This report assesses the oil & gas resource potential in the Cenozoic and Mesozoic strata of the three major sedimentary basins of the Pacific margin of Canada: the Tofino, Queen Charlotte, and Georgia basins. Ten conceptual petroleum plays are defined on the basis of various geological controls, with most plays identified from stratigraphic considerations. Once defined, the ten plays are each statistically analyzed to estimate their hydrocarbon resource potential. Total potential & field sizes quoted in the report are all median value estimates of in-place hydrocarbon volumes.

"You can't really know the place where you live until you know the shapes and origins of the land around you. To feel truly at home in the Bay Area, read Doris Sloan's intriguing stories of this region's spectacular, quirky landscapes."—Hal Gilliam, author of Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region "This is a fascinating look at some of the world's most complex and engaging geology. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an understanding of the beautiful landscape and dynamic geology of the Bay Area."—Mel Erskine, geological consultant "This accessible summary of San Francisco Bay Area geology is particularly timely. We are living in an age where we must deal with our impact on our environment and the impact of the environment on us. Earthquake hazards, and to a lesser extent landslide hazards, are well known, but the public also needs to be aware of other important engineering and environmental impacts and geologic resources. This book will allow Bay Area residents to make more intelligent decisions about the geological issues affecting their lives."—John Wakabayashi, geological consultant

In this Special Paper, Hildebrand and Whalen present a big-picture, paradigm-busting synthesis that examines the tectonic setting, temporal relations, and geochemistry of many plutons within Cretaceous batholithic terranes of the North American Cordillera. In addition to their compelling tectonic synthesis, they argue that most of the batholiths are not products of arc magmatism as commonly believed, but instead were formed by slab failure during and after collision. They show that slab window and Precambrian TTG suites share many geochemical similarities with Cretaceous slab failure rocks. Geochemical and isotopic data indicate that the slab failure magmas were derived dominantly from the mantle and thus have been one of the largest contributors to growth of continental crust. The authors also note that slab failure plutons emplaced into the epizone are commonly associated with Cu-Au porphyries, as well as Li-Cs-Ta pegmatites.

Sequence stratigraphy represents a new paradigm in geology. The principal hypothesis is that stratigraphie successions may be subdivided into discrete sequences bounded by widespread unconformities. There are two parts to this hypothesis. First, it suggests that the driving forces which generate sequences and their bounding unconformities also generate predietable three-dimensional stratigraphies. In re cent years stratigraphie research guided by sequence models has brought about fundamental im provements in our understanding of stratigraphie processes and the controls of basin architecture. Sequence models have provided a powerful framework for mapping and numerieal modeling, enabling the science of stratigraphy to advance with rapid strides. This research has demonstrated the importance of a wide range of processes for the generation of cyclie sequences, including eustasy, tectonics, and orbital forcing of climate change. The main objective of this book is to document the sequence record and to discuss our current state of knowledge about sequence-generating processes.