Foraminifera and Paleoenvironments in the Etchegoin and Lower San Joaquin Formations, West-Central San Joaquin Valley, California

Abstract

The Etchegoin and San Joaquin formations preserve a rich stratigraphic record of paleoenvironments, deposition, and tectonics during the late Miocene-Pliocene development of the San Joaquin basin. The distribution of foraminifera within these formations can help constrain this record, which includes final filling of the basin, facies responses to sea level changes, and active movement on the San Andreas fault system. The distribution of foraminifera in core samples is analyzed from seven wells along the west-central San joaquin basin - four from Buena Vista oil field, one from western Elk Hills oil field, and two from an area just south of South Belridge oil field. A model of modern, shallow- to marginal-marine foraminiferal biofacies is used to interpret the Etchegoin-San Joaquin faunal distributions. This modern model distinguishes marsh, tidal channel, intertidal, lagoonal, littoral, and shallow sublittoral environments. Ongoing work calibrating this foraminiferal record to the lithologic and macrofossil records in addition to interpreted depositional systems within these formations will further define relationships between paleoenvironments, relative sea level, and tectonics.