Salinas Basin - 2015

The Salinas River Valley and adjacent Santa Lucia Mountains of central California, U.S.A., offer a unique opportunity to observe a petroleum system expressed in outcrop. Although the majority of the Salinas Basin remains at depth, a shift in relative motions of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates uplifted portions of sedimentary basins along coastal California during late Neogene time, manifested as the Santa Lucia Range. As a consequence of this uplift, petroleum system elements, such as the source rocks of the Monterey Formation, are now accessible as outcrop exposures, while their subsurface equivalents charge the giant San Ardo oil field. This and adjacent fields comprise a proven conventional petroleum play that drives Salinas Basin oil production.