Petroleum or Rock Oil 297 



is the opinion of some geologists that circulating artesian water 

 is of considerable importance in the migration of oil in Cali- 

 fornia fields, and that certain structural features, such as faults 

 and anticlines, have acted as traps in which the oil was caught. 

 Under ordinary conditions in California petroleum has not 

 accumulated in the same rocks in which it originated, but has 

 migrated to porous sandstones which act as a reservoir, yet no 

 definite general conclusion has been reached as to the cause of 

 the migration of oil. 



Oil Fields Are Not Inexhaustible 



It may be regarded as unfortunate that oil-bearing geologic 

 formations occur under some cities and towns, and under fertile 

 and productive lands, whose industries and whose beauties have 

 been marred or may be destroyed by the development of the 

 petroleum industry. If oil could have been formed under the 

 barren rocks of the deserts instead of under Los Angeles and 

 Long Beach and Carmel-by-the-Sea how much nicer it might 

 have been! But we should not weep. Geologic time is long. 

 We do not know much about the origin of oil or how long it 

 was in forming, but pools or lakes of oil are not inexhaustible, 

 and it is not likely that more oil is being formed to take the place 

 of that which is pumped out. In a little while (geologically) 

 the oil will have been forgotten. The machinery will all have 

 passed from the scene. The land will in time come back to its 

 own. Not in our day, you will say. No, but there are more 

 generations to come. The diatoms and foraminifers from 

 which the oil probably came lived long ago. They had their 

 day. They left their inheritance. If we bore down and tap 

 their ancient tombs in a short time the accumulation of ages 

 is taken away. Then we will go to search for other fields. Pe- 

 troleum geologists will scout the earth for more "oil sands" 

 somewhere. They may be found in the cold wilds of the arctic 

 regions or in the hot and arid tropics. But they will probably 

 be in formations that are younger rather than older. So it will 



