detail, so that 

its relations to the Montere}r shale, which borders it along the coast 

on the southwest, are not known.

Evidences of petroleum. Surface indications of petroleum, in the 

form of chocolate-colored bituminous sandstone, appear at Loon 

Point at intervals for one-half mile to the west, and also along the 

cliffs at the west end of the field. The uppermost bed that shows 

signs of impregnation occurs in the railroad cut a short distance west 

of the westernmost Southern Pacific well on the bluff. (See PI. VI, 

p. 36.) The strike of this bed and its associated conglomerates (which 

are locally called "the reef") would carry it to the southeast, toward 

the end of the Southern Pacific wharf. No productive wells have 

been found southwest of the submarine outcrop of this reef be'd. 

Although similar to the Loon Point Fernando beds, and occupying 

structurally an apparently analogous position, the sandstone and conglomerate exposed, in the anticline 1 mile west of Montecito Landing 

yield no indications of oil. Neither does the marine Fernando west 

and southwest of Santa Barbara. A discussion of the productive oil 

sands which occur in the Fernando is given under the heading "Dedescription of the wells" (pp. 39-49).

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS.

Lithologic diameter. The Pleistocene deposits in the Summerland 

district are of several kinds and include detrital accumulations, 

marine beds, and certain sandy clays of'uncertain origin. The detrital 

deposits are incoherent and consist of poorly assorted material, ranging 

in texture from fine sand to great bowlders of the Eocene sandstone 

10 or 12 feet in diameter. This material has been brought down from 

the mountains by the streams during periods of flood and spread out 

on the slopes at the mouths of the steep canyons. The presence of the 

huge bowlders on the slopes of Mission Ridge and at other places at
GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEHLAND DISTRICT, GAL.

least a mile from the mouth of the nearest canyon implies a tremendous 

carrying power for the depositing stream.

The beds exposed in the bluffs along the shore extend inland for an 

indefinite distance, probably as far as the inner margins of most of 

the terraces, and are composed, of gravel and sand with which finer 

sediments are locally interbedded. (See fig. 2; also more particularly 

PL II, B, and PI. IV, p. 30.) Extreme variation takes place abruptly 

not only in the vertical succession, but also in individual layers, which 

at many places vary conspicuously in thickness and in composition 

within short distances, sand replacing gravel, and clay locally taking 

the place of sand, and vice versa. Bituminous sands and gravels 

occur at the base of the Pleistocene in certain areas, such as at Summerland and Carpinteria, and flowing water is struck at the same

horizon in the region of 

Carpinteria Creek. Oil 

and water are encountered 

in wells near Serena at 

depths of 25 to 100 feet in 

what is supposed to be the 

basal Pleistocene gravel.

The basal beds of the 

marine Pleistocene are 

fossiliferous at Summerland, at Carpinteria, and 

north of Montecito Landing, the latter locality 

yielding a good fauna from 

a bed 1 to 2 feet thick. 

The species are those still 

found living in adjacent 

waters. In the Carpinteria asphalt mine the two 

rock-boring mollusks Plioladidea penita Conrad and Petricola carditoides Conrad are particularly abundant in the floor of the mine, 

which was once the top of the Pleistocene terrace.

In the lowlands along the Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Summerland roads occurs a formation of sand}7 clays, blue to yellowish in 

fresh cuts, that is very tenacious and more or less porous from the 

apparent rotting of contained vegetable matter, etc., and therefore resembles loess. The beds carry small pebbles, which are derived 

from the ad joining, mountain slopes. The formation lies flat and is 

apparently undisturbed. It is thought possible that these beds are 

of fresh or brackish water origin, although no fossils or other direct 

evidence have been found in support of this theory.

FIG. 2. Detailed section of bluff near North Star wharf. 

Pleistocene: 1, Dark-brown soil; 2, drab clayey sand and 

conglomerate; 3, yellow quartzose and feldspathic sand,

with distributed pebbles; 4, fossiliferous fine compact sand 

and clay; 5, brown bituminous sand, some sandstone 

pebbles. Pliocene: 6, Gray shale, sandstone, and conglomerate.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS. 35

Distribution. The Pleistocene deposits cover a large part of the 

mapped area, hiding the older formations over most of the lowlands 

south of the main range. The detrital deposits are probably the 

most important and cover the slopes contiguous to the base of the 

mountains; those of marine origin skirt the coast and cover the old 

terraces; while the clays and fine sands, which are believed to be of 

fresh-water or possibly brakish-water origin, lie in the regio"n between 

Santa Barbara and Summerland.

The Pleistocene beds vary materially in thickness from point to 

point, at one place forming a thin veneer over the older rocks and at 

another, as in the area east of Cafpinteria Creek and for a mile from 

the ocean, being about 150 feet thick. This last-described area occupies an old basin or valley, probabtythe abandoned channel of Rincon 

Creek. In the northern part of the Summerland field the Pleistocene

is over 50 feet thick.

Evidences of petroleum. Bituminous sand and gravel, deriving 

their hydrocarbon contents by infiltration from the underlying formations, are found in the Pleistocene at many localities along the 

coast from Goleta to Rincon Creek. In some places these have been 

worked for the asphalt; in others the degree of impregnation of the 

sands has been so slight as to preclude their profitable exploitation. 

The asphalt deposits have been described by Eldridge a and others, 

and the Summerlahd occurrences only will be mentioned here.

The basal Pleistocene layer in the bluff opposite the northern part 

of the town consists of chocolate-colored to brown bituminous sand 

containing a few sandstone pebbles. The bed varies in thickness 

from 4 or 5 feet to more than 10 feet, thickening toward the west but 

finalty disappearing opposite, the western wells of the field. Here it 

abuts against the steeply dipping Fernando conglomerates of Ortega 

Hill, which protrude over it, thus implying its deposition at this 

point in a wave-cut cave. The beds dip toward the northeast at 

angles up to 8° or 10°, and for this reason have been erroneously 

correlated by some operators with the Fernando beds, which dip 

steeply southwestward (see fig. 2, p. 34). The bituminous sand is so 

heavily charged in certain places in the Summerland'field that some 

fresh exposures of it are said to have yielded considerable oil. Weathered surfaces, by a loss of the more volatile constituent of the oil, dry 

out and seal up the inner portions.

An oil spring is mentioned by Watts 6 as being exposed at low tide 

on the seashore one-fourth of a mile southwest of Martin's ranch, 

Serena.

"See reference under " Previous knowledge of the region," pp. 15-10. 

b Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 11, 1897, p. 52.
36 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEBLAND DISTRICT; CAL.

STRUCTURE.

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE DISTRICT.

The great overturned anticline previously referred to as elevating 

the main portion of the Santa Ynez Range is the dominant structural 

feature of the region, although there are in addition to this one an 

important"faulted anticline northeast of Summerland, some complex 

 folds in the range north of Santa Barbara, and several other minor 

flexures and zones of disturbance near the ocean. The reader's 

attention is called to the sections (Pis. V, VII, A, and VIII) and the 

contour map (PL VI), as elucidating the statements made in the following paragraphs:

SANTA YNEZ RANGE ANTICLINE.

The great anticline of the Santa Ynez Range is believed to be the 

westward continuation of'the overturned anticline which affects the 

rocks of the Topatopa Range north of the Ojai Valley 15 miles east 

of the Summerland district. Throughout its extent it trends practically in an east-west direction. From some undetermined point 

west of the Ojai Valley westward nearly to the intersection of Steer 

and Eldorado creeks, something over a mile east of the east edge of 

the area covered by the map (PL I, p. 18), the anticline is normal 

and its south flank dips southward at angles ranging from 30° to 90°. 

From the intersection of the creeks just mentioned westward at least 

as far as Montecito and probably farther the anticline is again overturned, the south flank of the fold dipping to the north at angles 

varying from 40° to 90° (see section C-C', PL V). In the region 

west of Montecito Peak the structure becomes more or less complex, 

although it is certain that the overturn, so far as it affects the Sespe 

and younger formations, extends practically to the west edge of the 

area mapped (see section A-A', PL V). In the region of Sycamore 

Canyon the Monterey (middle Miocene) shale has been so far overturned as to dip 40° or even less toward the north. 'These dips in the 

shale, howfver, may possibly be due to local crumpling.

ARROYO PARIDA ANTICLINE AND FAULT.

The range of hills northeast of Summerland was elevated by an 

anticline which later became faulted at its apex. This anticline will 

be referred to as the Arroyo Parida faulted anticline, as it passes 

along the caii}7 on of Arroyo Parida for some little distance (see PL V, 

section C-C'). The fault exposes on its south side upper Topatopa 

sediments dipping steeply southward at angles as high as 70°, overlain by later formations with dips fully as steep, if not locally steeper. 

The lowest beds exposed on the north side of the fault, are the prominent thick-bedded light sandstones at the base of the Sespe, which'
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL. V

z miles

GEOLOGIC SECTIONS ON LINES A-A' AND C-L' OF PLATE !.

A A', From coast three-fourths mile east of Santa Barbara wharf northward to ridge east of Rattlesnake Canyon.

C C", From coast 1 mile southeast of Serena N. 13° E. to summit of Santa Ynez Range. 1, Alluvium and Pleistocene gravel, sand, and clay; 2, Monterey (middle Miocene) diatomaceous

shale and volcanic ash; 3, Vaqueros I lower Miocene) shale, sandstone, and limestone concretions; 4, Sespe (Eocene-Oligocene?) reddish conglomerate, sandstone, and shale; 5, Topatopa

(Eocene) formation; 5a, Upper fossiliferous sandstone; 5b, Upper shale, oil bearing; 5c, Lower sandstone; 5d, Lower shale.
U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL.VI.

Comtmir interval 1O feet. 

9 rn&an. sea- level,. 

19O7

Base by Geo. H.Eidridge, 1902. 

Contours by Ralph Arnold, 1906.

STRUCTURE MAP OF THE SUMMEKLAOT) OIL E1ELD, SHOWING BY CONTOURS THE DISTANCE BELOW SEA LEVEL OE THE UPPEB OR MAIN OIL SAND
STEUCTUBE. 3?

dip at angles of 10° to 25° toward the overturned syncline lying 

between the fault and the Santa Ynez anticline. It is interesting to 

note in passing that this syncline is traceable for many miles east of 

the area under discussion and is probably the westward continuation 

of the syncline which passes through Ojai Valley and to which, in the 

opinion of the writer, that valley depression owes its origin.

Although the Arroyo Parida fault passes beneath the detrital 

material west of Toro Canyon, it is known to exist at least as far west 

as Ficay Creek. This is shown by the relations existing between the 

upper Sespe shales in the hills northwest of the bend in Ficay Creek 

and the lower Sespe sandstones in the ridge only a short distance to 

the southeast. It is impossible to determine what becomes of the 

fault still farther west, although where last known it is trending directly 

toward the complexly folded region north of Santa Barbara, and is 

believed to bear some relation to the puzzling disturbances in the 

rocks in the vicinity of Rattlesnake Canyon.

MINOR FOLDS NEAR THE COAST. 

FOLDS EAST OF CARPINTERIA.

An area of complex fracturing and folding stretches along the coast 

from Carpinteria Creek eastward at least as far as the edge of the 

region shown on the map. The Monterey shale at the asphalt mine 

just south of the mouth of the creek is standing vertical; a short 

distance east of this the same rocks are intricately contorted and 

fractured, in some places having the appearance of a breccia (see 

PI. Ill, A) ; while still farther east, near the edge of the mapped area, 

an anticline, with northeast dip of 30° and southwest dip of 45°, 

passes out into the ocean. East of the anticlinal axis the shale for 

some distance dips toward the north or northeast. The trend of the 

anticline is approximately parallel with the coast, and on a line with 

it, about half a mile east of the asphalt mine, an oil well has been sunk.

FLEXURES NEAR SUMMERLAND.

Two local flexures affecting the oil-bearing Fernando formation 

have been recognized near Summerland. One of these is a welldeveloped anticline striking west-northwestward from Loon Point, 

the axis being nearly coincident with the edge of the bluff for more 

than half a mile northwest of the point. The strike and dip of the 

exposed beds near the axis indicate that the anticline plunges southeastward and is undulating in the direction of the strike. Points of 

greater elevation in its trace are 150 yards southeast of the Duquesne 

wharves and also a short distance west of Loon Point. At these nodes 

the gypsiferous lower Fernando shale is brought up to view. The 

dips on the side of the anticline reach as high as 30° or 35°. The
38 GEOLOGY AND OIL OP SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

flexure gradually dies out from the region of the easternmost group of 

wharves northwestward toward the main part of the town of Summerland, where it appears to lose its individuality on the southwarddipping flank of the Arroyo Parida anticline.

Another flexure (designated the Summerland fault and anticline on 

the structure map, PI. VI), which appears to be a sharp and possibly 

locally overturned and faulted anticline, with a strike north of west, 

occurs in the Fernando beds near the edge of the bluff opposite the 

Becker and North Star wharves. (See section B-B' PI. VII, and 

the Becker and North Star well sections A, and B, PI. VIII.) The 

well logs indicate that this fold covers a rather small area, although 

its southeastern extension may be considerable. The dips along it 

range from 45° SW. to vertical in the Becker-North Star area, the 

petroliferous sandstones, conglomerates, and associated clays being 

affected. A disturbance of the Pleistocene beds along what is probably the trace of this anticline tilts them northeastward at angles 

ranging as high as 8° or 10° in the north end of the field. (See fig. 

2, p. 34.)

In addition to the two flexures just described, the well logs show 

one or two local wrinkles affecting the oil sands and associated 

layers in the region of the wharves; these are shown in the detailed 

sections and also on PL VI.

MONTECITO ANTICLINE.

An anticline striking about N. 70° or 80° W. passes into the ocean 

from the bluff opposite the cemetery a mile north of Montecito Landing. This fold affects the Fernando clay, sandstone, and conglomerate. The dip in the beds on either side of the axis ranges from 20° to 

40°, the steepest being toward the southwest. The conditions of 

structure along the anticline appear favorable for the accumulation of 

petroleum, and although no surface indications are visible, it is probable that oil-bearing beds underlie the fold, possibty at a considerable 

depth, however.

STRUCTURE NEAR SANTA BARBARA.

Detrital deposits obscure the structure in the Santa Barbara Valley, 

but from the southerly dips in the Fernando beds southwest of the city 

it is surmised that a fold similar to the Montecito anticline or else a 

fault affects the beds of Packards Hill. The structure of the coast 

west of Punta del Castillo was not studied.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

S. 61* W.

Fernando formation, Pliocene and possibly-^ Vaqueros formation, lower

upper Miocene i . Miocene .possibly upper Olfgocene 1 Terrace deposit.Pleistocene, ' Monterey shalef - T > i .middle Miocene 

_g Oil wells Gas wells ' *

BULLETIN NO. 321 PL. VII 

H.ei'E..

Sespe formation, mostly Eocene, possibly lower 01igocene toward top_

.1. GEOLOGIC SECTION ON LINE E-B' OF PLATE I. 

