Submarine Canyon Deposits, 

Central Califor11ia Coast, and 

Their Possible Relation to an 

Eocene Low Sea-Level Stand 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 15 3 9 

Submarine Canyon Deposits, 

Central California (=oast, and 

Their Possible Rc~lation to an 

Eocene Low Sea--Le~vel Stand 

By VICTOR M. SEIDERS and JAMES M. JOYCE 

U.S. G E 0 L 0 G I CAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1 53 9 

Local and regional stratigraphic relations 

with new fossil determinations 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. WASHINGTON 1984 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

WILLIAM P. CLARK, Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Seiders, Victor M., 1931-

Submarine canyon deposits, central California coast, and their possible 

relation to an Eocene low sea-level stand. 

(U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1539) 

Bibliography: p. 14-16 

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.3:1539 

1. Marine sediments-California. 2. Submarine valleys. 3. Sea levelCalifornia. 4. Geology, stratigraphic-Eocene.I.Joyce,james M. II. Title. 

III. Series: United States. Geological Survey. Bulletin 1539. 

QE75.B9 no. 1539 557.3s 8~00082 

[GC398] [551.4'42] 

For sale by the Distribution Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, 

604 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304 
CONTENTS 

Page 

Plbstract ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 

Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 

Local stratigraphic relations -------------------------------------------- 2 

Regional stratigraphic relations ---------------------------------------- 7 

Plge significance _ _ _ _ ___________ _ _____ ______ _ _______ _ _ ________ _ __ ____ _ _ __ 13 

References cited -------------------------------------------------------- 14 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

FIGURE 1. Map showing location of area studied and distribution 

of the Reliz Canyon Formation ____________________________ 2 

2. Photograph showing buttress unconformity exposure in cliff 

north of Escondido campground __________________________ 3 

3. Geologic map of study area north of Escondido 

campground _______ _ __ _ ______ ___ _____ _ _ ______ ___ ____ __ _____ 5 

4. Cross section showing relations between Ruetz's measured 

section and the cliff exposure of buttress unconformity ____ 6 

5. Stereoscopic pair of aerial photographs showing the area 

near the buttress unconformity exposure __________________ 6 

6. Photographs of outcrops of the Reliz Canyon Formation ____ 8 

7. Paleogeographic block diagram showing inferred relation 

of submarine canyon deposits near Escondido campground 

to deposits near The Indians Ranger Station ______________ 12 

TABLE 

Page 

TABLE 1. Fossils from Paleocene and Eocene rocks north of 

Escondido campground ------------------------------------ 11 

III 

SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, 

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST, 

AND THEIR POSSIBLE RELATION TO AN 

EOCENE LOW SEA-LEVEL STAND 

By VICTOR M. SEIDERS and jAlVIES M. jOYCE 

ABSTRACT 

A cliff exposure in the northern Santa Lucia Range is interpreted to represent the north margin of an Eocene submarine canyon. The exposure shows 

an unconformity between The Rocks Sandstone Member of the Reliz Canyon 

Formation and the underlying crystalline basement rocks. Sandstone beds 

overlie the unconformity at an angle of about 20°. Stratigraphic relations exposed nearby show that about 220 m of the Reliz Canyon and Church Creek 

Formations pinches out northward against the basement across a distance of 

about 900 m. This corresponds to an original southward slope of the unconformity of about 14°. Farther south, an even steeper slope to the north may be 

indicated, but a fault of uncertain horizontal displacement intervenes. 

The Reliz Canyon Formation seems to have been deposited in a small 

northwest-trending submarine canyon in the vicinity of the exposed unconformity; elsewhere in the region the Reliz Canyon Formation may have been deposited in two other canyons or restricted basins. Fossil data show that the voluminous sand of The Rocks Sandstone Member was deposited near the earlymiddle Eocene boundary, a postulated time of worldwide low sea level. 

