This movie was created to show how oil migrates upward and collects in the axes of anticlines that have formed during ongoing tectonic shortening across the Santa Barbara Channel. It shows why oil rigs are placed in a line along the tops of folds.

To view this movie, click on the image.

Download: SB Channel Anticline, Oil, and Rig movie (4 MB)

This movie was originally created to be included in an educational movie made for Venoco about its oil rigs. Drawn and animated by Tanya Atwater, Rena Ford and Carrie Glavitch using Photoshop and Morph and Flash.

Comments on this and all of the materials offered on this site are welcomed: atwater@geol.ucsb.edu