Imperial Valley press., 1920-12-30
OIL CONDITIONS
Continued from Page One)

gether with the oil bearing sands
above the sea level. The surface geo.
logical changes then began to take
place Erosion from high points
often covered these oil bearing stra-
tas with orginary surface detritus
several hundred feet, further sealing
them down and in other instances they
were broken and washed away, allow
ing loss of those native oils which eva>
porated and lost themselves through
,seepage.
California wells have entirely been
brought in in what is known as the
tertiary period. This period has been
| geologically designated as one of the
great sedimentary ages, divided into
three ub-periods; the pliocene, which
is the upper, and younger; the MO
Gene. which is the middle, and the
eocene, which the lower or older. The
greater California production has
come from the miocene age, which Is
commonly called among oil men the
middle tertiary period. Some oil has
been produced in the lower pliocene
age; and the great shale beds of Col
orado and Utah belong distinctly to
the eocene age, or the lower tertiary
period.
Coming now to the geological pc
culiarities of the structure of the
Salton Basi, | wish to call your at
tention to the fact that the Gulf OF
California is one of the largest arms
of the sea in the entire world, This
arm of the sea extends from Cape
San Bias northward some 700 miles,
and before the separation with the
Salton Basin extended another 12O
miles to point above lndio and into
| Riverside county. This arm of the
Pacific, as you all know, is very mar
row, which promises very heavy con-
centration in the oils and hydro car
| bonS which were created by the eX-
tensive marine life. We know that
this gulf is very deep indentation. The
depth of this gient fracture in the
earth's crust has rendered it possible
for the creation of sedimentary beds
to such thickness and massivdnesa
that they could not possibly be de-
stroyed by the geologic uplifting pro-
cess that has been going on along the
Pacific coast or even fractured or SER
iously disturbed. Other proof we
have that this gulf basin is very deep
| is the abruptness of the eastern slope
of the San Bernardino- mountain
range, as we'll as the Santa Rosa, the
| Fish creek and the Cocopah mountains
| The eastern slope of any of these
ranges stands about 45 degrees and
do not spill themselves out in long
ranges toward the east but generally
| off 81, r. ic
able to suppose that the same slope
continues beneath the surface of the
soils of the Salton Basin for a con-
siderable depth; since deep drillings
F! in the cities of the valley, namely
Brawley and the city of Ell Centre.
have developed the fact that the silt
deposit from the Colorado river is
some 1000 feet in thickness. The
Chocolate Mountains on the east of
the Salton Basin are low in elevation
as compared with the western chain.
Nevertheless, we have the sane
abrupt slope, which only leads US to
believe that the western slope of the
Chocolate Mountains goes down to
the internal depth at practically the
same slope as the external appearance
es of this chain Indicate.
Originally we had this great long
gulf extending for some 800 miles, ma
turally one of the best breeding
grounds for marine life that could be
found anywhere on the earth's crust.
We have the warm, semi-tropic eli
mate, no severe weather, maintaining
an even and mild temperature in the
waters of this gulf. A visit to the
present gulf below the mouth of the
Colorado river will convince you that
there is at this time one of the great
est marine life activities going on that
there is on the face of the earth. This
same condition prevailed in the an
cient miocene age, when oils were be-
ing laid down. Over on the eastern
shore Of the gulf in early geological
times, the Colorado river commenced
the erection Of a silt barrier, extend
ing from a point near Yuma, westerly
10 the CocOpah Mountains. This great
barrier was gradually raised to the
surface of the waters of the gulf, Gre
ating low delta region and over these
mud flats the tides passed to the
north and kept these waters in what
is now Salton Basin saline; but not
being subject to the heavy tide flows
and rips, weather, marine disturbances
that existed further down the Gulf
or on the shores of the Pacific ocean
and there was created in this inland
sea one Of the most ideal conditions
for the production of marine life. This
can well be attested to by a visit to
the oyster shell beds on the west side
of the valley. These oyster beds are
in many instances mountain of shells
and many of these shells weigh as
much as 40 pounds. This fact alone
is evidence that ideal conditions pre-
vailed in the development of these
giant mollusks. These shells have
been classed by geologists as belong
ing to the miocene age, or the age
that has been the big oil producer on
the Pacific slope. These oyster beds
are not the only indication of fossil
life as all the older shells and forma,
tions go to show that the Salton Basin
stratafcation belongs to the miocene