INTRODUCTION 

Places where sedimentary rocks lap onto a steeply dipping 

erosion surface to form a buttress unconformity are rarely well 

exposed. More often, this relation can only be inferred from 

careful stratigraphic and structural observations or from seismic profiles (for example, Enos, 1974; Ruetz, 1979). In the course 

of another study in the Coast Ranges of central California 

(Seiders and others, 1983a, b), we observed a well-exposed buttress unconformity. Stratigraphic relations nearby indicate 

that a thick sequence of sandstone pinches out against the unconformity and suggest that the exposures represent the margin of a submarine canyon. The purpose of this report is (1) to 

describe and illustrate the exposed canyon margin and the 

sedimentary rocks within the canyon, (2) to describe regional 

1 
2 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

geology relating the submarine canyon to other nearby canyons, and (3) to present new data on the age of the deposits, 

suggesting a correlation with a postulated Eocene low stand of 

sea level. 

We are grateful to Gerta Keller, Kristin A. McDougall, and 

LouElla Saul for fossil identifications. Keller called our attention to the synchronism of our fossil ages with a postulated 

worldwide low stand of sea level. 

LOCAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 

A buttress unconformity is exposed in a cliff in the Los 

Padres National Forest, northern Santa Lucia Range, about 1.5 

km north of the Escondido campground (figs. 1, 2). Figure 2 is a 

helicopter view of the cliff showing the unconformity. The trace 

of the unconformity in the cliff is inclined to the south. The true 

dip of the unconformity is not precisely determinable. However, 

at the left edge of figure 2, where the cliff recedes, the apparent 

dip of the unconformity increases sharply, suggesting that the 

true dip of the unconformity is to the southwest at this place. 

Big Sur 

0 5 10 15 20 KILOMETERS 

0 5 10 MILES 

FIGURE 1.-Location of the area studied north of Escondido campground and 

distribution of the Reliz Canyon Formation (black). 
LOCAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 3 

The rocks below the unconformity are high-grade 

metasedimentary rocks, including gneiss, marble, and calcsilicate rocks. Well-bedded rocks above and to the right of the 

unconformity are The Rocks Sandstone Member of the Reliz 

Canyon Formation. The top of The Rocks Sandstone Member is 

sharply defined by the prominent ledge at the top of the cliff. 

The slopes above this ledge are underlain by mudstone of the 

Church Creek Formation. 

Near the unconformity the sandstone beds make an angle of 

about 20° with the unconformity surface and thicken away from 

the unconformity, causing the section to fan out to the south. 

Thus, the upper beds of sandstone in the right of figure 2 make 

an angle of about 35° with the unconformity. 

FIGURE 2.-View of the buttress unconformity (dashed line) exposed north of 

Escondido campground. The view is somewhat oblique to the face of the cliff 

and, therefore, the scale varies. The photograph encompasses about 150 m 

horizontally; height of cliff visible below the top of prominent sandstone face 

in left center is about 50 m. The cliff trends roughly north-south and view is to 

the east-northeast. Metasedimentary rocks are present below and to the left 

of the unconformity. Well-bedded rocks above and to the right of the unconformity belong to The Rocks Sandstone Member of the Reliz Canyon Formation. The brushy area above the sandstone is underlain by the Church Creek 

Formation. See text for further discussion. 
4 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

The contact between the sandstone and the metamorphic 

rocks is generaly sharp and clean. Locally, a pod of rubble about 

1 m thick intervenes between the basement and the sandstone. 

The rubble is angular and contains clasts as large as about 20 

em in diameter. Where the pod lies on a marble lens in the 

basement, the lower part of the rubble is composed mainly of 

marble, whereas the upper part contains mainly gneiss clasts. A 

much more accessible rubble deposit underlies the Church 

Creek Formation about 150 m northeast of the cliff exposure. 

Figure 3 is a geologic map of the area around the cliff containing the unconformity, and figure 4 is a cross section through 

part of the area. Strikes and dips of bedding show that the 

structure near the cliff is synclinal. On the north limb of the 

syncline the Church Creek Formation rests on basement and 

dips to the south. Farther north a thin, unnamed unit of 

Paleocene mudstone lies between the Church Creek and the 

basement, bounded above and below by unconformities. 