From a point northwest of Summerland N. 61° E. to knoll in forks of Toro Canyon, 2 miles northeast of Sur

SurfEFace of Treadwell (.Southt 

19 18 1716 15 14 13

MIOCENE, 

B. SECTION THROUGH TREADWELL (SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY'S) WELLS.

N. 12° E. to a point immediately northwest of big oil tank in Summerland. Section is about 1,000 feet west of Oxnard wharf. (See PI. VIII, Section C.)
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL. VIM

SECTION D

Western Duquesne Wharf

II 10 3 8

SECTIONS SHOWING RELATIONS OF OIL SANDS IN VARIOUS SUMMERLAND WELLS.

A, G. F. Becker Oil Company's wells Nos. I to 6; westernmost wharf in the field, about 300 feet west of North Star wharf. B, North Star wharf wells Nos. 1 to 8; about 1,100 

feet west of Treadwell (Southern Pacific Company's) wharf (see PI VII, Ji). C, Miller wells Nos. 4 and 8 and Oxnard wharf wells Nos. 1 and 4 to 8; about 800 feet 

west of western Duquesne wharf. D, Western Duquesne wharf wells Nos. 4 and 8 to 14; 400 feet west of eastern Duquesne wharf. E, Eastern Duquesne wharf wells 

Nos. 7, 9, and 12 to 15.
GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEELAND DISTRICT; CAL. 39

DESCRIPTION OF THE WEIX8.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

The oil wells in the Summer!and field are put down on the terrace upon which the town is situated, on the beach in front of this 

terrace, and on wharves which extend out into the ocean, some of 

them nearly a quarter of a mile. (See PI. II, A, p. 20.) The wells 

range in depth from 100 to more than 600 feet, the shallowest being 

the northernmost on the terrace, the deepest those farthest south on 

the wharves. The oil is obtained from sands alternating with clay 

beds in the Fernando formation (upper Miocene or lower Pliocene), 

which dips almost due south at angles ranging from nearly 90° at the 

north end of the "field to nearly horizontal at the south end. Only 

one productive sand, from 10 to 45 feet thick, is penetrated by the 

terrace wells, but in the wharf wells two, and in some three, oil sands 

occur.

For convenience of discussion, the field has been divided into the 

following sections, which are here treated in detail: Area west of 

Lookout Park; area north of the railroad; area between the railroad 

and the beach, and wells on the beach and wharves. (See PI. VI.) 

In addition to these areas the gas wells in the town of Summerland 

and the oil wells near Loon Point, near Carpinteria, and in the mountains northeast of Summerland are briefly described.

AREA WEST OF LOOKOUT PARK.

*

Geology and structure -The wells in the area west of Lookout Park 

penetrate the steeply clipping or disturbed beds flanking the Summerland anticline and fault, which extends from a point a short distance east of the edge of the bluff in the vicinity of the North Star 

wharf in a northeasterly direction toward the top of Ortega Hill. 

(See PI. VI.) Dips of 80° or 90° occur in the sandstone and conglomerate beds at the shore end of the North Star wharf, but farther 

east the dip lowers to 45° or less. The well logs indicate a more or 

less irregular arrangement of the Fernando beds in the region of the 

Potomac wells, probably the result of their proximity to the line of 

disturbance to which reference has just been made. The strata penetrated consist of gravel near the surface and alternating sands and 

shale or clay lower down. Several oil sands are penetrated by some 

of the wells, but only one or two are productive. The productive 

beds are from 10 to 52 feet thick in the wells and are separated by 

clay, which varies materially in thickness from well to well. The 

sand is granitic and coarse textured,"some of it approaching gravel, 

and in most places is "quick" or incoherent, flowing with the oil and 

 necessitating considerable cleaning of the wells. The usual color of 

the formation in all the wells is brown or gray, but certain wells in
40 GEOLOGY AKD OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

the triangular block west of Evans street and south of Wallace avenue have yielded a peculiar red material, which has been encountered 

in no other wells in the field, with the possible exception of some put 

down in the Monterey shale area in the northern part of the town.

The following two logs illustrate the character of the strata penetrated by the wells in this area:

Log of Williams's well, on top of Ortega Hill, Summerland.

Sand and shale, water at 200 feet. . 

Shale.............................

Quartz sand, saturated with oil. . 

Blue clay, with wood fragments

Thickness.

Feet. 

70

130 

115

24 

9

Depth.

Feet. 

70

200 

315

339 

348

Sand, with oil lighterthan that

Thickness.

Feet. 

37

10+

Depth.

Feet. 

385

395+

Log of Potomae well, on south flank of Ortega Hill, Summerland.

Clay..............................

Clay..............................

Thickness.

Feet. 

70

52

38

10

25

11

Depth.

Feet. 

70

122

160

170

195

266

Clay.............................

Clay.............................

Thickness.

Feet. 

5

4

20

30

11

Depth.

Feet. 

211

215

235

265

276+

Water occurs at several horizons in this area, being encountered at 

200 feet in the Williams well (Ortega Hill) and at 265 feet in the 

bottom of one of the Potomae wells.

Wells. All the wells in this area are drilled, the casing used being 

41 inches or a little larger. Productive sands are encountered at 

depths ranging from about 170 to 385 feet, the latter figure being in 

the Williams well on Ortega Hill.

Product. The production ranges from something less than 1 barrel 

to 2 or 3 barrels a day, but the initial production for some of the 

wells is said to have been greater. The average for the Potomae 

group was in 1902 about 1£ barrels a day each, and it has fallen off 

but little in the last four years.

The gravity of the oil averages about 15°, varying but'slightly 

above or below this figure. The oil is fairly free from water when the 

wells are first drilled, but with the lapse of time the proportion of 

water increases. In 1902 the Potomae wells were yielding 1 to 4 per 

cent of water and 1 to 2 per cent of sludge with the oil.

Gas accompanies the oil in practically all the wells.

Companies. Among the companies and individuals who have 

operated in this area are H. L. Williams, Potomae Oil Company, Roberson Oil Company, Churchill Oil Company, Larson Oil Company, 

Seaside Oil Company, and Miller Oil Company.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. 41 

AREA NORTH OF THE RAILROAD.

. Geology and structure. The oil and gas wells north of the railroad, 

after passing through the Pleistocene, penetrate the beds near the 

base of the Fernando which dip at a rather low angle to the south. 

Beneath the Monterey-Fernando unconformity the Monterey beds 

probably dip steeply southward, as they do in the hills northwest of 

Summerland. Some of the drillers, however, have reported steep 

northerly dips (probably due to local overturning of the beds) in 

some of the wells in the shale. The Fernando beds dip very gently 

southward but thin rapidly toward the north, the oil sand decreasing 

from 25 to 12 feet within 200 or 300 feet. '

The well logs indicate from 10 to 25 feet of soil, sand, and gravel 

(probably Pleistocene); 60 to 120 feet of fine sands and blue clays,

with a persistent layer of blue clay at the bottom, and 12 to 25 feet 

of oil sand, the top of which is penetrated at depths of 70 to 145 feet.

Wells. With the exception of the Cole dug well, all the wells in 

this section of the field of which there is any record are drilled, the 

casing usually being 4^ inches in diameter.

Product. When the sand was first tapped the production of the 

wells ranged from 1 to as high as 12 barrels a day for some of the 

wells in the central part of this area, but the average at any time was 

never over 3 or 4 barrels. The Cole dug well, at the extreme east end 

of the productive territory, 4 feet in diameter and 90 feet deep, 

yielded but 3 barrels a day. The group of 12 Doulton & Wilson wells 

in the central part of the area are said to have averaged 10 barrels a 

day each in 1895, but fell off to 6 barrels each by July, 1896.

Companies. The following are among th,e companies or individuals 

who have operated wells in the area north of the railroad: Alameda 

and Santa Barbara Development Company, Eureka Consolidated Oil 

Company, Stevens & Roberts, Doulton & Wilson, Bachus & Cravens, 

Loomis Oil Company, Dewlaney Oil Company, Cole Oil Company, 

Wakham Oil Company, Goodnow Oil Company, Williams & Easton, 

Turner & Darling.

AREA BETWEEN THE RAILROAD AND THE BEACH.

Geology and structure. The conditions in the area between the railroad and the beach are a southward continuation of those found north 

of the railroad. The terrace on which the wells are sunk averages 

between 25 and 30 feet above sea level, and is underlain by Pleistocene 

beds which dip gently northward at the west end of the field but lie 

flat farther east. Beneath the Pleistocene the Fernando beds show 

dips ranging from 70° or 80° S. in the region about Lookout Park to 

22° S. in the territory of the Seaside Oil Company, 400 or 500 feet 

farther south, and finally to practically horizontal in the eastern part
42 GEOLOGY AND OIL OP STJMMEBLAND DISTBICT,, CAL.

of the field. The wells first penetrate 10 to 20 feet of fine sand and 

5 to 10 feet of sand and cobblestones, probably Pleistocene in age. 

These beds are followed by 150 to 170 feet of sand, with clayand some 

gravel, a persistent clay bed occurring at the bottom. The oil sand 

is encountered below the clay bed. It is 30 to 45 feet thick and 

underlain by clay. The oil sand becomes unproductive in the region, 

a short distance northeast of the shore end of the Oxnard wharf, the 

eastern of two adjacent wells located here being entirely unproductive 

while the western once yielded a little oil. The following log of one 

of the Seaside Oil Company's wells located about 400 or 500 feet east 

of Lookout Park is typical for this area:

Log of Seaside Oil Company's well 400 or 500 feet east of Lookout Park, Summerland.

Thickness.

Feet. 

10

5

50

GO

20

Depth.

Feet. 

10

15

115

135 Clay.............................

Thickness.

Feet. 

20

30

20

1+

Depth.

Feet.. 

155

l&a

205

20G+

Water is encountered in the sand, above the clo,j layer overlying 

the oil sand, and also in the fine sand underlying the oil sand. At 

this lower horizon it is associated with some oil, the emulsion of the 

two making the sand " quick."

Wells. The wells in this area are all. drilled. They range from 

about 150 to 240 feet in depth, and penetrate the oil sand at 125 to 

more than 200 feet.

Product. In their prime the wells produced as high as 15 barrels

a da}r each, but the average was probably never more than 3 to 5

barrels. One group of wells which produced from 6 to 10 barrels a 

day each when first pumped, soon dropped to a daily average of 

about 3 barrels, which was held for two years. One of the Wilson 

wells (No. 2), which had an initial flow of only 3 or 4 barrels a day, 

suddenly rose to a production of 15 barrels a day soon after it started, 

and kept this up for over a year and a half, although the adjacent 

wells never averaged over 2 or 3 barrels a day each. It seems likely 

that this particularly good producer must have penetrated a rich 

crevice or locally extremely porous place in the oil-bearing bed. A. 

group of wells opposite the Lillis wharf and south of the railroad' 

increased in production when the wells opposite them across the 

track were abandoned.

The gravity of the oil ranges from 12° to 15^° Baume, the lightest 

oil coming from the wells at the east end of the field. The average 

gravity for the entire area is probably about 13°. It is thought that 

the water which is pumped in varying amounts with the oil lias had a
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. 43

deleterious effect on its gravity, those wells producing the lightest oil 

pumping- the least water. Traces of sludge accompany the oil and 

water in some of the wells.

Companies. Among the companies and individuals who are now 

operating or have operated in this area are the following: Alameda 

and Santa Barbara Development Company, Doulton & Wilson, 

Forester & Treadwell, W. M. S. Moore, Seaside Oil Company, J. C. 

Wilson, California Oil Company, Miller & Williams, Koberson Oil 

Company, and Packard Oil Company.

BEACH AND WHARF WELLS.

Geology and structure. The formations penetrated by the beach 

and wharf wells are similar to those found in areas to the north, 

except that the Pleistocene is lacking and in its place is a veneer of

beach sand from 2 to 5 feet in thickness covering the Fernando sandstones, shales, and. clays. Treadwell (Southern Pacific Company) 

well No. 15 encountered gas in hard shale at a depth of about 600 

feet, and this is supposed to represent the bottom of the Fernando 

and the top of the Monterey in this part of the field. The Fernando 

dips southward over practically the whole region, although near the 

Treadwell wharf it has a local low northerly dip; at the shore end of 

the Oxnard and Duquesne wharves the beds assume a low dip preparatory to passing over the Loon Point anticline. From the east 

end of the field westward the southerly dip in the Fernando is as 

follows: Eastern Duquesne wharf, 15°; western Duquesne wharf, 20°; 

Sea Cliff wharves, 21°; Oxnard wharf, 22°; Treadwell (Southern 

Pacific Company) wharf, 15° to low north dip; North Star wharf, 

10° to 50°; and Becker wharf, 50°. As shown by the sections (Pis. 

VII, VIII), there are two or three local crumples in the beds, the one 

first showing in the Oxnard section and passing thence northwestward through the Treadwell section and so on into the region north 

of the North Star and Becker wharves being the most persistent. 

(See PI. VIII, p. 38.) Some faulting probably accompanied the 

folding that produced this wrinkle, especially toward its north end. 

The Loon Point anticline dies out to the north of the east end. of 

the beach area, so that it apparently exerts little influence on the 

accumulation of the oil over most of the territory west of the Sunset 

wells. A small but nevertheless noticeable crumple in the oil sand 

occurs between Becker wells Nos. 2 and 3 and between North Star 

wells Nos. 2 and 3.

