The Monterey Formation

"The Monterey Formation: From Rocks to Molecules" provides a case study of a classic marine petroleum system in the prolific oil basins of California. Based on results from the Cooperative Monterey Organic Geochemistry Study (CMOGS), the volume examines paleoenvironmental conditions, organic-matter deposition, source-rock characteristics, thermal maturation and oil generation in the Monterey Formation, with particular focus on the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara-Ventura Basins. Spanning perspectives from regional geologic to molecular levels, the contributors present an unusually broad range of scientific approaches, analytical techniques and interpretative parameters with an emphasis on organic geochemistry and its relation to geology. Organic geochemical techniques range from elemental analysis and Rock-Eval pyrolysis to state-of-the-art biomarker analysis including concentration profiles, paleoenvironmental and maturation parameters, desulfurization of macromolecular organic material, and compound-specific isotope measurements. The volume also presents an interlaboratory comparison and statistical evaluation of source-rock and crude oil organic geochemical data from more than 30 laboratories worldwide.