Digital Commons Network^™

Diagenesis Of Miocene Biogenic Sediments In Lost Hills Oil Field, San Joaquin Basin, California, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Major portions of the Miocene Monterey formation of California were deposited under low oxygen conditions, with restricted clastic influx, beneath waters with high phytoplankton productivity. The resulting diatomaceous and organic-rich sediments underwent diagenetic modification as they were buried.

A suite of core samples was collected from eight wells in the Lost Hills oil field ranging in present depth of burial between 535 and 2285 meters. In one well, the entire Monterey section was sampled. Cores taken from the remaining wells sampled the Reef Ridge and Antelope Members of the Monterey Formation at various burial depths.

Silica mineralogy was studied using …