The Hurricane Deck area is in the San Rafael Mountains of northern Santa
Barbara County, California. Upper Cretaceous and middle Tertiary strata crop
out locally and have been folded into a broad northwest-trending syncline.
The area is geographically situated between three well-studied Tertiary-age
depositional basins, each of which has a separate and distinctive stratigraphic
nomenclature. Tertiary strata within the study area were mapped in detail in
order to determine their relationship and correlation to known formational units
in the adjacent basins. It was determined that lower to middle Miocene strata of the Hurricane Deck were deposited in the Cuyama depositional basin, which
is located northeast of the study area.
Portions of the Simmler, Vaqueros, Hurricane Deck, and Monterey
Formations were identified and mapped. Mapped exposures of the Simmler
Formation consist of interbedded sandstone, conglomerate, and minor amounts
of mudstone deposited in a nonmarine environment. Two members of the
Vaqueros Formation are present in the study area: a shallow-marine, well-bedded
sandstone member and an offshore-marine, predominantly
structureless, grey shale. Lower and upper members of the Hurricane Deck
formation are present in the study area. The lower member consists of thick-bedded,
generally structureless sandstone beds containing thin mudstone
interbeds. The upper member consists of a more heterogenous mixture of
interbedded sandstone, mudstone, and limestone. These units were deposited
during early and middle Miocene time in a local depositional low as lobes of a
submarine fan. The youngest Tertiary unit mapped is the Monterey Shale which
consists of brown mudstone, limestone, and minor amounts of sandstone
deposited in a bathyal marine environment.
Strata have been folded into the northwest-trending Hurricane Deck syncline.
Some minor faulting has occurred and has offset both Tertiary and Cretaceous
strata in portions of the area. Local drainage is structurally controlled and
generally parallels the structural grain of the area.
Description:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-92)
California State University, Northridge. Department of Geology.