Several oil sands are met in the wells, the principal one (A in fig. 3 

and Pis. VII, B, and VIII) being a continuation of the single sand found 

in the areas to the north. All of these sands, with the exception of the 

"oil rock" found in the wells at the east end of the area, are typical 

quartzjse sands ranging from grains the size of a mustard seed up to
44 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

pebbles of considerable size. They are largely "quick" or "heaving' 

sands, requiring frequent removal from the wells. In fact, many of the 

wells pump considerable sand with the oil, the separation of the two 

being accomplished in a "sand box." Sand A ranges in thickness 

from about 25 to nearly 75 feet, being thinnest near the shore and 

thickest toward the south end of the wharves. The evidence offered 

by the wells indicates that the Fernando was laid down under rapidly

J.C.Lillis'beach wells 

I a 345678

Sea Cliff Oil Co'S I st or inner wharf

345678910

J. C.Lillis'wharf Oxnard Oil Co 

14 13 12 II 10 9

Sea Cliff Oil Go's 2d or middle wharf 

21 20 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 II

- r-^_r

?3f\$£f:

nd':-;:;

^ij>>

C lay and water sand

iii:^i?V^ii-i^^^Sia^H^-

wSfiailf

fipBea

;-.-.;C

Ch lir

ii; sa

le

nd'-'p

--*- V A'.v -^iij

Sea Cliff wells 

21

Sea Cliff Oil Co's 3d or outer wharf 

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Clay and

Hard oil-bearing shal'e"5roil rock

100 so

Scale

zpo ZOO feet

FIG. 3. Geologic sections through the Lillis, Oxnard, and Sea Cliff wells: A-A', B-B', and C- C' show 

the relations of the oil sands along the strike; D-D', the relations across the strike. A designates 

principal oil sand. See PI. VI (p. 36) for location of sections. Figures denote number of wells.

changing conditions, which have resulted in great variations in the 

thickness and composition of the same bed within short distances, 

these variations being very marked in the oil sands, as well as in the 

associated layers. (See sections in fig. 3 and Pis. VII and VEIL) The 

sands contain in many wells included clay lenses and are locally split 

up by intercalated clays. The variation in the sands is apparent not 

only in the sections which cut across the strike, but also in those which
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. 45

parallel the strike, as is shown in fig. 3. .Sand A is overlain throughout 

this area, as well as throughout other parts of the field, by a persistent 

tough clay layer which appears to be almost completely impervious 

to the oil below and the water above it. At the north end of the area 

(see North Star and Becker sections, PI. VIII) a productive oil sand 

is intercalated in the lower part of this layer. To this stratum and to 

similar less important clays above the other sands the retention of the 

oil in the porous layers is due, inasmuch as these clays act as barriers 

to the upward migration of the oil toward the surface from the Monterey shale below the unconformity. Had it not been for the clays 

nearly all of the oil would have escaped to the surface to form asphalt 

deposits, such as those at Carpinteria and other places along the coast, 

where the Monterey shales are petroliferous, but where the conditions 

are not as favorable for the accumulation of oil as they are at Sum- 

-merland. Sand A is underlain by a clay stratum which in turn overlies sand B, a productive layer varying from a mere stringer to a bed 

25 or 30 feet thick. Still another sand below, separated from B by 

clay, is struck in some of the wells. The oil sands below A are not 

found north of the shore-line wells, indicating that they pincli out and 

should be considered more in the nature of local lenses of sand rather 

than beds continuous over considerable areas. The "oil rock" previously mentioned occurs below the B sand in the Duquesne and 

adjacent wells, and consists of hard shale in which is found an oil 1° 

or 2° lighter than that occurring in the true sands. Oil is also derived 

from crevices in the clay in one of the dug wells at the west end of the 

field, -these crevices conforming in general slope to the dip of the beds. 

The following are two typical logs from this area:

Typical log of well on the shore line, Summcrland. 11

Thickness.

Feet. 

100

20

30

30

Depth.

Feet. 

JOO

120

150

180

Oil sand A (oil 12° to 14°) .......

Thickness.

Feel. 

50

,50

20

100

Depth.

Feet. 

230

280

300

400

a. Watts, W. L., Bull. California State Mining Bureau, No. 19,1900, p. 102. 

Lot] of one of the Duquesne 'wells, typical of those at east end of wharf area, Summcrland.

Clay.........................:...

Clay..............................

Thickness.

Feet. 

330

45

G

4.

0

Depth.

Feet. 

330

375

381

385

391

10° to 17° oil) ............ ......

Thickness.

Feet. 

14

48

Depth.

Feet. 

405

453

458+
46 ' GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEBLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

N

Above the persistent clay layer over sand A is a series of alternating sand and clay beds carrying water. In the region extending 

from the Becker wharf to the Treadwell (see PI. VII, B, and PI. VIII, 

section B, p. 38), a 75-foot stratum of sand carrying some oil with 

the water overlies the clay. The relations of the oil and water in this 

bed as indicated by the well logs are very interesting, as showing 

that under certain conditions water and what is apparently an emulsion of water and oil may occupy the same bed, with the water above 

or up the slope from the oil.

Water is encountered af the base of the oil sand in Oxnard well 

No. 8, at the south end of the wharf, but does not extend northward 

or up the slope to No. 7. This occurrence indicates that the water 

under hydrostatic pressure is following up the oil and will in time 

probably replace the oil as the latter is pumped from the sands. 

Water has always been troublesome in the beach and wharf area, 

but much of the difficulty with it has arisen from faulty manipulation of the wells. There is evidence, however, that in man}^ of the 

wells the water is following up and replacing the oil. In speaking 

of the oil and water in one stratum of sand, Mr. Becker informed 

Mr. Eldridge that he found the oil in the upper half of the bed and the 

water in the lower half. Just after piercing the stratum and while 

the gas pressure is maintained, the oil remains distinct from the 

water, but after the gas pressure is relieved the oil is gradually permeated by the water, with a deterioration of the oil itself, viz, a 

lowering of the gravity-of the oil after a separation of the two components of the emulsion. It is said that no water entered with the 

oil from sand B for over a year after the wells penetrated it. Sulphur 

water is encountered in a clay lens in one of the Marine Oil Company's we1 Is and also in the clay between the first and second oil

sands in the same wells.

'Wells. With the exception of three dug wells on the beach at 

the north end of the area, all of the Avells are drilled, the casing used 

ranging in diameter from about 4£ to 12 inches. "In drilling beneath 

the water a casing larger than that needed for the drill hole is put 

down to the floor of the ocean and forced into the bed rock until 

the ocean water is securely shut out of the drill hole. This is called 

a conductor, and the casing of the well is put down inside of the 

conductor." a The main oil sand (A) is penetrated in the wells at 

depths of 125 to about 325 feet. The'range of depths for the different 

wharves is as follows: Eastern Duquesne, 160 to 315 feet; western 

Duquesne, 200 to 325 feet; Sea Cliff, 125 to 200 feet; Oxnard, 125 

to 290 feet; Treadwell (Southern Pacific Company), 200 to 250 feet; 

North Star, 5 to 350 feet; Becker, 5 to 310 feet.

a Watts, W. L., Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 19, 1900, p. 102.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. 47

Product. The individual production of the drilled, wells varies from 

a fraction of a barrel to that of one of the Duquesne wells, which is said 

to have had an initial production of 100 barrels a day. It is claimed 

that this, well continued this production, which is phenomenal for 

this field, for six months, but finally fell off to an average of 3 or 4 

barrels a clay. The general average for the wharf wells at the present 

time is between I and 2 barrels a day each; this is probably less 

than, one-half the average for the field when it was in its prime.

Of the dug wells, the best producer was a 60-foot hole in the 

bottom of which was sunk 1.7 feet of 9f-inch casing. This is said, to 

have been capable of producing 100 barrels a day at one time. The 

other dug wells yielded from 3 to 10 barrels a day each.

The best production has usually been in the most-disturbed strata. 

The Williams wells, for instance, in the steeply dipping beds at the 

north end of the field, have been, with only a few exceptions, the 

best producers. Oxnard No. 6, the best producer of the group, is 

located on a local flexure (see PI. VIII, section C, p. 38), and so there 

are other cases. No. 12 of the eastern Duquesne wharf, which is said 

to have been a 100-barrel well, probably tapped a locally rich place 

in one of the lower sands. The initial production of each well is 

ordinarily about twice its production after one year and three or 

four times its production after two years. The subjoined record of 

one of the Duquesne wells illustrates the rate of decline in production:

Decrease of production in one of the Duquesne wells, Summerlund.

Barrels a day. 

May, 1898 (initial flow)............. 6

JuneS, 1899........................ 3

January 1, 1900..................... 3 TV

Barrels a day. 

February 16, 1900.................. 2£

February 22, 1900................... 2£

August 25, 1900..................... If

The wells down the dip usually give a slightly better yield than 

those higher up in the same stratum, although in the case of the wharf 

wells this may be due in part to a thickening of the strata. The good 

yield of some of the wells farthest south on the wharves is also 

explained by the fact that they tap the second and third oil sands, 

which have proved to be in places exceptionally productive. In the 

eastern Duquesne wells, which penetrate two sands, no well pumps 

from both strata, but each stratum is pumped in alternating wells, 

the lower stratum being the more productive. In the western 

Duquesne wells an average of 4J barrels a day was yielded by each 

of the 14 wells along the beach which tapped the upper sand, while 

the six wharf wells, which obtained their petroleum from the lower 

stratum, produced an average of 6§ barrels per day.

The oil obtained from the wharf and, beach wells ranges in color

from black to olive-brown, the latter being the lighter, and in gravity

from 12° to 18°, with an average of about 15° Baume. The heaviest

oil comes from the main oil sand (A) in the beach wells throughout

1783 Bull. 321-07 4
48 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEELAND DISTRICT, GAL.

the central part of the area; the 14° to 15° oil from the same sand in the 

great majority of the wharf wells; the 16° oil largely from the second 

or B sand; the 17° to 17 J° oil from the "oil rock" below the main oil 

sand in the eastern part of the field; and the oil, which is said to have 

tested 18° from Williams No. 2 well, in the highly tilted beds at the 

extreme west end of the field. Certain wells 011 the beach and edge 

of the bluff, between the Becker and Treadwell wharves, are said to 

have been abandoned because the sand yielded liquid asphaltum too 

heavy to pump. Similar asphaltum is also reported in sand A at the 

bottom of North Star No. 8, although the oil in the same stratum less 

than 100 feet farther north, up the dip, was reported as of 15° gravity.

It is said that in the Sea Cliff wells the oil in the upper or A sand is 

lighter along the beach than southward and seaward down the dip. 

Exactly the opposite condition is reported in the steeply dipping beds 

in the North Star section, where (with the exception of the very heavy 

oil in the bottom of No. 8) the lightest oil is that from the well farthest 

out on the wharf. This occurrence of the lightest oil in the beds 

farthest down the dip is by far the most common in the California 

fields so far examined by the writer. The conditions at the Sea Cliff 

wells may be explained on the assumption that the oil reached sand A 

through crevices along the axis of the Loon Point anticline (see PI. 

VI, p. 36) and spread southward down the dip of the beds, losing in 

gravity as it migrated.

Water, sludge, and gas accompany the oil in most of the wells of 

the area. The product ranges from an initial yield of oil containing 

practically no water to an emulsion containing 98 or 99 per cent of 

water. The average emulsion coming from those wells which have 

received fair attention contained from 18 to 22 per cent of water at 

the time of the writer's visit (1906). Many neglected wells produced 

practically all water, with only occasional traces or blebs of oil. It 

is said that well No. 14 on the eastern Duquesne wharf pumped practically pure oil for the first six months, after which water gradually 

increased up to 22 per cent, but that the net production of oil at the 

time it contained 22 per cent of water was greater than when it 

pumped oil alone. The greater fluidity of the emulsion in this case 

seemed to more than compensate in increased production for the loss 

of quality of the oil.

Sludge is pumped with the oil, its amount ranging from a trace up 

to 45 per cent.

Companies. The companies which have at one time or another 

operated the beach and wharf wells,* named in the order of the wells 

from east to west, are the Duquesne (Keith and Williams wharves),
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. '49

Southern Pacific, Sea Cliff, Oxnard, Lillis, Sunset, W. M. S. Moore, 

Treadwell (Southern Pacific Company), Marine, Knapp, McCall, Santa 

Barbara Oil and Mining, North Star, Becker, and Williams.

GAS WELLS IN THE SUMMERLAND FIELD.

General statement. In addition to the gas which accompanies the 

oil in practically all the wells in the Summerland field there are more 

than a dozen wells which have produced nothing but gas. Though 

the flow of these wells was more or less powerful at first, they were 

quickly exhausted and all are now abandoned.

Geology and structure. Some of the wells obtained their gas from 

the sands near the base of the Fernando formation, while at least 

three are believed to start down in the Monterey shale and penetrate 

gas accumulations in this formation. In both cases the beds dip to

the south, the Fernando lying at a low angle uiiconformably over the 

Monterey, which is believed to be steeply tilted. The strata that 

yielded the gas in the Fernando are believed to be practically at the 

same horizon as sand A, which produces the "oil in the wells a little 

farther south. In one of the Cone wells, in the eastern part of the 

town, the gas occurs at 600 feet below the surface, while oil is obtained 

25 feet farther, down. This occurrence, together with the general 

position of the gas wells at the top of the Summerland monocline, is 

interesting in substantiating the theory that wherever oil and gas 

occur separately in the same bed the gas will always be found at the 

top. In fact, the Summerland field as a whole furnishes a good illustration of the conditions postulated by the anticlinal theory, which 

states that where water, oil, and gas are found separately in the same 

bed the water will be found lowest, the oil next, and the gas at the 

top. The A. C. Doane well, at the southwest corner of Wallace avenue and Evans.street, is typical of those which obtain gas from the 

Fernando oil-bearing horizon. It passes through reddish clay to 70 

feet and gas sand to 83 feet, the clay forming the impervious cap.

In all the wells in the Monterey the gas was found under a hard 

limy shell layer, which had apparently been impervious to the gas. 

Traces of oil occur in the sandy layers in these wells below the level 

of the gas. The following log of one of the Darling Brothers' wells 

in the northwestern part of Summerland is typical of the gas wells in 

the Monterey shale.
50 -GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEELAND DISTKICT, GAL. 

Log of Darling Brothers' gas well on lot 32, block 25, Summerland.

Sand (first gas) .................................................................

Thickness.

Ft. 

5 

80 

0 

1 

9 

0 

0 

32 

1 

1 

18 

10 

1 

 1 

93 

24 

66 

75 

' 1 

100

in. 

0 

0 

4 

0 

8 

2J 

10 

11| 

0 

6 

6 

0 

0 -.4 

-8 

0 

0 

0 

 6 

6

Depth.

Ft. in. 

5 0 

85 0 

85 4 

86 4 

96 0 

% 23r 

97 -J 

130 0 

131 0 

132 6 

151 0 

161 0 

162 0 

163 -4 

'257 ' .0 

281 0- 

347 0 

422 0 

423 0 

524 0

Production of the wells. The gas wells range in diameter from 2^ 

to 4-| inches, the shallowest usually being the smallest. The pressure 

of the gas was strong at first, but gradually fell off. One well, 104 

feet deep, is said to have thrown mud and dirt 40 feet in the air when 

the gas sand was first penetrated. One of the Darling wells started 

in 1891 with a pressure of 8 pounds to the square inch and furnished 

gas to 17 families. In 1895 the pressure had fallen to 1 pound to the 

square inch. The three Cone wells supplied 20 families at first, but 

in four years fell off until they yielded barely enough gas for 3 

families. The Cone wells had about the most enduring supply of all 

in the field.

One of the most interesting phenomena in relation to the gas supply in the gas wells and oil wells is the influence of the weather or 

denseness of the atmosphere on the flow. In speaking of the Darling Brothers' wells, Watts says: a "It is stated that during a north 

wind these wells yield a strong flow of gas, but when the wind ceases 

the gas ceases to flow and a current of air is drawn down the well for 

several hours. In one instance, the latter phenomenon was noticed 

to continue for two days before inflammable gas again flowed from the 

well." It would seem that such phenomena would result in a dangerous mixture of air and gas, but so far as the writer is aware no 

serious accidents accompanied the use of the gas for domestic purposes. In the Doane wells a heavy north wind caused the cessation 

of the gas flow entirely, this action being exactly contrary to the 

phenomena noted in the Darling wells. The gas in some of the oil 

wells on the beach was said to have increased in volume and the 

wells to have pumped better at high tide and in stormy weather. It

a Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 11,1896, p. 56.
DESCKIPTIO.N OF THE WELLS. 51

was also noted that when the Santa Barbara Oil and.Mining Companjr's well No. 6, on the edge of the bluff, was pumped the gas flow 

ceased in No. 11, which was located 30 feet farther north.

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING THE OIL.

