Thank you to everyone that participated in the 2022 Monterey Conference! We had over 50 participants at the technical session and field trip. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge, connect with old colleagues, and meet new ones! The weather could not have been better to explore the Monterey Formation up close and personal. Thank you to Aera Energy for supplying our meeting venue on Friday, and everyone that helped make the weekend a success with special recognition to Jon Schwalbach, Rick Behl, John Dunham, Gregg Blake, and Renee Richards.
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November 4th – 5th, 2022
Ventura, California
Monterey Formation Research Conference
Through this meeting, we endeavor to bring together late-career and mid-career researchers, as well as students beginning their investigations, for an exchange of ideas and discussions in seminar format, poster presentations, and at the outcrop. The conference format will consist of a few initial presentations (an introduction for students and a refresher for veterans) covering our current understanding of Monterey depositional setting, stratigraphy, and diagenesis.
These talks set the stage for presentations outlining new tools and knowledge of Monterey chronostratigraphy and deposition developed during the past decade of research. Presentations highlighting current and future research directions are encouraged, including early-phase research and project proposals from students in the conceptual stage and looking for input from other attendees.
The Monterey Formation has been the subject of academic, government, and energy industry studies for the past 50 years, primarily supporting hydrocarbon exploration and production. It was deposited during an important time in the climatic and oceanic evolution of the Neogene, recording the transition from a relatively warm "greenhouse" climate to cooler temperatures of "icehouse" climatic conditions, accompanied by significant glaciation in the polar regions.
Large volumes of data and expertise were generated describing depositional, stratigraphic, and geochemical aspects of Monterey strata during the energy quest. That same expertise and data have value for multiple topics of current research, including paleoceanography and climate studies, that benefit greatly from using recently refined age dating technologies.
Introduction to the Miocene Monterey Formation
• Unique Geologic Setting – Tectonics, Paleoclimate, and Paleoceanography
• Deposition, Diagenesis and Lithofacies Overview
• Resources and Data Availability for Future Research
Advances in Chronostratigraphy
• Reviews of techniques and updated age models
Applications to Miocene Paleoceanography and Paleoclimate Studies
• Results and review of in-progress work
Technology Applications and New Research
• Insight and approaches to subsurface investigations
• Early-phase and proposed Research
Registration fee includes morning coffee and on-site lunch. We anticipate presentations from some of the prominent researchers and contributors to our understanding of the Monterey system, as well as those in the early and middle phases of their investigations. A general discussion session will follow each technical segment. The main focus will be on the advances in chronostratigraphy and paleoenvironmental interpretation, but information related to stratigraphic and lithofacies variation and rock properties will also have significant value for energy-related applications.
The conference will provide a unique opportunity to visit some of the classic Santa Barbara Channel Monterey outcrops with geologists that have studied these rocks over multiple decades, as well as with current researchers. The general organization will include a brief overview of the field area, and then short presentations highlighting new data and interpretation. This provides opportunities for discussions of the general aspects of the Monterey Formation as well as specific research projects. The field visit will be “non-traditional” in the sense that there is no fee to attend, but all transportation, food, and beverages will be the responsibility of the individual attendees. Student groups especially are encouraged to participate. While there is no fee to attend, we need participants to register for the field visit for logistical purposes. The specific locations will be announced closer to the event.
Conference Convenors: Gregg Blake, Jon Schwalbach, and John Dunham