The south limb of the syncline is composed of very thick 

bedded sandstone of The Rocks Sandstone Member which 

underlies a dip slope inclined to the north (fig. 6A). Just south of 

the crest of this slope, near fossil locality 2 (fig. 3), The Rocks 

Sandstone Member (fig. 6B) is underlain by the Lucia 

Mudstone and Junipero Sandstone Members of the Reliz Canyon Formation (we have not shown the members separately on 

figure 3). The J unipero Sandstone Member rests on basement. 

Ruetz (1979) measured a section here, and although he used a 

different stratigraphic terminology, his measurements correspond to 48 m of the Junipero, 24m of the Lucia, and 68 m of The 

Rocks. Ruetz's (1979) section does not show the top of The 

Rocks. We estimate that an additional 60 m of The Rocks occurs 

farther north above his measured section. All three members of 

the Reliz Canyon Formation pinch out between Ruetz's (1979) 

section and the cliff about 900 m to the north. About 20 m of the 

Church Creek Formation also pinches out against the unconformity, making a total of about 220 m of section that laps out. 

Calculated from these data, the overall angle between bedding 

FIGURE 3.-Geologic map of the area north of Escondido campground. North is 

oriented to the left for ease of comparison with stereoscopic pair of aerial 

photographs (fig. 5). Bottom edge of map is the west edge of Junipera Serra 

Peak 7-1/2- minute quadrangle. X, fossil locality reported in table 1. 
LOCAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 

0 1 KILOMETER 

EXPLANATION 

Church Creek Formation (Eocene) 

Reliz Canyon Formation, undivided (Eocene and 

upper Paleocene) 

Unnamed mudstone (Paleocene) 

Crystalline basement rocks (Cretaceous and older) 

Contact 

Fault 

Strike and dip of beds 

5 
6 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

and the unconformity is 14°, representing the approximate original slope of the unconformity. A half kilometer south of Ruetz's 

(1979) section, massive sandstones are also absent (see below) 

and could indicate an even steeper slope (about 23°) in that direction. Here, however, a fault of uncertain but probably small 

horizontal displacement intervenes. 

A 

0 500 

A' 

METERS 

300 

200 

100 

1000 METERS 

FIGURE 4.-Cross section showing relations between Ruetz's (1979) measured 

section on right (near fossil locality 2, fig. 3) and the cliff exposure of buttress 

unconformity on left. br, basement rocks; Trj, Junipero Sandstone Member; 

Trl, Lucia M.udstone Member; Trr, The Rocks Sandstone Member, Reliz Canyon Formation; Tc, Church Creek Formation. 

FIGURE 5.-Stereoscopic pair of aerial photographs showing the area near the 

cliff with the exposed buttress unconformity. Scale is approximately the same 

as in figure 3. Area of prominent outcrops in right center of photographs 

corresponds to principal area of outcrop of the Reliz Canyon Formation in the 

bottom part of figure 3. Large stream at bottom is the Arroyo Seco, outside 

the area of figure 3. 
REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 7 

Sandstone of the Reliz Canyon Formation north of Escondido campground is generally thick bedded (1-3 m) and less 

commonly thin to thick bedded. Many beds are channeled at the 

base, and bed amalgamation is widespread. Graded bedding is 

poorly developed and is generally seen only in the uppermost 

parts of beds. Local unconformities with inclined and truncated 

beds occur within the section. Mudstone rip-up clasts are common. The sandstone is generally coarse grained, commonly containing granules to small pebbles. Conglomerate, is part matrix 

supported, occurs near the base of the sequence. 

Although Ruetz (1979) apparently did not see the cliff exposure of the buttress unconformity, he interpreted the sequence 

north of Escondido as a submarine canyon deposit. Our observations of the buttress unconformity and the geometry of the 

overlying sandstone body clearly show that the sandstone was 

deposited in a relatively steep-walled northwest-trending 

channel cut in basement rocks. The width of the channel (about 

1.5 km) and the slopes (14°-23°) are comparable to many of the 

ancient submarine canyons tabulated by Whitaker (1974). The 

sedimentary characteristics outlined above, together with 

Ruetz's (1979) description, show that the deposits are comparable to the sediments described from other submarine canyons 

(Mutti and Ricci Lucchi, 1975; Whitaker, 1974). 

REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 

Previous workers (Graham, 1979a, b; Ruetz, 1979) have also 

reported submarine canyon deposits in the area. However, the 

stratigraphic correlation of these deposits was not clear and 

they were assigned different ages. Other workers (Link and 

Nilsen, 1979, 1980) may have correlated and included some midfan deposits with rocks that we consider canyon deposits, leading to a different interpretation of the sedimentary environment. We believe that the regional stratigraphic relations point 

to the presence of three northwest-trending submarine canyons 

filled with correlative strata. 

At the type locality of the Reliz Canyon Formation in upper 

Reliz Canyon (Durham, 1963; fig. 1), the three members are well 

exposed (fig. 6C). The lower Junipero Sandstone Member is 

about 55 m thick, the medial Lucia Mudstone Member about 107 

m thick, and the upper The Rocks Sandstone Member about 442 

m thick (Durham, 1963). At some places in the northern Santa 

Lucia Range the Junipero Sandstone Member is absent. In 

places where the Lucia Mudstone Member is absent or too thin 
8 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

FIGURE 6.-0utcrops of the Reliz Canyon Formation. A, Dip slope in The Rocks 

Sandstone Member. View looking southwest from The Indians Road. Cliff 

exposure of buttress unconformity faces away from viewer, off photo to right. 

B, The Rocks Sandstone Member in section measured by Ruetz (1979), near 

fossil locality 2 (fig. 3). The Rocks Sandstone Member here is underlain by the 

Lucia Mudstone and Junipero Sandstone Members (out of view, below photograph). 
REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 9 

FIGURE 6.-Continued. C, The Reliz Canyon Formation 5 km northwest of the 

type locality. Thin, discontinuous sandstone unit at base of bedded sequence 

is the Junipero Sandstone Member. Steep brush-covered slopes to the right 

and stratigraphically above are underlain by the Lucia Mudstone. Large 

sandstone outcrops are The Rocks Sandstone Member (largely repeated by a 

fault in center of photograph). D, The Reliz Canyon Formation south of The 

Indians Ranger Station. 
10 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

to map, the Junipero and The Rocks Sandstone Members are 

not distinguished but are mapped together as the Reliz Canyon 

Formation, undivided. In most places The Rocks Sandstone 

Member is the thickest and best exposed member, typically 

forming cliffs and bold outcrops. 

North of Escondido campground (figs. 1, 3), strata that we 

map as the Reliz Canyon Formation were assigned by Ruetz 

(1979) to an unnamed Paleocene formation, although no fossils 

had been found. Benthic foraminifers collected by us (table 1, 

fig. 3, localities 2-4), however, show that this unit is Eocene in 

age (K. A. McDougall, written commun., 1983). Moreover, the 

tripartite stratigraphy and the close lithologic similarities, 

especially the propensity to form prominent outcrops, also 

suggest correlation with the Reliz Canyon Formation. 

In the same area, strata that overlie The Rocks Sandstone 

Member and are assigned by us to the Church Creek Formation, 

were mapped as The Rocks Sandstone by Link and Nilsen (1979, 

1980). However, these beds consist of about 70 percent 

mudstone and siltstone with subordinate channelized 

sandstone bodies. Lithologically, they are better correlated 

with the Church Creek Formation. Poore and others (1977) 

suggested a late early Eocene age for foraminifers collected 

from these beds along The Indians road. They noted, however, 

that the faunas are poorly preserved and contain some species 

that range into the middle Eocene. Therefore, they did not 

exclude an early middle Eocene age. Indeed, planktic foraminifers found by us at locality 5 (table 1, fig. 3), near the base of the 

Church Creek Formation, include distinctive middle Eocene 

species, Truncorotaloides topliensis Cushman and Globorotalia 

bullbrooki Bolli, and the fauna is here assigned to the lower 

middle Eocene (Gerta Keller, written commun., 1983). 

