Experience influenced the Pacific Coast committee in its decision to examine critically and report on the future petroleum possibilities not only of the most promising undeveloped and presently producing regions but also of those regions that might seem to offer little encouragement for further exploration. Eastern Washington, the Modoc Lava Plateau of California, and a part of the Northern Coast Ranges of California are considered to be of insufficient interest to merit maps. The predominance of igneous and metamorphic rock exposures in these regions seems to eliminate them, at least for the present, from favorable consideration as possible future oil provinces.

A summary of data for the regions discussed is tabulated. Some of the numbers are, of necessity, approximations but are of the right order of magnitude according to available information. This tabulation affords a ready means of comparing the different regions.

The continental shelf adjacent to Southern California is treated in some detail, but the rest of the Pacific Coast continental shelf is not discussed in separate papers. The future oil possibilities of any part of the continental shelf may be considered as similar to the possibilities of the contiguous land area. Areas involved are:

CONTINENTAL SHELF

Table

Nothing need be said concerning the merits of the following papers--they speak for themselves and reflect great credit on the writers. Special acknowledgment should be made to those committee members whose names do not appear as authors but who contributed substantially to committee work through suggestions, criticisms, and consultations. Association with this committee, a group of foward-looking geologists, has been stimulating indeed and leaves one with the firm conviction that there is ample opportunity for successful exploratory effort within the regions considered.

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