The oil in the Summerland field originates by a slow process of distillation from the diatoms and other organisms in the Monterey 

(middle Miocene) shale, which is abundantly developed in the region. 

After its formation quantities of the oil migrate upward, largely 

through joint cracks, under gas or hydrostatic pressure, and accumulate in the Fernando formation in porous sandstones under rela- 

"tively impervious clay layers. The reason that the oil does not continue its upward migration through the Fernando to the surface is 

because the plastic condition of certain clay beds in that formation 

precludes the production of cracks that could act as channels for the 

oil. In certain places, however, notably at the north end of the field, 

the Fernando beds have been so steeply tilted that some of the oil 

has migrated along the sandy layers and accumulated, with a loss of 

volatile constituents, in the unconformably overlying Pleistocene 

sands and gravels.

The migration, accumulation, and characteristics of the oil are 

largely influenced by the composition and structure of the containing 

formation. The composition of the Monterey shale and certain portions of the shal'e at the base of the Fernando is such that the oil can 

migrate through them readily only when they are in a more or less 

fractured condition. As a result of this characteristic the largest 

accumulations of oil in the Monterey occur in the more gently folded 

beds, such as along the anticline east of Carpinteria, while the important deposits in the Fernando lie over or near the more intensely 

fractured portions of the Monterey.

The migration of the oil and its accumulation in the porous members of the Fernando are governed largely by the structure. The 

transference and collection appear to vary with the degree of dip, 

the greatest accumulations, other things being equal, occurring in 

the most highly tilted strata. This is illustrated by the greatest 

producers of this region, most of which penetrate the steeply dipping 

beds at the north end of the field.

The oil deteriorates with upward migration both in the Monterey shale and in the Fernando formation. This deterioration 

in the Monterey is exemplified by the Eincon well, which yields oil 

of 20° gravity, whereas heavier oil and even asphaltum is obtained 

at the neighboring Monterey outcrops. In the Fernando formation 

the wells on the western Duquesne wharf offer a striking illustration, 

the gravity of the oil here being 17° to 17£° in the lowest oil stratum, 

16° in the next, and 14° in the uppermost. The Oxnard and several
52 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEBLAND DISTBTCT, CAL.

other groups also present good examples, the lower sand in the 

Oxnard wells yielding 15£°. oil, while that in the upper sand is 14°. 

In its migration upward through sand A in the Becker wells the oil 

declines in gravity from 15° to 14° and finally to 13° within a horizontal distance of less than 150 feet up a 45° slope. (See PI. VIII, 

section A, p. 38.) An apparent anomaly occurs in this same group 

of wells, heavy oil of 13° or less occurring down the dip below and 

in the same sand with the 15° oil. Another apparent anomaly is shown 

in the Oxnard section (PI. VIII, section C), jn the occurrence'of 15-|° 

oil in the Miller wells at a much higher point than the 14° oil in the 

wells out on the wharf. This occurrence may be explained on the 

hypothesis that the Miller oil migrated upward through the joint 

cracks in the heart of the Loon Point anticline rather than into sand 

A at points on its flank and thence up along the sand stratum. An 

alternative but less likely explanation of such phenomena is that 

for some reason the oil loses in gravity as it passes upward in the 

steeply dipping beds, while in beds of low dip the lightest oil is found 

at the top. Other things being equal, it is generall}7" true that lighter 

oil comes from the finer sediments.

In any closed, tilted reservoir, such, for instance, as sand A, the 

water, oil, and gas separate according to their specific gravities, the 

water occurring down the slope, the oil" above this, and the gas in 

the uppermost parts of the bed. Within the reservoirs, especially 

in those portions which are less steeply inclined, the oil and water 

may occupy adjacent zones parallel to the bedding planes, with no 

parting of clay or other impervious matter .between. Neither the 

oil nor the water in such cases is pure, but each contains greater or 

Jess amounts of the other. It is because of the accumulation of the 

oil in the top of the oil sand in the manner described above that 

many of the wells -penetrate only a portion of the stratum. (See 

fig. 3, sections A-A' and B-B'', p. 44.)

The association of oil with water has a deleterious effect on the 

gravity of the oil.. For example, oil pumped from a certain sand 

in the Summerland field had a constant gravity until water began 

to enter the well, when it was noticed that the gravity of the oil after 

separation from the emulsion was less than it was before the water 

came in.

WELLS AT OTHER LOCALITIES IN THE SUMMERLAND DISTRICT. 

WELLS NEAR LOON POINT.

Several prospect wells have been put down in the Fernando formation near Loon Point, about a mile east of the Summerland field, 

but none were successful, although oil sands with traces of oil were 

penetrated in most of them. It is the opinion of the writer that the
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. 53

paucity of petroleum is due to the position of the Fernando beds, 

which are believed to overlie here the nonbituminous Vaqueros 

rather than the petroliferous Monterey as they do farther north in 

the Summerland field. The position of the Loon Point wells relative 

to the anticline is apparently advantageous and the only reason 

that can be assigned for their honproductiveness is that stated above. 

Some of the wells attained a depth of 500 feet, but none were everoperated. The Fischer dug well, one-fourth mile north of the point, 

was 124 feet deep and reported small quantities of heavy dark-green 

oil. The following log of the Nott & Webber well, put down from 

the end of a 310-foot wharf one-half mile west of Loon Point, is characteristic of the wells in this vicinity:

Log of Nolt & Webber well, one-half mile west of Loon Point.

Sandstone, blue clay, and occasional 2-foot to 3-foot sand and gravel beds with water. 

Brown and chocolate-colored shale, with stratum of water tapped at 460 feet flowing

Thickness.

Veel.

380

150

30

Depth.

Feet.

380

530

560

Water in this well would stop flowing when the well next to the 

southernmost on the Duquesne wharf, three-eighths of a mile west of 

Nott & Webber's wharf, was pumped. When the Duquesne well 

stopped pumping Nott &'Webber's well would flow again, but water 

always reached the top of the casing in the Nott & Webber well, even 

when the Duquesne well was pumped. It was calculated that the 

Nott & Webber well was in strata 150 feet deeper than that of the 

Duquesne, which contained the water.

WELLS NEAR CARPJNTERIA AND RINCON CREEK.

Several wells, at least one attaining a depth of over 3,000 feet, have 

been sunk on the lowlands in the region near Carpinteria and the 

mouth of Bincon Creek, 5 to 8 miles east of Summerland. Traces 

of oil were found in all of them, but none so far have been highly 

successful. In all the wells the strata penetrated beneath the superficial Pleistocene deposits have been the Monterey (middle Miocene) 

bituminous shale, which lies in steeply dipping positions throughout 

this coastal belt.

The most important and deepest well is that of the Columbia Oil 

and Asphalt Company, located on the north side of the railroad onehalf mile east of the asphalt mine at Carpinteria. It is put down in 

line with the axis of a sharp anticline which extends into the ocean 

about a mile east of the mouth of Carpinteria Creek, near the edge 

of the area shown on the map. No definite information concerning 

the well was obtainable at the time of the writer's visit (October,
54 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL,

1906), but the following notes were gleaned from various sources: 

The well penetrates shale throughout the greater part of its depth, is 

about 3,000 feet deep, and encounters artesian water with a head of 

12 feet at 100 to 150 feet, asphaltum at 1,200 to 1,400 feet, and oil 

in sandy layers in the lower 100 feet. The oil in the sump is black 

and heavy, although it is said by the operators that oil of 37° gravitj^ 

was struck near the bottom. The oil is accompanied by a strong gas 

pressure. Gas was also encountered with the asphaltum between 

1,200 and 1,400 feet, forcing the asphaltum up in the hole for a distance of 180 feet when first struck. Only a small amount of oil was 

on the sump, indicating that the production of the well is probably 

not large.

Several years ago a well was "sunk in the. shale at the edge of the 

bluff about one-fourth mile east of the asphalt mine. Heavy oil was 

struck, but it was too viscous for pumping, and the well was abandoned. The casing of this hole still protrudes from the ground, and 

a heavy oil accompanied by considerable gas is slowly escaping from 

it. It is said that a second well was sunk a short distance farther 

northeast, but that no oil of consequence was encountered in it. As 

the first well is near the northern limit of a highly disturbed zone, 

it seems very likely that the reason no oil was encountered in the 

second well was because it penetrated beds which were so little fractured that the oil had no channels of migration through them.

In 1894 a 4 by 6 foot well was dug to a depth of 354 feet by P. C. 

Higgins, on the seashore one-half mile west of the asphalt mine. 

Purplish bituminous shale, with casts of the fossil Pecten peckJiami 

Gabb, was the only formation penetrated, and no oil was encountered.

A 400-foot well was drilled by J. Heath on the Hill ranch just north 

of the mouth of Rincon Creek, oil being struck in small quantities 

from 150 feet downward.

Watts a gives the following reference to prospect wells of the Arctic 

Oil Company east of Carpinteria:

Well No. 1, 7 miles south of Rincon Creek, 1,825 feet deep; formation, red sandstone; 

no oil. Well No. 2, 50 feet distant from well No. 1, 2,100 feet deep.; formation, red 

sandstone; no oil. Well No. 3, on Southern Pacific Railroad 1J miles east of Carpinteria; conglomerate and sandy shale to 700 feet; shale and sandstone to 1,200 feet; 

liquid asphaltum;-well abandoned.

The conglomerate here mentioned is probably the Pleistocene gravel 

and sand, which overlies the Monterey shale to a depth of over a hundred feet in the region northeast of Carpinteria.

At the time of the writer's visit to Carpinteria (October, 1906) 

it was reported that a well was being sunk at Shepards, 2 miles northeast of the mouth of Rincon Creek, but no data concerning its depth 

or the formation penetrated were obtainable..

a Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 19,1900, p. 104.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WELLS. '55 

WELLS IN THE MOUNTAINS NORTHEAST OF SUMMERLAND.

Several wells have at different times been put down in the Topatopa 

formation (Eocene) in the mountains east and northeast of Summerland. The wells have all been located near oil springs or seepages, 

and have without exception yielded traces and some of them commercial quantities of oil. Light yields and lack of proper transportation and market facilities have discouraged development, and at the 

present time none of the wells are being operated. Among the wells 

are those of the Santa Barbara Oil Company in Oil Canyon, the Occidental .Mining and Petroleum Company in Toro Canyon, the Santa 

Monica Oil Company in Santa Monica Canyon, and the Final Oil 

Company at the mouth of Arroyo Parida. These will be briefly 

described.

Two wells were drilled by the Santa Barbara Oil Company in Oil 

Canyon about 3f miles northeast of Summerland. The rocks here 

exposed are the overturned upper Topatopa shale, which dips steeply 

at angles ranging from 60° N. to vertical; oil springs occur in them 

in the immediate neighborhood of the wells. The wells start down in 

the shale, but may penetrate to the stratigraphically higher but 

actually lower upper-sandstone belt. The wells are between 500 and 

600 feet deep, and yielded small quantities of oil and much gas.

Seven wells and one tunnel have been sunk by the Occidental 

Mining and Petroleum Company .in Toro Canyon about 3| miles 

northeast of Summerland and three-fourths of a mile west of those of 

the Santa Barbara Oil Company just described. The formation at 

the Occidental wells is the same as that in Oil Canyon, and the wells 

doubtless derive their oil from the same zone. The wells range in 

depth from 200 to 1,100 feet. Four of them were classed as productive and three dry, although the latter contained traces of oil. No. 1 

is said to have produced a total of 5,000 barrels and No. 5 was rated 

as a 5-barrel well; the average for the productive wells was about 

2 to 3 barrels a day each. In August, 1895, only one well was pumping, and the oil from this was largely mixed with water. The oil is 

black and of 17° Baum6 gravity when it first comes from the wells, 

but on standing for a little while drops to 14°. The tunnel is 511 

feet long and runs in a N. 10° E. direction into the mountains. It 

penetrates sandstone composed of quartz, feldspar, and green and 

reddish minerals, interbedded with the greenish shale. It yielded 

little oil but much water, and the latter is now being used in Summerland. An analysis of this water is given on page 24.

The well of the Santa. Monica Oil Company is located 2 miles north 

of Carpinteria, near the mouth of Santa Monica Canyon. It starts 

down in the lowest Sespe sandstone, which here dips 60° S. 10° W., 

and penetrates the alternating sandstone and shale of the uppermost
56 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

Topatopa. A yield of 8 barrels a day of 18° amber-colored oil accompanied by strong gas pressure was encountered at 400 feet. At 700 

feet a strong flow of sulphur water "drowned out" the oil and the 

well is now abandoned.

The Final Oil Company is putting down a well at the mouth of 

Arroyo Parida Canyon, about 3| miles east of Summerland. It 

penetrates the lowest Sespe sandstone and the uppermost Topatopa 

alternating sandstones and shales, which here dip 60° S. It is thought 

that the well will reach the oil in sands under a certain shell at a depth 

of something more than 1,000 feet.

WELLS WEST OF SUMMERLAND.

Several wells have been drilled in the region west of Summerland, 

but few data concerning them are available. The following references by Watts a are self-explanatory:

Illinois Oil and Asphalt Company. Has a well on the seashore at Montecito. Formation, yellow clay and sand to 200 feet; blue clay and quicksand, with gas, to 260 feet; 

blue shale to 280 feet. Unfinished June, 1900.&

Santa Barbara and Naples Oil and Land Company. The territory operated by this 

company is near the seashore about 15 miles west of Santa Barbara. In June, 1900, this 

company was drilling a well, the formation penetrated being principally shale to a 

depth of 450 feet, with some showing of gas and oil.

CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.

General statement. It must be continually borne in mind that 

absolute determination of the possibilities of occurrence or nonoccurrence of oil in any one locality, by work on the surface, even when 

augmented by a study of the known underground conditions in 

developed territory, is not possible. The best that can be done is to 

calculate the degree of probability on the basis of a summation of 

indications and structural conditions. The following conclusions concerning the prospects of the Summerland district are offered simply as 

the personal opinion of the writer after a study of this district.

Summerland field proper. As regards the region immediately about 

Summerland, it is quite evident that the limits of the productive territory for wells of moderate depth, say up to 600 feet, have been pretty 

well outlined. The question for this territory seems to be more one of 

transportation facilities, markets, and cooperation among the operators than of unknown possibilities-of development. There is certainly 

considerable territory between the Becker and Duquesne wharves, 

not to mention other undrilled territory in the northern part of the 

field, that should yield good returns for the cost and care of wells if the 

price of oil was what it was a few years ago. Until the price rises or

a Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 19, 1900, p. 105.

6 As this well was not being operated in October, 1900, it is assumed that it was a failure. R. A.
CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. 57

until cheaper transportation rates are obtained, however, it seems 

useless to carry on further development.

The conditions of structure do not appear to favor the probability 

of striking remunerative deposits of oil by deep drilling. It is true 

that oil would probably be encountered in wells 2,000 or more feet in 

depth put down almost anywhere over the territory underlain by the 

Monterey shale, but the steep dips and close texture of the shale 

apparently preclude the accumulation of such great deposits of oil as 

are found in fields where the rocks are less steeply inclined and more 

porous.