Deposits of another submarine canyon have been described 

by Graham (1979a, b) from the area just south of that discussed 

above. Graham (1979a) noted the lithologic similarity (fig. 6D) 

and possible correlation of these deposits with the Reliz Canyon 

Formation. However, he reported middle Eocene fossils from 

the deposits, and, because he considered the Reliz Canyon to be 

no younger than early Eocene, he provisionally assigned these 

rocks to the Church Creek Formation. Graham's (1979a) views 

on the age of the Reliz Canyon Formation may have been 

shaped by the tentative early Eocene age reported by Poore and 

others (1977) for the beds north of Escondido campground which 

we map as Church Creek. Since our data show that the base of 

the Church Creek is early middle rather than late early Eocene, 
REGIONAL STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONS 11 

TABLE 1.-Fossils from Paleocene and Eocene rocks north of Escondido 

campground 

[Stratigraphic and fossil age assignments are as follows: 1, unnamed mudstone, 

tentatively late Thanetian (Paleocene); 2, Lucia Mudstone Member, Tertiary; 

3 and 4, Lucia Mudstone Member, Eocene; 5, Church Creek Formation, early 

middle Eocene (Zones PlO-Pll); 6, Church Creek Formation, Eocene] 

USGS No-------------------------------------

Map No--------------------------------------

Benthic fo rarninife rs 1 

Ammodiscus incertus Cl' Orbigny---------------

Bathysiphon sp.-----------------------------

l'uoashavella rnultricarneratus Volshinova-----

Cihic iiles sp .-------------------------------

Cyclammina pacifica Beck--------------------

e. sarnanica ( Berrv 1------------------------- Egq~longata Blaisdell----------------

~· sp.--------------------------------------

Haploohraqrnoiiles deflata Sullivan-----------

~· ohliquicamerata Marks--------------------

Nodosaria sp.-------------------------------

PullPnia eocenica Cushman and Sieqfus-------

~i~gerin ifo nnis---------------

(Parker anil Jones) 

T. so.--------------------------------------

Planktic forarninlfers 2 

Glohiqerina lineaperta (Finlay)-------------

~· primativa (Finlay)-----------------------

_g_. senni (Beckmann)-------------------------

Glohorotalia araqonensis (Nuttall)----------

_g_. broeilermanni (C'ushman and Bermudez)------

~· hullhrool<i Bolli-------------------------

Truncorotaloides topliensis Cushman---------

Megafossils 3 

?f'arnoanil iopa n. sp.------------------------

"CromiUJTl" cf. "C." andersoni--------------

(Dicl<erson) 

?Cucullaea mathewsoni Gabb------------------

hrachiopoos---------------------------------

nautiloid-----------------------------------

1 rdentified by Kristin A. McDougall 2 rdentified hy Gerta Keller 3 rdentifierl by LouElla Saul 

Mf6534 Mf6533 Mf6535 Mf6531 

3 4 5 6 

the middle Eocene submarine canyon deposits of Graham (1979-

a) can be assigned to the Reliz Canyon without equivocation. 

The relation between the submarine canyon deposits of Graham 

( 1979a, b) and those north of Escondido campground is shown 

schematically in figure 7, a paleogeographic block diagram. In 

addition to thick sandstone beds typical of the Reliz Canyon 

Formation (fig. 6D), the canyon deposits described by Graham 
0 1 2 3 4 

N~---

The Indians 

Ranger Station 

FIGURE 7.-Paleogeographic block diagram showing the inferred relation of the submarine canyon deposits exposed north of Escondido campground to the deposits described by Graham (1979a,b) near The Indians Ranger Station. 

