The total submarine area between the 9,000-foot contour of the continental slope and the shoreline is about 31,000 square statute miles. This area is broken into a checkerboard-like arrangement of fault blocks; the upthrown blocks form banks and the downthrown ones, basins. Indications are that the basins were initiated in late Miocene time and that thick post-Miocene sediments are restricted mostly to them. The great depth of sea water eliminates most of the submarine area from consideration as possible oil provinces in the foreseeable future. It is believed that the submarine areas of Pliocene-Miocene or possible Miocene outcrops at comparatively shallow depths are the most favorable future oil provinces because of the probability that these sediments are similar in lit ology, structure, and oil content to those in the Los Angeles and Ventura basins on land. Shallow areas are restricted to the near-shore zone of the mainland and island shores and to the tops of some offshore banks. No estimates of the total stratigraphic thickness nor of the volume of sediments are possible with the present state of knowledge.

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