Region near Carpinteria. The last paragraph, is as applicable to the 

region about Carpinteria and to the east as far as the contorted condition of the shale extends as it is to that territory about Summerland 

which is underlain by the Monterey. More or less oil is inclosed in the 

shale and in local interbedded sandstones, but it does not appear 

likety that heav}r producers will ever be encountered in a region of 

such distortion and fracturing as is prevalent in the Monterey shale all 

along this part of the coast, although in certain facies of the shale 

fracturing seems to be essential to the migration of the oil within or 

through it.

Region west of Montecito. It is thought that wells sunk deep 

enough, to penetrate the basal beds of the Fernando formation in the 

region of the Montecito anticline (see PL I, p. 18), which extends 

indefinitely west-northwestward from the coast 1 mile west of Montecito Landing, will strike deposits of oil of about the same quality as 

the best of that encountered at Summerland.

Region of tlie Topatopa formation (Eocene] nortlieast of Summerland. In the light of the development which has already taken place 

in Toro, Oil, Santa Monica, and "Arroyo Parida canyons it seems 

almost certain that light producers (averaging from 2 to 6 or 8 barrels 

a day of 14° to 18° oil), 1,000 feet or less in depth, could be put down 

at many places along the contact between the upper Topatopa shale 

and sandstone zones or the contact between the Topatopa and Sespe 

formations in the region northeast of Summerland. The oil-bearing 

strata in both of these belts are apparently confined to the upper part 

of the Topatopa, and to obtain productive wells is simply a question 

of locating places where the structure appears most advantageous for 

the accumulation of the petroleum. The region near the Arroyo 

Parida fault, toward the east end of the area covered by the map, 

appears promising, although the wells here, especially on the north 

side of the fault, would have to go much deeper to strike the oil zone 

than they do at the tested localities.
58 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, GAL.

PHYSICAL AKD CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE OIL.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES.

COLOR.

Nearly all of the oil in the Summerland field is dark brown or black. 

The exceptions to this are the olive-brown oil from some of the Becker 

and Potomac wells, at the north end of the field, and a heavy dark 

green oil from the Fischer dug well, near Loon Point. The oil from 

the wells penetrating the Monterey shale (middle Miocene), in the 

vicinity of Carpinteria and farther east is black, as is also that from 

the Occidental wells sunk in the Topatqpa formation (Eocene) in Toro 

Canyon. An amber-colored petroleum is reported from the Santa 

Monica Oil Company's well in the Topatopa sandstone north of 

Carpinteria.

GRAVITY.

The gravity of the oil from the Summerland field ranges from 9° to 

18° Baume, the average being between 14° and 15°. The Summerland 

oil and that from certain portions of the Los Angeles district are the 

heaviest of the California oils. The oil from the Monterey shale in the 

region about Carpinteria and Rincon ranges from liquid asphalt 

(gravity, about 9° Baume) to the 20° petroleum from the Rincon well. 

It is claimed that oil of 37° gravity is found in the Columbia Oil and 

Asphalt .Company's well at Carpinteria, but none of this light oil was 

seen by the writer. The gravity of the oil from the Occidental wells 

(in the Topatopa formation) is said to be 17° when it first comes from 

the wells, but to fall soon to 14° on exposure to the air. The same formation yields 18° oil in the Santa Monica well north of Carpinteria.

The lightest oil in the Summerland field is found in the main sand 

(A), in the beds of steepest dip at the north end of the field; in proximity to the local anticline or fault in the Potomac wells, also at the 

north end; in the Miller and Williams wells near the axis of the Loon 

Point anticline, at the east end; and in the second and third sands in 

the region of the Duquesne wharves. The heaviest oil comes from 

some of the beach and bluff wells between the North Star and Treadwell wharves. In general, the oil in any bed improves in quality down 

the dip, although in the Sea Cliff wells the opposite is said to be true. 

Water in the wells south of the railroad is believed to account for the 

lower gravity of the oil from this area as compared to that from the 

almost water-free oil sands north of the track.

The following table gives the details of the gravit}^ of the oil in the 

different parts of the Summerland field:
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE OIL. 59

Gravity of the oil from different parts of the Summerland field.

° Baiun6.

North of railroad track..................................................... 13-14

Average.......................................................... nearly 14

Eureka Oil Company's wells.......................................... 14

Extreme northeast corner of field (Potomac wells).......................... 15

Between railroad and beach ................................................ 9-1.5JAverage-.............................................................. 13

Santa Barbara Oil and Mining Company's wells....................... 9-13

Wilson wells.......................................................... 13fc

California Oil Company's wells....................................... 12-13

Miller and Williams wells (extreme east end)................;......... 15fc

Beach and wharf wells................................................... 12-1.8

Average...'...............................:.................'........... 15

Williams No. 2 beach well............................................. 18 ..

Becker wells................... '.................................\..... 16-17

North Star wells....................................................... 13-15

Oxnard wells, upper sand.............................................. .1.4

Oxnarcl Avells, lower sand.............................................. 15^

Sea Cliff wells, upper sand, beach..................................... 14

Sea Cliff wells, upper sand, wharf..................................... 13

Western Duquesne wharf wells, upper sand............................ 14

Western Duquesne wharf wells, middle sand............................ 16

Western Duquesne wharf wells, lower sand '' rock "...................... 17 i

VISCOSITY.

The relative viscosity of the Summerland oils as compared with 

that of oils from other typical California fields is given in the table 

of chemical analyses on page 62.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES. 

GENERAL. STATEMENT.

For data concerning the chemical properties of the Summerland 

oil, the writer is indebted entirely to persons outside of the Geological 

Survey, as up to the present time this Bureau has undertaken no 

detailed chemical investigations of petroleums. The following, 

among others, have contributed to the present knowledge of the 

California petroleums, and. to them the writer wishes to acknowledge 

his indebtedness for the analyses contained in the succeeding pages: 

Messrs. W. L. Watts," S. F. Peckham," Charles F. Mabery, c Clifford 

Richardson/' Paul W.. Prutzman, 6 H. N. Cooper/ and Edmond 

O'Neill.*

a Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 11, 1897, pp. 07-09;' No. 19, 1900, p. 203. 

* See Bull. U. S. Oeol. Survey No. 309, 1907, p. 201, for complete list of this writer's papers relating 

to California petroleum.

< .Proc. Am. Acacl. Arts and Sci., vol. 30, 1901, pp. 255-283; vol. 40. 1904, pp. 340-340. 

d Jour. Franklin Inst., vol. 102, 1900, pp. 57-70, 81-128.

« Bull. California Sta°te Mining Bureau No. 32, 1004, pp. 184, 194, 198, 224, etc. 

/ Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 31, 1904; No. 32, 1904, opp. p. 230. 

a Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 25, 1903, pp. 707-709.
60 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMEKLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

The most prominent characteristics of the Summerland oil are its 

low gravity (12° to 16° Baume), its high percentage of asphalt 

(85.5 per cent/ the highest of all the California oils), its relatively 

high percentage of nitrogen (1.25 per cent 6 ), and its moderately 

low sulphur content (0.84 per cent 6 ).

RICHARDSON'S PAPER.

The most comprehensive yet condensed discussion of the chemical 

properties of the Summerland oil is that by Clifford Richardson in 

his "Petroleum of North America." 0 That part of his paper which 

relates to the Summerland oil is here given in its entirety, as introductory to the tables of analyses which follow. Richardson says:

A specimen of the dense Summerland oil collected by the writer and distilled in 

vacuo at a pressure of 26 mm. gave 55 per cent of distillate, Avhich was collected in 

15 fractions, having the following specific gravity at 20°:

1..............................:. 0.8712

2............... ................. .8833

3................................ .8893

4................................ .9034

5................................ .9155

6................................ .9336

7................................ .9417

8................................ .9477

9............................... 0.9618

10............................... .9678

U.................^............. .9738

12............................... .9802

13............................... .9830

14............................... .9900

15 (refractive index, ,1.542)...... . 9939

Residue (45 per cent), a hard asphalt. Penetration, 66.

The highest boiling fraction has a density very nearly that of water and a refractive 

index of 1.542. The residue consisted of a hard residual pitch. On redistilling the 

first fraction at the same pressure, distillates began to come over at 105°, having a 

specific gravity of 0.8460, 35.5° B., and a refractive index of 1.460. Paraffin scale 

could not be separated from any of the fractions on exposing them to an extremely 

low temperature.

Mabery d has examined this oil in considerable detail. He found that a sample 

which he obtained, having a specific gravity of 0.9845, 12.2° B., had the following 

ultimate composition:

Carbon.. ................................................................... 86.32

Hydrogen.................................................................. 11.70

Nitrogen ............................................................... .^. ' I. 25

Sulphur................................................................... .84

100.11

His distillates were of a character similar to those found by the writer. He continued 

his fractionation until heaps were obtained at certain temperatures. After purification 

with sulphuric acid and caustic soda he examined, the saturated hydrocarbons thus 

obtained with the following results:

a Prutzman, P. W., Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 32, 1904, p. 184. 

6 Mabery, C. F., Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. 40, 1904, p. 341. 

c Jour. Franklin Inst., vol. 102, 1906, pp. 57-70, 81-128. 

d Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sci., vol. 40, 1904, p. 340.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE OIL.

Hydrocarbons separated from Santa Barbara (Col.} petroleum.

61

Symbol.

^nHso. .................................. ..............

Cl8Hs2.. ...............................................

CuEu........ .........................................

Ct, H46 .... .............................................

Boiling point.

Degrees. 

150-155 

175-180 

190-195 

210-215 

250-255 

310-315 

340-345

Millimeters 

00 

GO 

00 

GO 

GO 

GO 

60

Specific 

gravity at 20°.

' 0.8021 

.8808 

.8919 

. 8990 

.9299 

. 9451 

.9778

Refractive 

index.

 1.4087 

1. 4700 

1. 4778 

1. 4814

1. 514G

The most volatile of these fractions belong to the CnH2n 2 series. With the third 

the series becomes CnH2n _ 4 , and with the sixth CnH2n _ 8 , the density of the last fraction 

and its boiling point being extremely high. A hydrocarbon of the CnH2n 2 series, of 

very similar molecular weight, has also been separated by the writer from Trinidad 

asphalt and found to have the following physical characteristics:

Boiling point....................................... '......... 147°-170° at 30 mm.

Specific gravity.................................... r .......... 0. 8576

"BAum^.......................... :........................... . . 33.20

Refractive index.............:............................... . 1465

Carbon...................................................... 86. 85 per cent.

Hydrogen....................................................... 13. 34 per cent.

The resemblance between the physical properties and ultimate composition of these 

fractions with some of those obtained by Mabery renders it probable that the same series 

are present in Trinidad asphalt as in California oil. The latter oil is without doubt 

extremely asphaltic in nature, as is .evident from the fact that it leaves 45 per cent of 

hard pitch, resembling asphalt, on distillation in vacuo. '

On distillation with steam of the sludge obtained from treating the above distillates 

with strong sulphuric acid, the sulphur derivatives of the petroleum, the presence of 

which is shown by the ultimate analysis, have been recovered by the writer and found 

to correspond to those obtained in Canadian oil.

On treatment of the distillates with dilute sulphuric acid, one to four, the nitrogen 

derivatives, the presence of which is also shown by the ultimate' analysis, can be 

recovered. They are probably hydroquinolenes. Their examination has been 

undertaken by Mabery." He finds, that fractions of the nitrogenous oil, separated by 

repeated distillation, have the following composition:

130°-340°....................... C13H17N

197°-199°....................... C,~E 18N

215°-217°-....................... C H H10N

223°-225°....................... C16H19N

243°-245°....................... C10HION

270°-275°....................... C17H21N

ANALYSES.

The subjoined analyses of two Summerland oils, to which have 

been added-for comparison the analyses of' typical oils from other 

California districts, show the general character of the petroleums 

under discussion. This table is followed by several others showing 

the results of various analyses and distillation tests, which are useful 

as indicating the properties of the Summerland oils.

oJonr. Soc. Chern. Ind., vol. 19.1900, p. 505.
Chemical analyses of California petroleum.

(By H. N. Cooper, chemist. Data and samples collected by Marion A

| co K»-IoCDo -a>en* co to'*-"Number.

Name of companj'.

Sea Cliff Oil Co.. ..............

Union Oil Co. of California. ...

California Oilfields Co. (Ltd.). 

Final Oil Co. ..................

Pacific Coast Oil Co...... .....

County.

Santa Barbara. . . 

.....do............

Santa Barbara . . .

Los Angeles

Los Angeles ......

District.

Summerland. ..... 

.....do............

Eastern field .....

Pico Canyon.. ....

Gravity 

(°B.).

14 9 

15.8 

12.6 

14.6 

16.2 

17.9 

19. 

20.7 

23. 

27.6 

29.5 

35.1 

37.3

Specific 

gravity 

of crude 

at 15° C. 

(about 

60° F.).

0. 9665 

.9603 

.9816 

.9685 

.9574 

.9467 

.9399 

.9291 

.9150 

.8882 

.8775 

.8481 

.8367

Flash 

(degrees).

+ 70 

+70 

44 

+ 70 

21 

+70 

44 

26 

 15 

-15 

-15 

-15 

-15

At 

Seco

+ 1

+ 1

+ 1

+1

+1

1

1

Distillation.

Number.

I

3 

4. 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13

Percentage.

Water.

0.7 

Trace. 

None. 

9.3 

7 

2 

1.3 

None. 

None. 

None. 

None. 

None. 

None.

Up to 100° 

C.

0 

0 

0 

0 

1.3 

0 

0 

0 

2 

8.2 

8 

15.3 

10.5

100°-150° 

C.

0 

0 

0 

0 

3.9 

0 0' 

4 2 

5.5 

17.7 

15.4 

15 

20.4

150° -200° 

C.

1 

3 

10.6 

5.9 

5.5 

0 

11.2 

9.6 

7.5 

12.1 

9 

9.5 

13.8

200° 250°

C.

10 

9.9 

8.7 

15.3 

7.7 

6.6 

10.5 

14 

10.6 

9.4 

10.1 

9.9 

13

250°-300° 

C.

17.4 

15.4 

24.3 

6 

18.3 

17.5 

15. 5 

14.7 

16 

9.1 

14 

9.9 

11.1

300° C. to asphalt.

A.

45. 5 

48 

28.7 

23.7 

34.3 

47.8 

28.3 

23 

43 

29.7 

23.1 

28 

16. 9\

B.

5.8 

16.7

9.8 

9.9 

10.8 

4.2

5.7

6.8

Asphalt.

23.5 

22.8 

23.5 

23 

20.6 

17.3 

23.1 

15.7 

11.6 

12 

13.1 

10.-6 

6.8

Loss or 

gain.

-1.9 

- .9 

+ 1.6 

- .1 

-1.4 

- .8 

- .2 

-2 

-1.4 

-1.8 

-1.6 

-1.8 

- .7

Spe

Up tolO

C.

0. 71

.72

.700

.747

a Part of Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 31, 1904. For an explanation of the methods used i

205-208; or Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 31; No. 32, p. 231. b To conv
Total gasoline .............. Kerosene ................... Middlings. ................. Lubricants .................

