Carpinteria Tar Pits

The Carpinteria Tar Pits are a series of natural asphalt lakes situated in the southern part of Santa Barbara County in southern California.The Carpinteria Tar Pits are one of the five natural asphalt lake areas in the world, the others being Tierra de Brea in Trinidad and Tobago, Lake Guanoco in Venezuela and the La Brea Tar Pits and McKittrick Tar Pits both also located in the US state of California.GeographyThe Carpinteria Tar Pits are located in the southeastern extremity of Santa Barbara County about 20km southeast of Santa Barbara in the town of Carpinteria.The area is a designated park, the Tar Pits Park, and lies within the Carpinteria State Beach area in the southern part between the Santa Rosa and the San Miguel campsites. Most of the tar pits are located along a short stretch directly on the beach and generate from the underlying Carpinteria Offshore Oil Field.GeologyThe Carpinteria Tar Pits probably date from the Pleistocene epoch.The creation of an asphalt lake is typically the result of upwards migrations of hydrocarbons along a geologic fault. Additionally, in connection with subduction pressure can be created against underlying oil source rock.