DETAILS OF THE DEVELOPED TERRITORY. 
103 
owing to the lack of storage and transportation facilities, so that 
even had they been down long enough for a thorough test (which 
is hardly the case, inasmuch as nearly all have been finished since 
1904) no definite conclusions could be drawn concerning their lasting 
properties. 
EASTERN GROUP OF WESTERN UNION WELLS. 
LOCATION AND STRUCTURE. 
The eastern wells of the Western Union Company are located near 
the head of one of the branches of the broad valley which extends east- 
northeastward from Harris Canyon, at Blake, and are about 5 miles 
southeast of Orcutt. They are from one-half to three-fourths of a mile 
east of the west property line of the company and close to the north 
line. Slightly more than half a mile to the northeast of the wells is 
the axis of the Mount Solomon anticline, from the southwestern flank 
of which the wells derive their oil. The structure in the immediate 
vicinity of the wells, as indicated by the logs (see PI. X, p. 92), is more 
or less complicated, the general strike of the beds apparently changing 
abruptly from northwest to southwest immediately northwest of the 
group. Furthermore, a local flexure with northeast-southwest strike 
immediately underlies the developed territory, and a pronounced 
anticline (here named the “Western Union’) with a steep northeast¬ 
ern flank lies just to the south. There is no surface evidence of the 
northeast-southwest disturbance, but the Western Union anticline 
is plainly to be seen in the Fernando beds. The dip of the beds on the 
southwestern flank of this fold ranges at the surface from 15° at the 
west end of the hill south of the wells to 10°, and possibly much less, 
one-half mile to the southeast. The maximum northeasterly dip of 
45° occurs south of well No. 18, but the slope rapidly decreases both to 
the northwest and southeast. As nearly as could be ascertained from 
the available data, the production of the wells in this group supports 
the anticlinal theory of the accumulation of petroleum—that is, for 
an equal thickness of productive zone the wells near the axis of the 
anticline in the local flexure are more productive than those farther 
away from it. 
GEOLOGY OF THE WELLS. 
The wells start in soil, but soon enter the clay, sand, and conglom¬ 
erate layers of the Fernando, which is the surface formation in this 
part of the field. The Fernando beds are penetrated for 100 to 250 
feet, varying with the location of the well, the wells on the north, as 
would be expected after an examination of the surface geology, pass¬ 
ing through it in the shortest distance. Water and quicksand were 
encountered in at least two of the wells in the lower portion of the 
Fernando; in another, asphalturn occurs at the base of the formation. 
From the base of the Fernando to the first oil zone the wells penetrate 
