Mesozoic and Cenozoic Siliceous Sediments of California – San Fransisco to Los Angeles, California, July 3–7, 1989, Volume T109

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Field Trip Guidebooks Series, Volume 109.

This field trip will introduce participants to the various siliceous rock units deposited within California between the Jurassic to the Pliocene. Some of these siliceous sedimentary rocks were deposited in oceanic settings (Paleogene, Mesozoic); some were subsequently accreted to California by tectonic processes (Mesozoic), and other siliceous units were formed as the result of upwelling-related deposition in coastal basins (Neogene).

The first day will look at some Mesozoic red cherts of the Franciscan Complex, located at Coyote Hills, Fremont. The second day will look at similar Franciscan rocks of the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco and gray to buff chert, part of the Miocene, Monterey Formation (Claremont) in the Berkeley Hills. The third day looks at the Eocene sections of the Markley Formation which includes the Sidney Flat Shale Member and the Kellogg Shale. As we move south, we will stop at the Toro Road Section near Monterey, which is a diatomite unit of the Miocene Monterey Formation. The fourth and fifth days will look at the Monterey and Sisquoc Formations in Reliz Canyon, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and Ventura areas, and will culminate with a close look at the San Miguelito Oil Field in Ventura.