Applications in Oil and Gas Fields
Influences of Plate Tectonics on oil exploration are pervasive
in having opened the door for new ideas. Tectonic activity is
accepted as ongoing and invidious. Conspicuously, faults are reclassified
as active and the addition of new ones is routinely accepted.
The geologic cross-sections shown below illustrate this condition,
and, at the same time, demonstrate the possibilities for exploration.
- PHOTO -- Cross-sectional overview of
the central San Joaquin Valley. The active Ortigalita Fault
separates the Franciscan Terrain on the West from the over-steeped,
Cretaceous formations on the east. These greatly steepened Cretaceous
formations, in turn, contrast sharply with the low dips of the
formations occurring beneath the Valley proper. Some oil geologists
of the past believed this situation resulted from the existence
of a reverse, or thrust, fault at this location. Presumably,
this is the location of the seismic source, mapped today in the
area, as the "Coast Range-Sierra Block Boundary." It
is said to be a blind thrust.
- PHOTO -- Expanded view of the west
side structure. The thickened, overturned section, portrayed
in the subsurface below the fault is suggestive of natural
gas potential.
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