Cn en COO

Go COO O 

£t

Asphalt' weight (117 3

poundser barrel) .......

1 ,nss ...........

CO 

00

Cn

> 

.0

3 

3"

r>

-f

2,

 oo

bO

oPrutzman, P.W.,Bull. 

CA

California StateMining Bureau No.32,1904, p. 198. 

LCULATED ANALYSIS.

<£f 

p p

Soc

toco 

to enb

y:

=

00

K

Per cent.

w ^

Percent.

Gravity 

(° Baume).

Proximate analysis ofa 15

DISTIL

0 Baume Summerland oi. a 

I, ATON.

Do..................... Do..................... Do..................... Do..................... 

Second StreetPark, LosA

geles ..................... Silverthread district, Ventu 

County:................. Kentuck wells,Ventura Com Puente district. Los Ange County. .................

? .? P ~<

IO O OO OO p-3 >-; r-3 H

O 

CO OOCO CO

CC ^. en OO

p top co 

to to oo c^

Co COOO OO 

CO OO CO

CO COCO CO

o c~-o-. to

00 IOC2 CO

CO en *.

Cn o c; 

to to to

CO COCO

,,&. toco

0

£\

? 1,

CDooo

Volumetric i)ercentage of distillate cut off.

Specific gravity.

Nearest corresponding degree, Baume.

_,_,_! Volumetric per- 

 r ?> - centage of d i s- 

~ * i tillate cut off. o

CO CO OO

CJ en o> 

00 O to

CO CO CO

CO

o

000000

to to co

-1O-.O

Specific gravity.

Nearest corresponding degree, Baume.

Volumetric percentage of distillate cut off.

Specific gravity.

Nearest corresponding ' degree Baume.

S pop

COsp

Illuminating oil.

Lubricating oil.
64 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, CAL.

Proximate analysis of a Summerland oil.a '

Specific gravity at 21° G. .............................................. 0. 9815

Corresponding degree Baume. ......................................... 12. 7

Specific viscosity' at 15£° C. (60° F.). .................................. 1, 462. 83

Speci/ic viscosity at 85° C. (]85° F.). .................................. 8 - 35

Fractional distillation:

Water. ................................................ .-.per cent. . 25. 00

Below 100° C. (21.2° F.)----- ............................... .do. ... .00

100°- 150° C. (212°-302° F.). ................................. .do. ... .00

150°-250° C. (302°-482° F.). .................................. .do. ... 6. 50

250°-350° C. (482°-662° F.). ..............:.................. .do. ... 17. 10

350° C. (662° F.) to asphalt. ................................. .do. . . . 27. 50

Asphalt. ................................................. .do. ... 22. 50

Loss. ...................................................... .do. ... 1. 40

Distillation test of 14° Baume (tank average) Summerland oil.b

Engine distillate (48°). . .................................................... 0. 1

Kerosene (41°). . ........................................................... 3. 0

Stove oil (33°). . ............................................................ 4. 0

Gas oil (28°) . ............................................................... 16. 3

Fuel distillate (25°). . ....................................................... 39'. 1

Lubricants (21 .5°) . .........................................................' 20'. 4

Asphalt (grade D). ......................................................... 37. 1

Sample slightly heavier than the average oil of the Summerland district. 

Incidental constituents of Summerland crude. oil. c

100.0

Constituents. Gravity 

° Baume). Per cent.

Nitrogen... 

Sulphur.... 

Asphaltene.

0 8SO 

.898 

3.36

TECHNOLOGY A1STI> PRODUCTION.

COST OF DRILLING WELLS AND PRODUCING THE OIL.

Cost of drilling. The cost of drilling in the Summerland field is not 

great, owing to the shallpwness of the wells' and the softness of the 

strata overlying the oil sands. Watts d is authority for the statement 

that the cost of drilling, exclusive of the cost of the casing, averages 

about $1 a foot. The following statement shows the detailed cost 

'(exclusive of the wharf) of two wharf wells near the east end of the 

field:

Cost of 225-foot lucll, Summerland.

1 length 7f-inch casing...................................................... $20. 00

150 feet 5f-inch casing, at 60 cents. ......................................... 90. 00

225 feet 41-inch casing, at 40 cents ........................................ 90. 00

a O'Neill, Edmond, Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 25, 1903, pp. 707-709. 

5 Prutzman, P. W., Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 35, 1904, p. 191. 

cPrutzman, P. W.. Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 32,1904, p. 224. 

d Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 19,1900, p. 103.
TECHNOLOGY AND PKODUCTION. 65

232 feet 2-inch tubing, at 23 cents......................................... $53. 36

Drilling 230 feet, at 80 cents .............................................. 1.84. 00

Derrick.................................................................. 12.00

Shoes, $5 and |6.50....................................................... 11. 50

Pump...................................................................' 18. 00

Sucker rods, at $6.20 per hundred feet........................................ 14. 50

493.36 

Cost of 250-foot well, Summerland.

Conductor, 9f-irich, 20 feet................................................ $30.00

Casing, 250 feet; 7£-mch ................................................... 250. 00

Casing, about 250 feet, 2-inch pipe, at 23 cents .:............................ 59.11

Drilling 250 feet, at 85 cents (about)......................................'. 217. 50

Derrick............. '.. ................................................... 12. 00

Shoe..............................'...................................... 9. 00

Pump................................................................... 18.00

Sucker rods.......................................... t ................... 15.90

611.51

Cost of producing the oil. The cost of production varies throughout 

the field, owing to the variations in the yield of each well, in the quantity of water and sand that is pumped with the oil, etc. In general, 

however, the cost ranges from 25 to 30 cents a barrel, although it is 

said to be as high as 40 {ients in some of the wells.

SEPARATION OF SAND AND WATER FROM OIL.

The separation of the sand from the oil is accomplished by means of 

a "sand box," into which the oil is run and in which a large portion 

of the sand settles. The "sand box" consists of a wooden trough 

divided by two or more upright partitions that run across it. At the 

top of the partitions are notches through which the oil passes, and 

the sand is deposited at the bottom. The oil is rim into a tank, 

at the bottom of which a space of'10 inches or more is allowed for 

any sand which may still be in it.

Heat accelerates the separation of the water from the oil, and in 

order to apply it to the emulsion which comes from the pumps, the 

emulsion is allowed to stand for about twelve hours in tanks containing coils of steam pipes. In these tanks the water settles to the 

bottom while the oil rises to the top, 'and each is conveyed separately 

from the tank. As a substitute for the heating tank one operator 

heats his oil in its passage from the wells to the settling tanks by 

passing it through three turns of pipe in a steam-heated chamber consisting of 20 feet of large casing. The chamber is heated by steam 

from the pump exhaust.
66 GEOLOGY AND OIL OF SUMMERLAND DISTRICT, GAL.

PRODUCTION.

The total production of the Summerland field from 1895 to January 

1, 1907, exclusive of 1896, was 1,373,980 barrels. The field reached 

its maximum yield in 1899, when it produced 208,370 barrels of crude 

petroleum. Since that time the yield has been gradually falling off 

on account of the natural decline in production of the individual 

wells and the cessation of drilling operations, and also because of 

adverse market and transportation facilities. In the early history of 

the field three to five year contracts for 90 cents a barrel were obtainable; now the producers can barely get enough to cover the cost of 

production.

The following table shows the production by years from 1895 to 

1906, inclusive.

Production of the Summerland field.a 

[Barrels of 42 gallons.]

1895.......................... 16,904

1896.......................... .........

1897.......................... 130,136

1898.......................... 132,217

1899.......................... 208,370

1900.......................... 153,750

1901.......................... 135,900

1902.......................... 143,552

1903.......................... .127,926

1904.......................... 119,506

.1905.......................... 123,871

1906.......................... 81,848

1,373, 980 

UTILIZATION AND TRANSPORTATION.

Most of the oil now produced in this field, with the exception of that 

coming from the Southern Pacific Company's wells, is used locally, 

either in the Summerland refinery or for oiling roads or for fuel in 

the vicinity of Santa Barbara. At one time much of the oil was

shipped to Los Angeles and elsewhere over the Southern Pacific

Railroad, but a combination of high freight rates with a poor market 

has practically stopped exportation.

REFINERY.

One refinery, that of the California Liquid Aspnalt Company, is 

located at Summerland. It is equipped with two stills and has a 

still capacity of 300 barrels of crude oil. Summerland oil is used 

entirely, distillates and asphalt being the products. A higher percentage of asphalt is derived from the oil from this field than is found 

in any of the other California oils.

The following companies were engaged in the production of oil at 

Summerland January 1, 1907:

a With the exception of the figures for 1895, which are from Bull. California State Mining Bureau No. 

11,1897, p. 57, the figures of production were furnished by the division of mining and mineral resources, 

U. S. Geol. Survey.
TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION. 67 

COMPANIES NOW OPERATING.

G. F. Becker Oil Company.

Knapp & Hassinger (Royal Oil Company).

J. C. .Lillis.

Lillis Oil Company.

Montecito Improvement Company.

Miller & McFarlancl.

North Star Oil Company (J. C. Lillis).

Oxnard Oil Company.

Potomac Oil Company.

Sea Cliff Oil Company.

Sea Side Oil Company.

Southern Pacific Railroad Company (Kern Trading and Oil Company).

Sunset Oil Company.

J. C. Wilson.

PLATES IX TO XVII.

69
PLATE IX. 

TOP ATOP A (EOCENE) FOSSILS.

(Unless otherwise indicated all figures are natural size.)

FIG. 1. Meretrix uvasana Conrad. Pal. California, vol. 1, 1864, pi. 30, fig. 248. Bight 

valve; longitude, 55 mrn. A common species in the Eocene.

FIG. 2. Ostrea idriaensis Gabb, type. Pal. California, vol. 2, 1868, pi. 34, fig. 103. 

Exterior of right valve; altitude, 58 mm. A common species in the Eocene 

of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

FIG. 3. Venericardia planicosta Lamarck, U.S.N.M. 164973. Left valve; longitude, 

84 mm. Eocene, Little Falls, Wash. This is the most widespread and 

characteristic Eocene species in the world.

FIG. 4. Phacoides cretacea Gabb, U.S.N.M. 165254. Cast of right valve of a mediumsized specimen; altitude, 18 mm.; view of exterior, X 2. Topatopa formation near head of West Fork of Sycamore Canyon, Santa Barbara.

FIG. 5. Cardium brewerii Ga.bb, type. Right valve; altitude, 61 mm.; view of exterior natural size. Pal. California, vol. 1, 1864, pi. 24, fig. 155. A common 

species in the Eocene of the Santa Ynez Mountains:

70
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

IULLETIN NO. 321 PL. IX

TOPATOPA (EOCENE) FOSSILS.

PLATE X. 

TOP ATOP A (EOCENE) AND MONTEREY (MIOCENE) FOSSILS.

(Unless otherwise indicated all figures are natural size.

FIG. 1. Leda yabbi Conrad. Pal. California., vol. 1, 1864, pi. 26, fig. 185. Longitude, 

18 mm.; enlarged. A common species in the Eocene.

FIG. 2. Fusus occidentalis Gabb, type. Altitude, 15 mm.; back view, X 2J. Pal. 

California, vol. 2, 1868, pi. 26, fig. 23. Abundant in the Eocene of the 

Santa Ynez Range.

FIG. 3a. Galerus excentricus Gabb, U.S.N.M. 165258. Internal cast of a fairly representative specimen; altitude, 14 mm.; view of side, X 2. Topatopa 

formation, near head of West Fork of Syca,mo7%e Canyon, Santa Barbara.

FIG. 36. View of top of same specimen, X 2.

FIG. 4. Modiolus ornatus Gabb. Right valve; longitude, 38 rnrn. Pal. California, 

vol. 1,1864, pi. 24, fig.-166. A common species in the California Eocene.

FIG. 5. Meretrix uvasana Conrad, U.S.N.M. 165253. Cast of right valve of a young 

specimen; longitude, 15 mm.; view of exterior, X 2. Topatopa formation, 

near head of West Fork of Sycamore Canyon, Santa Barbara.

FIG. 6. Mactra near ashburnerii Gabb, U. S. N. M. 165257. An internal cast of 

left valve; longitude, 20 mm.; view of front, X 2. Topatopa formation, 

near head of West Fork of Sycamore Canyon, Santa Barbara.

'FiG. 7. Turritella uvasana Conrad, U. S. N. M. 165255. An imperfect cast; altitude,- 33 mm. Topatopa formation, near head of West Fork of Sycamore 

Canyon, Santa Barbara.

FIG; 8. Spirocrypta pikum Gabb. Pal. California, vol. 1, 1864, pi. 29, fig. 233.

Longitude, 13.5 mm.; view of side, enlarged. A common form in the

Eocene. 

FIG. 9o. Spirocrypta pileum Gabb, U. S. N. M. 165256. Internal cast; longitude, 22

mm.; view of top X 2. Topatopa formation, near head of West Fork of

Sycamore Canyon, Santa Barbara.

FIG. 96. View of side of same specimen, X 2. . 

FIG-. 10. Peclen peckhami Gabb, U. S. N. M. 164839. Cast of right and. left valves

in matrix. Monterey shale (middle Miocene), southeast of Pinole, Contra

Costa County, Gal. A common species in the Monterey shale of the Coast

Range. 

72
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL X

TOPATOPA (EOCENE) AND MONTEREY ^MIOCENE) FOSSILS.

PLATE XL 

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) GASTEROPODA.

(All specimens are from Fernando formation, Bath-house Beach, Santa Barbara. 

Unless otherwise indicated, all figures are natural size.)

PIG. 1. Mitramorpha filosa Carpenter, var. barbarensis Arnold, U. S. N. M. 165245

(type). Altitude, 6.5 mm.; aperture view, X 4. Characteristic of this

horizon. 

FIG. 2. Lacuna compacta Carpenter, U. S. N. M. 165235. Altitude, 6.5mm.; aperture

view, X 4. Also known recent. 

FIG. 3. Leptothyra bacula Carpenter, U. S. N. M. 165236. Diameter, 3 mm.; aperture

view, X 6. Also known recent. 

FIG. 4. Mangilia tabulata Carpenter, U. S. N. M. 165240. Altitude, 4 mm.; aperture

view, X 4. Also known recent. 

FIG. 5a. Puncturella delosi Arnold, U. S.. N. M. 165234 (type). Altitude, 1.9 mm.;

view of side, X 10. Characteristic of this horizon. 

FIG. 56. Reai-view of same specimen, X 10. 

FIG. 6. Tornatina culdtella Gould, U. S. N. M. 165239. Altitude, 5rnm.; aperture

view, X 4. Also known recent. 

FIG. 7. Ampliissa corrugata Reeve, U. S. N. M. 165243. Altitude, 11 mm.; aperture

view, X 3. Also known recent. 

FIG. 8. Nassa perpinguis Hinds, U. S. N. M. 165237. Altitude, 10 mm.; aperture

view, X 2. Also known recent. 

