--> Abstract: The Macoma Claystone (Pliocene): Its Distribution and Role in Controlling the Bottom of the Fresh Water Aquifer in the Western Fruitvale Oil Field, Bakersfield, California, by J. A. Anthony and J. M. Gillespie; #90958 (1995).

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Abstract: The Macoma Claystone (Pliocene): Its Distribution and Role in Controlling the Bottom of the Fresh Water Aquifer in the Western Fruitvale Oil Field, Bakersfield, California

Jason A. Anthony, Janice M. Gillespie

The Macoma Claystone forms the basal portion of the Mio-Pliocene Etchegoin Fm. in the Fruitvale Oil Field. The Fruitvale Field is located in the central part of the Bakersfield Arch in the southern San Joaquin Basin, California. Subsurface data indicate that the Macoma Claystone undergoes a facies change from claystone in the west to alternating sandstones and shales in the east suggesting that the deeper marine environments characterized by the claystone did not extend much farther east than the Fruitvale area. Electric log cross-sections also suggest that the Macoma Claystone plays an important role in determining the vertical distribution of fresh water in the basin aquifer. In the central part of the study area, the base of the fresh water coincides with the top of th Macoma Claystone but, farther east, where the Macoma contains a larger percentage of sandstone, the base of the fresh water occurs at deeper stratigraphic levels. This suggests that the Macoma Claystone may provide a useful lower boundary for aquifer modeling studies in this area of the basin.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90958©1995 AAPG Pacific Section Meeting, San Francisco, California