PE120 Petroleum Geology Field Trip

Nov. 20, 1999

A very interesting, intructive and enjoyable field trip was organized for the class PE120, under the leadership of Profs. Tom Hewett and Steve Graham of the Dept. of Geological and Environmental Sciences and Michael Clayton from Texaco. We followed the path of oil from source rocks, to conduit beds, to reservoir rocks. We visited the oil field at San Ardo. We sniffed, scraped and hammered. We put our arms around some oil. We held heterogeneity in our hands.

Source Beds at Arroyo Seco

Source beds of the Monterey formation.
Steve shows maps of the path of oil, 1, 2.
The infamous fault line that magnetically attracts engineering structures.

PE120 Petroleum Geology Field Trip

Nov. 20, 1999

Source Beds at Arroyo Seco

San Antonio Reservoir (no, water)

Tar Sands Road Cutting

San Ardo Oil Field overlook