FIG. 9.' ClathurellaconradianaG&bl), IT. S. N. M. 165247. Altitude, 11 mm.;aperture

view, X 3. Also reported as recent, but the recent form is probably

another species or variety.

 FiG. 10. Columbelk (Astyris) tuberosa Carpenter, U. S. N. M. 165242. Altitude, 9

mm.; aperture view, X 3. Also known recent. 

FIG. 11. Ocinebra lurida Middendorf, U. S. N. M. 165233. Altitude, 12 mm.; aperture

view, X 2. Also known recent. 

FIG. 12. Trophon (Boreotrophon) stuarti Smith, U. S. N. M. 165244. Altitude, 20

mm.; aperture view, X 2. Also known recent. 

FIG. 13. Bittium catalinensis Bartsch, U. S. N. M. 165232 (type). Altitude, 7mm.;

aperture view, X 6. 

FIG. 14. Galerus mammiilaris Broderip, U. S. N. M. 165251. Maximum diameter,

17 mm.; view of top, X 2. Also known recent. 

FIG. 15. Bittium barbarensis Bartsch, U. S. N. M. 165231 (type). Altitude, 8.5

mm.; aperture view, X 6. 

74
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL. XI

11

12

13 14 15

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) GASTEROPODA.

PLATE XII. 

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) PELECYPODA AND BRACHIOPODA.

(Unless otherwise stated, all specimens are from Fernando formation, Bath-house 

Beach, Santa Barbara. All figures not otherwise indicated are natural size.)

FIG. la. Mercenaria pcrlaminosa Conrad, U.S.N.M. 165252. Right valve; longitude

87 mm.'; view of exterior. Characteristic of this horizon. 

FIG. 16. View of same specimen from front. 

FIG. Ic. Mercenaria perlaminosa Gabb, U.S.N.M. 165288. Longitude of fragment,

showing hinge of left valve, 56 mm. Characteristic of this horizon. 

FIG. 2«. Venericardia yatesi Arnold, U.S.N.M. 165248 (type). Right valve; latitude

4 mm.; view of exterior, X 6. Characteristic of this horizon. 

FIG. 26. View of interior of same specimen. 

FIG. 3. Psephidia barbarensis Arnold, U.S.N.M. 165238 (type). Altitude 4 mm.;

view of interior, X 4. Characteristic of this horizon. 

FIG. 4a. Terebratalia hemphilli Dall, U.S.N.M. 108495 (holotype). Proc. U. S. Nat.

MllS., vol. 24, 1902, pi. 40, fig. 10. Ventral valve; longitude 35 mm.; view 

. of exterior, slightly enlarged. Arroyo Burro, west of Santa Barbara. 

FIG. 46. Exterior of view of dorsal valve of same specimen. Op. cit., pi. 40, fig. 8. 

76
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) PELECYPODA AND BRACHIOPODA.

PLATE XIII. 

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) GASTEROPODA.

(Unless otherwise indicated, all figures are natural size.)

FIG. la. Crepidula princeps Conrad, U.S.N.M. _165315. Longitude 106 mm.; view of 

top. Packards Hill, Santa Barbara; characteristic of the Fernando in 

Santa Barbara County; also found in the Miocene and Pliocene elsewhere 

in the State.

FIG. 16. Side view of same specimen.

FIG. Ic. Interior view of same specimen.

FIG. 2. Naticaclausa Broderip and Sowerby, U.S.N.M. 165241. Altitude 7.5mm.; 

aperture view, X 4. Fernando formation, Bath-house Beach, Santa Barbara. Also known recent.

FIG. 3. Leptothyra paucicostata Ball, U.S.N.M. 165246. Diameter 4 mm.; aperture 

view, X 6. Fernando formation, Bath-house Beach, Santa Barbara. Also

known recent.

78
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) GASTEROPODA.

PLATE XIV. 

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) PELECYPODA..

(Unless otherwise indicated, all figures are natural size.)

FIG. 1. Semele pulchra Sowerby, var. montereyi Arnold, U.S.N.M. 165250. Right 

valve; latitude 18 nun.; view of exterior, X 2. Fernando formation, Santa 

Barbara. Also reported as recent.

FIG. 2. Venericardia monilicosta Gabb, U.S.N.M. 165249. Left valve; altitude 11 

mm.; view of exterior, X 3. Fernando formation, Bath-house Beach, 

Santa Barbara. Characteristic of this horizon.

FIG. 3. Pecten (Chlamys) opuntia Ball, collection of Delos Arnold. Right valve; 

altitude 43 mm.; view of exterior. Same locality as fig. 4.

FIG. 4. Pecten (Chlamys) opuntia Dall, collection of Delos Arnold. Left A'alve; altitude 51 mm.; view of exterior. Fernando formation, Arroyo Burro, Santa 

Barbara. Characteristic of this horizon.

FIG. 5a. Pecten (Chlamys) jordani Arnold, U.S.N.M. 162522 (type). Exterior of right 

valve; altitude 45 mm. Pliocene, Deadman Island, near San Pedro, Cal.; 

also found in the Fernando formation at Santa Barbara and elsewhere.

FIG. 56. Exterior of left valve of same specimen.

FIG. 6a. Pecten (Chlamys) liasiatus Sowerby, collection of F. L. Button. Exterior of 

right valve; altitude 49 mm. Recent, Monterey, Cal.; found abundantly 

in the Fernando and equivalent formations throughout southern California.

FIG. 66. Exterior of left valve of same specimen.

FIG. 7. Pecten (Chlamys) hastatus Sowerby, var. strategus Dall, collection of Delos 

Arnold. Exterior of left valve; altitude 36 mm. Fernando formation, 

Bath-house Beach, Santa Barbara. Characteristic of the Fernando formation. 

80
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN NO. 321 PL. XIV

FERNANDO yPLIOCENE) PELECYPODA.

PLATE 'XT. 

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) PECTEN.

(Unless otherwise indicated, all figures are natural size.)

FIG. la. Pecten (Peclen) bellus Conrad, U.S.N.M. 165314. Right valve; altitude 92 

mni.; view of exterior. Bath-house Beach, Santa Barbara. Characteristic 

of this region.

FIG. 1&. Left valve of same specimen. Altitude 85 mrn.; view of exterior. 

82
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IULLETIN NO. 321 PL. XV

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) PECTEN.

PLATE XVI. 

FEBNANDO (PLIOCENE) PECTEN.

(Unless otherwise indicated, all figures are natural size.)

FIG. la. Pecten (Patinopecteri) caurinus Gould, collection of Delos Arnold. Exterior 

of right valve; altitude 105 mm. Pliocene, Deadman Island, near San 

Pedro, Cal. Found in the upper part of the Fernando formation throughout the Coast Range.

FIG. 16. View of left valve of same specimen. 

84
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

1a

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE) PECTEN.

PLATE XVII. 

FERNANDO (PLIOCENE). BRYOZOA.

(Specimens figured are from Bath-house .Beach, Santa .Barbara.)

FIG . 1. Crisia serrata (Gabb and Horn) ( Crisma id.). Front and side views of a portion 

of a segment, magnified. This minute bryozoan is extremely abundant in 

the fine washings. The lower end of each segment is pointed for articulation, while the distal extremity is blunt and receives the pointed end of the 

following segment.

FIG. 2. Lichenopora californica Gabb and Horn. Top, side, and basal views of an. entire zoariurn, magnified about four times. 

FIG. 3. Semitubigera tuba Gabb and Horn. Views of zoaria, natural size; and front,

side, and back views of a fragment, enlarged. 

FIG . 4. Idmonea californica Conrad. Two fragments about natural size, and surface of

one enlarged about eight times.

FIG. 5. Idmonea californica Conrad. Front and back views of two fragments, X 2. 

This is the most abundant bryozoan of the Santa Barbara deposits. Most of 

the incrusting species figured on this plate may be found attached to the 

smooth ba"ck of this Idmonea.

FIG. 6. Entalophora? punctulata Gabb and Horn. Gabb and Horn's figure of Cellepora bellerophon. This species is apparently founded on the basal expansion of Entalophora punctulata. 

FIG 7. Entalophora? punctulata Gabb and Horn. A fragment of a zoarium slightly

reduced in size, and an-enlargement of the same. 

FIG. 8. Micropora disparilis (Gabb and Horn) (Reptescharinellina). Magnified view of

this incrusting species, which seems rather rare at Santa Barbara. 

FIG. 9. Membranipora californica Gabb and Horn. Portion of a zoarium enlarged. 

FIG. 10. Membranipora barbarensis Gabb and Horn. Several zooecia, X 15. 

FIG. 11. Membranipora multipora (Gabb and Horn) (Siphonella id.). Surface, X 15. 

The zoarium of this species Avas described by Gabb and Horn as of free tubes, 

but the later collections contain many specimens showing it to be parasitic in growth. 

FIG. 12. Microporella californiensis (Gabb and Horn) (Cellepora id.). Celluliferous

side, X 15. 

FIG. 13. Schizoporella cornuta (Gabb and Horn) (Reptescliarellina id.). Celluliferous

side of this incrusting species, X 15.

FIG. 14. Lepralia eustomata (Gabb and Horn) (Reploporina. id.). Portion of surface X

15, and zoarium still further enlarged. The conspicuous pore figured by

Gabb and Horn proves on study of more specimens to be merely a broken

avicularium.

FIG. 15. Retepora Zaiiaia (Gabb and Horn) (Phidoloporaid.). A fragment of a zoarium,

about natural size, and the surface of a branch, enlarged.

Fro. 16. Cribnlina heermanni (Gabb and Horn) (Reptescharella id.). Zooecia, X 15. 

FIG. 17. Cribrilina?plana (Gabb and Horn) (Reptescharella id.). Second zooecia, X 15. 

FIG. 18. Lepralia lieermanni (Gabb and Horn) (Reptescharellina id.). Surface, enlarged. This species has not been detected in the recent collections, but it 

is believed to be based on a form of Lepralia eustomata. (See fig. 14.)
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ;ULLET1N NO. 321 PL. XVJI

12

FERNANDO (.PLIOCENE) BRYOZOA.

INDEX.

A.

Acknowledgments to those aiding..........

Acniffia insessa Hinds', occurrence of.......

Adinete graeilior Carpenter, occurrence of.. 

Alameda Oil Co., oil of, analysis of..........

Aniphissacorrugata Reeve, figure showing.

corrugata Reeve, occurrence of.........

Antisell, Thomas, on asphaltum deposits...

on Santa Barbara Mountains..........

Area sp., occurrence of.....................

Arctic Oil Co., wells of......................

Arnold, Ralph, on California oils...........

on paleontology and stratigraphy at 

San Pedro......................

work of.................................

Arnold, Ralph and Dc'los, on geology of 

southern California............

Arroyo Parida Canyon, oil seepages in.......

well in...................:-..............

Arroyo Parida anticline and fault, description Of..........................

future development on.................

Ash, volcanic, occurrence of................

Asphalt, literature of..................... 0,

Atmosphere, effect of, on gas wells .........

Anbury, Marion, work of...................

B.

Balanus concavus Bronn, occurrence of....

Beach and railroad, wellsbetween...........

Beach and wharf wells, description of......

geology and structure in...............

logs of..................................

sections of, figure showing .............

yield of.................................

Beckcr wells, oil of...................... 52,

section through, figure showing........

Bela fidicula Could, occurrence of..........

Bibliography of region......................

Bittiuni barbarcnsis Bartsch, figure showing..............................

 barbarensis Bartsch, occurrence of.....

catalinensis Bartsch, figure showing... 

occurrence of.......................

Bituminous deposits, literature on.........

Blake, W. P., on Santa Ynez Mountains.....

Bryozoa sp., occurrence of.................

Buckhorn Oil and Transportation Co., oil of, 

analysis of......................

Building stone, occurrence of...............

Page. 

8 

32 

32 

02 

74 

32 

9

0-10 

28 

54 

16

16

7

38 

57 

28

13,15

50-51

62

32

41-43

43-49

43-46

45

44

47

58,59 

38 

32

8-16

74

32

74

32

9-16 

9 

32

62

23

C.

Page

California Liquid Asphalt Co., refinery of... 66 

California Oil Co., wells of, oil of........... 59

California Oilfields Co., wells of, oil of..... 62

Cn.lliostomagemmullatu.rri Carpenter, occurrence of......................... 32

Cardium brewcrii Gabb, figure showing..... 70

brewerii Gabb, occurrence of........... 23

corbis Martyn, figure showing.......... 32

Carpinteria, asphalt mine near, tar volcano

in,view of...................... 28

beach near, view of..................... 28

folds near............................... 37

future development near............... 57

wells near............................ 53-54,55

Cellepora, figu re showing................... 86

Chrysodomus tabulatus Baird, occurrence

of............................... 32

Clathurella conradiana Gabb, figure showing ............................. 74

conradiana Gabb, occurrence of........ 32

Coast Range section, correlation of.......... 21

Cole well, yield of............................ 4.1

Columbella (Astyris) gausapata Gould, occurrence of..................... 32

(Astyris) gausapata var. carinata

Hinds, occurrence of............ 32

tuberosa Carpenter, figure showing. 74 

occurrence of................... 32

Columbia Oil and Asphalt Co., well of...... 53-54

well of, oil of............................ 58

Cone wells, drilling of........'.............. 16

gas in................................... 49

yield of............................. 50

Crepidula adimca Sowerby, occurrence of.. 32 

navicelloides Nuttall, occurrence of..... 32

princeps Conrad, figure showing........ 78

occurrence of....................... 32

Cribrilina hecrmanni Gabb and Horn, figure

showing........................ 86

plana Gabb and Horn, figure showing. 86 

Crisia serrata Gabb and Horn, figure showing.............................. 86

Crisina, figure showing..................... 86

Cythara branneri Arnold, occurrence of .... 32

D.

Darling Brothers, development by.

well of, effect of air pressure on.

log of.......................

89
90 INDEX.

Page.

Darling Brothers, well of, yield of......... 50

Davis & Harrison, oil of, analysis of........ 62

Development, history of.................... 16-17

prospects of............................. 56-57

Disastoma sp., occurrence of............... 32

Diatomaceous deposits, character of....... 27

distribution of.......................... .27

literature of............................. 13,27

Distillation of oils.......................... 62-64

Doane, A. C., well of........................ 49

well of, gas in, effect of air pressure on . 50

Doulton and Wilson wells, yield of......... 41

Drainage, age of............................ 20

Duquesne wells, log of...................... 45

oil of....:............................... 51,59

section through, figure showing........ 38

water in................................ 48

yield of. 47

Eldridge, G. H., on aspaalt deposits....... 15-16

work and death of...................... 7,8

Entalophora punctulata Gabb and Horn,

figure showing.................. 86

Eureka Oil Co., wells of, oil of.............. . 59

F.

Fairbanks, H. W., on southern California

geology......................... 14-15

Fernando formation, age of................ 31

character of............................. 30-31

contact of Pleistocene and, view of..... bO

distribution of.......................... 32-33

fossils of................................ 31-32

gas from................................ 49

name of................................. 30

oil in................................. 33,39,51

structure of.......................... 33,41,43

Finch, W. W., on infusorial earth of Santa

Barbara........................ 13

Fischer well, oil of.......................... 53,58

Ford, F. H., on solfataras near Santa Barbara............................ 13-14

Fossils, character and distribution of...... 23,

28,31-32,34,54 

plates showing.......................... 70-86

Fusus occidentalis Gabb, figure showing... 72 

robustus Trask, occurrence of.......... 32

G.