~ 

~ 

Ul 

d 

t:d 

~ 

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~ 

z 

t_:l:j 

0 

> z 

~ 

0 

z 

tj 

t_:l:j 

"'d 

0 

Ul 

-

>-3 

If1 

0 

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AGE SIGNIFICANCE 13 

(1979a, b) include coarse-grained conglomerate exposed north of 

The Indians Ranger Station (figs. 1, 7). According to Graham 

(1979a), this conglomerate may have been fed from shallow 

marine conglomeratic sandstone deposits exposed south and 

southeast of The Indians Ranger Station. Graham's canyon deposits are separated from those exposed north of Escondido 

campground by a submarine basement high. East of Escondido 

campground this basement high is overlain by a thin stratigraphic sequence, rich in mudstone, that contains late Paleocene 

and Eocene fossils (Graham, 1979a, b). 

The buttress unconformity exposure north of Escondido 

campground clearly shows that, at least locally, a basement 

high separates those submarine canyon deposits from more extensive outcrops of the Reliz Canyon Formation to the north 

and east (fig. 1). These outcrops form a discontinuous belt extending from southeast of Reliz Canyon for 50 km to the northwest, everywhere less than 10 kilometers wide. The Rocks 

Sandstone Member in this belt was studied by Link and Nilsen 

(1979, 1980) who reported that the unit consists mainly of 

facies-B sandstone of Mutti and Ricci Lucchi (1975), with local 

facies-A sandstone and conglomerate. Paleocurrent directions 

are generally northwest, parallel to the belt, but turn northeast 

in the area northwest of Tassaj ara Hot Springs (fig. 1). Link and 

Nilsen (1979, 1980) interpreted The Rocks Sandstone as channelized middle-fan deposits but noted the absence of associated 

inner- and outer-fan facies. Interchannel deposits are also rare, 

especially when a mudstone-rich section (section B of Link and 

Nilsen, 1979, 1980) is relegated to the Church Creek Formation. 

Deposition may have been in a linear restricted basin, a possibility suggested by Link and Nilsen (1979, 1980), or a submarine canyon. The term deep-sea fan seems to be inappropriate for these deposits. 

AGE SIGNIFICANCE 

Fossils in the Reliz Canyon Formation, except in the Lucia 

Mudstone Member, are rare. Dickinson (1965) found Eocene, 

possibly Penutian, fossils in the Junipero Sandstone Member. 

Graham (1979a, b) reported late Paleocene fossils locally at the 

base of the formation and middle Eocene fossils higher in the 

section associated with conglomerate and sandstone. Kleinpell 

and others (1967) found Ulatisian fossils in The Rocks 

Sandstone Member. The richly fossiliferous Lucia Mudstone 

Member was most recently and precisely dated by Poore and 
14 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

others (1977). Benthic foraminifers are of Ulatisian age and 

planktic foraminifers are of late early Eocene age, referable to 

Zone P7-P8, and locally to Zone P9 at the top. The foraminiferal 

ages are partly supported by data from nannofossils (Sullivan, 

1965; Bukry and others, 1977). An upper age limit for the Reliz 

Canyon Formation is given by our data from the lower part of 

the Church Creek Formation (locality 5, table 1, fig. 4) which 

indicate a middle Eocene age, Zones P10-P11. Thus, The Rocks 

Sandstone Member is bracketed by the late early Eocene Zone 

P9 and the early middle Eocene Zones P10-P11. 

The fossil data indicate that the great volume of sand represented in The Rocks Sandstone Member was deposited 

rapidly at about the time of the early-middle Eocene boundary 

(placed at the Zone P9-P10 boundary by Berggren, 1972). This 

time interval correlates with a postulated worldwide low stand 

of sea level (Vail and others, 1977; Vail and Hardenbol, 1979). 

During low stands of sea level, deposition in deep-sea fans and 

basins is accelerated, apparently because the low sea level permits streams to transport coarse-grained detritus across the 

shelf directly to the heads of submarine canyons (Vail and others, 1977; Shanmugam and Moiola, 1982). The sand-rich deepsea deposits of The Rocks Sandstone Member have all the 

characteristics predicted by this hypothesis. Therefore, it is 

likely that deposition was at least partly influenced by a sealevel regression, although tectonism may have been a contributing factor. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Berggren, W. A., 1972, A Cenozoic time-scale-some implications for regional 

geology and paleobiogeography: Lethaia, v. 5, p. 195-215. 

Bukry, David, Brabb, E. E., and Vedder, J. G., 1977, Correlation of Tertiary 

nannoplankton assemblages from the Coast and Peninsular Ranges of California: Segundo Congreso Latinoamericano de Geologia, Memoria, v. 3, p. 

1461-1483. 

Dickinson, W. R., 1965, Tertiary stratigraphy of the Church Creek area, Monterey County, California: California Division of Mines and Geology Special 

Report 86, p. 25-44. 

Durham, D. L., 1963, Geology of the Reliz Canyon, Thompson Canyon, and San 

Lucas quadrangles, Monterey County, California: U.S. Geological Survey 

Bulletin 1141-Q, 41 p. 

Enos, Paul, 1974, Reefs, platforms, and basins of middle Cretaceous in northeast 

Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 58, p. 

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Graham, S. A., 1979a, Tertiary stratigraphy and depositional environments 

near Indians Ranch, Monterey County, California, in Graham, S. A., ed., 
REFERENCES CITED 15 

Tertiary and Quaternary geology of the Salinas Valley and Santa Lucia 

Range, Monterey County, California: Society of Economic Paleontologists 

and Mineralogists, Pacific Section, Pacific Coast Paleogeography Field 

Guide 4, p. 3-12. 

--1979b, Field trip roadlog, day 1: Stratigraphy and structure of Tertiary 

rocks, King City to Indians Ranch area, Los Padres National Forest, in 

Graham, S. A., ed., Tertiary and Quaternary geology of the Salinas Valley 

and Santa Lucia Range, Monterey County, California: Society of Economic 

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Kleinpell, R. M., Weaver, D. W., and Doerner, D. P., 1967, Glimpses of the 

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Society of Economic 

Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Pacific Sections, p. 38-44. 

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Graham, S. A., ed., Tertiary and Quaternary geology of the Salinas Valley 

and Santa Lucia Range, Monterey County, California: Society of Economic 

Paleontologists and Mineralogists, Pacific Section, Pacific Coast Paleogeography Field Guide 4, p. 25-43. 

--1980, The Rocks Sandstone, an Eocene sand-rich deep-sea fan deposit, 

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v. 50, p. 583-602. 

Mutti, Emiliano, and Ricci Lucchi, Franco, 1975, Turbidite facies and facies 

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of the northern Santa Lucia Range, California: U.S. Geological Survey 

Journal of Research, v. 5, no. 6, p. 735-745. 

Ruetz, J. W., 1979, Paleocene submarine fan deposits of the Indians Ranch area, 

Monterey County, California, in Graham, S. A., ed., Tertiary and Quaternary geology of the Salinas Valley and Santa Lucia Range, Monterey 

County, California: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, 

Pacific Section, Pacific Coast Paleogeography Field Guide 4, p. 13-24. 

Seiders, V. M., Esparza, L. E., Sabine, Charles, Spear, J. M., Stebbins, Scott, and 

Benham, J. R., 1983a, Mineral resource potential map of part of the Ventana 

Wilderness and the Black Butte, Bear Mountain, and Bear Canyon Roadless Areas, Monterey County, California: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1559-A, scale 1:50,000. 

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map of part of the Ventana Wilderness and the Black Butte, Bear Mountain, and Bear Canyon Roadless Areas, Monterey County, California: U.S. 

Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1559-B, scale 

1:50,000. 

Shanmugam, G., and Moiola, R. J., 1982, Eustatic control of turbidites and winnowed turbidites: Geology, v. 10, p. 231-235. 

Sullivan, F. R., 1965, Lower Tertiary nannoplankton from the California Coast 

Ranges-part 2, Eocene: University of California Publications, Department 

of Geological Sciences Bulletin, v. 53, p. 1-75. 

Vail, P. R., and Hardenbol, Jan, 1979, Sea-level changes during the Tertiary: 

Oceanus, v. 22, p. 71-79. 
16 SUBMARINE CANYON DEPOSITS, CALIFORNIA 

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GPO 787-042/10010 

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