Galerus excentricus Gabb, figure showing.. 72 

excentricus Gabb, occurrence of........ 23

mammilaris Broderip, figure showing... 74 

occurrence of....................... 32

Gas, development of........................ 16

literature of............................ 13-15

occurrence of..................... 29,40,43,49

occurrence of, mode of.................. 49

Gas wells, atmosphere and, relations of .... 50-51

description of........................... 49-50

log of................................... 50

yield of................................. 50-51

Geologic formations, correlation table of... 21 

description of........................... 21-35

distribution of, map showing........... 18

Glottidia albida Hinds, occurrence of....... 32

Page. 

Goodyear, W. A., and Weber, A. H., on

Santa Barbara oils............. 13

Gravity of Summerland oils, range of...... 40,

42-43,47-48,51-52,58-59

H.

Hanks, H. G., on Carpinteria asphalt....... -13

Heath, ,T., well of........................... 54

Higgins, P. C., well of....................... 54

Home Oil Co., oil of, analysis of............ 62

Hot Spring Canyon, springs in............. 23-24

I.

Idmonea californica Conrad, figure showing.............................. SO

Illinois Oil and Asphalt Co., well of........ 50

Infusorial earth. See Diatomaceous deposits.

K.

Kentuck wells, oil of, distillation of........ 63

L.

La Cumbre Peak, elevation of..............

Lacuna compacta Carpenter, figure showing

compacta Carpenter, occurrence of.....

Laqueus Jeffreys! Dall, occurrence of........

Leda gabbi Conrad, figure showing.........

gabbi Conrad, occurrence of............

Lepralia eustomata Gabb .and Horn, figure 

showing.........................

heermanni Gabb and Horn, figure Showing. .............................

Leptothyra bacula Carpenter, figure showbacula Carpenter, occurrence of.........

paucicostata Dall, figure showing......

occurrence of........................

Lichenopora californica Gabb and Horn, figure showing.....................

Lillis,J. C. See North Star Oil Co.

Literature, descriptive list of...............

Location of field............................

Lookout Park, oil well east of, log of......;

oil wells west of........................

Loon Point, oil at and near.................

wells at and near.......................

log of...............................

Los Angeles, oil of, distillation of...........

Los Angeles Pacific Railway Company, oil 

of, analysis of..................

M.

8-16 

17 

42

39-40 

33

52-53 

53 

63

62

Macoma sp., occurrence of.................. 32

Mactra ashburneri Gabb, figure showing... 72

ashburneri Gabb, occurrence of......... 23

Mangilia angulata Carpenter, occurrence of. 32 

interfossa var. pedroana Arnold, occurrence of......................... 32

tabulata Carpenter, figure showing.... 74.

occurrence of........................ 32

Map, geological, of Summerland field....... 18

Map, showing location of southern California oil districts................. 18

Maps, structural, of Summerland field...... 18,38

Margarita pupilla Gould, occurrence of..... 32
INDEX. 91

. Page.

Marine Oil Co., well of, sulphur water in... 46 

Membranipora barbarensis Gabb and Horn,

figure showing.................. 86

californica Gabb and Horn, figure showing.............................. 86

inultipora Gabb and Horn, figure showing.............................. , 86

Mercenaria perlaminosa Conrad, figure

showing......................... 76

perlaminosa Conrad, occurrence of...... 32

Meretrix uvasana Conrad, figures showing.. 70,72 

uvasana Conrad, occurrence of.......... 23

sp., occurrence of.........'.............. 23

Micropora disparilis Gabb and Horn, figure

showing. ......................... 86

Microporella Californiensis Gabb and Horn,

figure showing.................. 86

Miller wells, oil of..............:..:..... 52,58,59

section through, figure showing........ 38

Mission Ridge, terraces on................. 19

Mitramorpha filosa Carpenter var. barbarensis Arnold, figure showing.... 74 

filosa Carpenter var. barbarensis Arnold,

occurrence Of................... 32

Modiolus fornicatus Carpenter, occurrence

Of............................... 32

ornatus Gabb, figure showing.......... 72

 occurrence of....................... 23

Montecito, diatomaceous shale near........ 27

future development near............... 57

well at.................................. 50

Montecito anticline, description of......... 38

future development on................. 57

Monterey shale, age of...................... 28

character of............................ 27-28

distribution of.......................... 28-29

fossils of................................ 28

gas from................................ 49

oil of ............................... 29-30,51,58

section of............................... 28

structure of....................... 28-29,36,37

view of................................. 28

N.

Nassa mendica Gould, occurrence of........ 32

perpinguis Hinds, figure showing....... 74

.occurrence of....................... 32

Nation clausa Broderip and Sowerby, figure showing......'.............. 78

clausa Broderip and Sowerby, occurrence of......................... 32

North Star Oil Co., wells of, asphaltum in.. 48 

wells of, oil of........................... 59

sections of, figures showing......... 38,44

wharf of, unconformity near, view of... 30 

Nott & Webber well, log of................. 53

water in................................ 53

0. .

Occidental tunnel, description of. 

Occidental wells, description of...

oil of..........................

water from, analysis of.......

Ocean, derricks rising from.......

drilling in, method of........

I'age.

Ocinebra barbarensis Gabb, occurrence of. 32 

lurida Middendorf, figure showing...... 74

occurrence of....................... 32

var. aspera Baird, occurrence of..... 32

perita Hinds,occurrence of.............. 32

Odostomiagouldii Carpenter, occurrence of.. 32 

nuciformis var. avellnna Carpenter,

occurrence of................... 32

Oil, accumulation of........................ 51-52

analyses of.............:............... 02-C4

character of........... 40,42-43,48,51-52,58-04

chemical properties of.................. 59-64

color of.................................. 58

distillation of........................... C2-64

gravity of....... 40,42-43,47-48,51-52,58-59,60

literature of...................... 12-13,15-10

migration of............................ 51

price of................................. 17

nitrogen in............................. 00,64

occurrenceof,cviclencesof. 23,20,27.29-30,33,35

origin of................................ 51

production of........................... 60

cost of.............................. 65

refining of.............................. GO

separation of, from sand and water.... 65

source of................................ 29

sulphur in........................... 00,62,04

Oil Canyon, tar springs in.................. 22,23

transportation and utilization of....... 00

wells in, description of.................. 55

Oil companies, list of...........'............ 67

Oil developme'nt, history of................. 16-17

technology of........................... 64-07

Oil districts, location of, map showing..... 18

Oil sands, character of.................. 39,43-40

relations of, sections showing........... 38

Oil wells, cost of............................ 64-65

description of........................... 30-49

drilling of, in ocean, method of......... 46

logs of.................................. 40

section through, figure showing........ 38,44

water in................................ 40,48

yield of........................... 40,41,42,47

Olivella biplicata Sowerby, occurrence of... 32

Ortega Hill, oil well on..................... 16

oil well on, logs of...................... 40

view from.............................. 20

Ortegas, Arroyo de las, oil in............... 30

Ostrea idria'ensis Gabb, figure showing..... 70

idriaensis Gabb, occurrence of.......... 23

Oxnard Oil Co., wells of, oil of.......... 51-52,59

wells of, sections of, figure showing..... 38,44

yield of............................. 47

Pacific Coast Oil Co., oil of, analysis of..... 62

Panopea generosa Gould, occurrence of..... 32

Parida, Arroyo. See Arroyo Parida. 

Peckham, S. F., on southern California oil.. 12-13 

Pecten (Pecten) bellus Conrad, figure showing.............................. 82

(Pecten) bellus Conrad, occurrence of... 32 

(Patinopecten) caurinus Gould, figure

showing......................... 84

occurrence of........................ 32
92 INDEX

Page. 

Pecten (Chlamys) hastatus Sowerby, figure

showing......................... 80

hastatus Sowerby, occurrence of....... 32

var. strategus Dall, figure showing............................ 80

occurrence of ................... 32

Jordan! Arnold, figure showing......... 80

occurrence of........................ 32

opuntia Dall, figure showing...........' 80

occurrence of........................ 32

(Pseudamusium) peckhami Gabb, figure

showing......................... 72

occurrence of........................ 28,54

Petricola carditoides Conrad, occurrence of. 34

Phacoides annulatus Reeve, occurrence of.. 32

calif ornica Conrad, occurrence of........ 32

cretacea Gabb, figure showing.......... 70

occurrence of........................ 23

sp., occurrence of....................... 23,28

Phidolopora, figure showing................ 86

Pholadidea penita Conrad, occurrence of... 34 

Pinal Oil Co., well of, description of........ 56

well of, oil of....... ................... 62

Pleistocene deposits, character of........... 33-35

contact of Fernando and, view of........ 30

distribution of........................... 28,35

oilin.................................... 35

section of, figure showing............... 34

structure of............................. 38

view of................................... 20

Pododesmus macroschisma Deshayes, occurrence of..............'........ 32

Potomac Oil Co., well of, log of............ 40

well of, oil of........................... 58,59

oil of, analysis of .................. 62

Production of oil........................... 66

Protocardia centifilosa Carpenter, occurrence of........................ 32

Prutzman, P. W., on California oils........ 16

Psephidia barbarensis Arnold, figure showing.............................. 76

barbarensis Arnold, occurrence of...... 32

Puente district, oil of, distillation of....... 63

Puente Oil Co., oil of....................... 62

Punc.turellacuculata Could, occurrence of.. 32

delosi Arnold, figure showing........... 74

occurrence of........................ 32

R.

Railroad, oil wells north of................. 41

Railroad and beach, wells between......... 41-43

Refinery, location of........................ 66

Reptescharella, figure showing............. 86

Reptescharinellina, figure showing......... 86

Reptoporina, figure showing............... 86

Retepora labiata Gabb and Horn, figure

showing......................... 86

Rincon Creek, wells near.................... 53-54

Rincon well, oil of.......................... 51

Rocks. See Geologic formations.

S.

Sand, removal of, from oil ................. 65

Santa Barbara, oil field near............... 17

structure near.......................... 38

valley of, description of................. 20

Page.

Santa Barbara and Naples Oil and Land

Co., well of.............\........ 56

Santa Barbara Oil and Mining Co., wells of.. 55 

wells of, gas in.......................... 51

oil of................................ 58

Santa Clara Valley section, correlation of.. 21 

Santa Fe Co., oil of, analysis of............. 62

Santa Monica Oil Co., well of, description of. 55-56 

well of, oil of............................ 58

Santa Ynez Mountains, anticline of........ 36

description of........................... 18-19

wells in................................. 55-56

Schizoporella cornuta Gabb and Horn, figure showing.................... 86

Sea Cliff Oil Co., wells of, oil of.......... 48,58,59

wells of, oil of, analysis of.............. 62

sections of, figure showing.......... 44

Seaside Oil Co., well of, log of.............. 42

Sections, geologic, figures showing...... 36,38,44

Seraele pulchra Sowerby var. montereyi Arnold, figure showing............ 80

pulchra Sowerby var. montereyi Arnold,

occurrence of................... 32

Semitubiga tuba'Gabb and Horn, figure

showing........................ 86

Serena, oil near............................. 34

Sespe formation, age of..................... 25

chn racter of............................ 24-25

distribution of.......................... 25-26

name of......... ; ....................... 24

oil in.................................... 26

structure of.............................. 25-26

Shepards, well at.......:................... 54

Siphonella, figure showing.................. 86

Solfataras, literature of.................... 13-14

Southern Pacific Co.'s wells. See Treadwell

wells.

Spirocrypta pileum Gabb, figure showing.. 72 

pileum Gabb, occurrence of............. 23

Stratigraphy. See Geologic formations. 

Stroglylocentrotus purpuratus Stiinson,

occurrence of................... 32

Structure, description of................... 3G-38

map showing........................... 18,38

Summerland, structure near............... 37-38

Summerland fault and anticline, description

Of............................... 38

wells on or near........................ 39-40

Summerland section, correlation of........ 21

Summerland terrace, description of........ 20

Sycamore Canyon, diatomaceous shale near. 27

T.

Tar springs, occti rrence of............... 22,23,29

Tar volcano, view of........................ 28

Terebratalia hernphilli Dall, figure showing. 76 

hemphilli Dall, occurrence of........... 32

Terraces, occurrence and character of...... 19-20

Thracia sp., occurrence of.................. 23

Topatopa formation, character cf.......... 22

distribution of.......................... 23

fossils of................................ 23

name of................................. 22

oil of................................. 23,57,58

region of, future development of....... 57

structure of............................. 23,55

water in................................ 23-24
INDEX. 93

Page.

Topatopa formation, water in, analysis of.. 24 

Topography, description of................ 18-20

Tornatina culcitella Goulcl, figure showing. 74 

culcitella Could, occurrence of.......... 32

Toro Canyon, tar springs in................ 22,23

water in, analysis of.................... 24

wells in, description of.................. 55

Traslc, J. 13., on Santa Ynez Range........

Treadwell wells, character of...............

section through, plate showing.........

Trophon (Boreotrophon) grncilis Perry,

occn rrencc of................... 32

orpheus var. pnecursor Arnold, occurrence of......................... 32

.stuarti Smith, figure showing.......... 74

occurrence of........................ 32

Turbonilla tridentata Carpenter, occurrence

of............................... 32

Turritella uvasaim Conrad, figure showing. 72 

uvasanaConrnd, occurrence of......... 23

u! 

Union Oil Co., oil of, analysis of...........^ 62

Vaqueros formation, character of ......... 26-27

correlation of............................ 26

distribution of.......................... 27

name of................................. 26

structure, of............................. 27

Vene' icardia monilicosta Gabb, figure showing.............................. 70,80

Page. 

Venericardia monilicosta Gabb; occur- .

rence of......................... 32

yatesi Arnold, figure showing.......... 76

occurrence of........................ 32

Ventura County, oil of, distillation of...... 63

Viscosity of Summerland oils............... 50,62

Volcanic ash, occurrence of................. 28

Water, separation of oil and ................^ 65

Water, underground, analysis of........... 24

occurrence of-.............. 23-24,40,42,46

Watts, W. L., distillation of oil by......... 63

Watts, W. L., on drilling in ocean.......... 46

on individual wells..................... 54,56

on oil and gas of region................. 15

Weber, A. H., and Goodyear, W. A., on

Santa Barbara oils............. 13

Wells, description of....................... 30-51

drilling of, in ocean, method of......... 46

logs of.............'. v ..................' 40

water in................................ 46,48

yield of............:.............. 40,41,42,47

Wlmrf wells. See Beach and wharf wells.

Whitney, J. D., on bituminous deposits and

geology of region............... 10-12

on hot springs.......................... 24

Williams, H.' L., development by........... 16,17

well of, log of........................... 40

oil of................................. 58,59

Wilson, J. C., wells of, oil of................ 59

wells of, yield of ....................... 42-47