Also see the feature articles listed on the Geology Title Page and MDIA On-line

A STREETCAR TO SUBDUCTION - Revised Edition; Clyde Wahrhaftig; published by the American Geophysical Union (1984).
A  good publication to help new readers get acquainted with the geological concepts of plate tectonics and subduction and the making of the geological landscape of the Bay Area.

ADVANCES IN THE SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY OF THE GREAT VALLEY GROUP, SACRAMENTO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA; editors Graham and Lowe; SEPM Field Trip Guide (1993). Thomas Williams.
Thomas William's article in this publication offers a highly referenced review of our present day understanding of the geological history and paleogeography of the Great Valley of Northern California.

ASSEMBLING CALIFORNIA; John McPhee (1993)
Very popular and readable book on author's travels in central California. A narrative treatment of terrain bashing as the reader witnesses the geological growth of California.    

ASSESSMENT OF BLIND SEISMOGENIC SOURCES, LIVERMORE VALLEY Eastern San Francisco Bay Region;
Jeffrey R. Unruh, U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Hazards Reduction program, 1997
This article and the one below deals with  the idea of the existance of a blind thrust beneath Mt. Diablo.

ASSESSMENT OF CONTRACTIONAL DEFORMATION RATES OF THE MT. DIABLO FOLD AND THRUST BELT, Eastern San Francisco Bay Region, Northern California;
Thomas L. Sawyer, 1999 

BASIN EVOLUTION DURING THE CHANGE FROM CONVERGENT TO TRANSFORM CONTINENTAL MARGIN; An Example from the Neogene of Central California- Graham, S.A., et al; GEOLOGY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE SOUTHWESTERN SACRAMENTO BASIN AND EAST BAY HILLS; editors Graham and Cherven; SEPM publication (1983)
Discussion of Tertiary formations on north side of mountain and Miocene history in the East Bay Hills.

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS OF THE EOCENE DOMENGINE FORMATION FORMATION ONN THE NORTH SIDE OF MT.DIABLO, W. Bodden; GEOLOGY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE SOUTHWESTERN SACRAMENTO BASIN AND EAST BAY HILLS; editors Graham and Cherven; SEPM publication (1983)
Discussion of Tertiary formations on north side of mountain and Miocene history in the East Bay Hills. 

EVIDENCE FOR SUBDUCTION OF A MAJOR OCEAN PLATE ALONG THE CALIFORNIA MARGIN DURING THE MIDDLE TO EARLY LATE JURASSIC; in Mesozoic Paleogeography of the Western United States - II, Pacific Section, SEPM (1993), Blake, M.C. Jr.
A lot of age dating information on rocks and geological events.

FRANCISCAN AND RELATED ROCKS, BULL 183, CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY; editors Edgar Bailey, William Irwin, and David Jones, (1964).
This is a basic reference for the Franciscan in California. Historical and structural comments are dated (pre-subduction) but rock descriptions are extensive and informative.

FRANCISCAN GEOLOGY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA; editor M.C. Blake, Jr., SEPM publication, 1984.
This is a look at the Franciscan after the idea of subduction and accreted terrains had been established. Covers specific areas and basic reference now as an update of the 1964 Bull 183. Good description of Marin Headlands terrain in Marin County.

FRANCISCAN COMPLEX, SF BAY AREA: A Record of Subduction Complex Processes; FIELD TRIP GUIDE by John Wakabayashi published by the Northern California Geological Society, July 1998

GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FO THE TECTONIC SETTING OF THE COAST RANGE OPHIOLITE: Shervais, J. W., and Kimbrough, D. L., 1985A composite island-arc–oceanic crust terrane in western California: Geology, v. 13, p. 35–38.
A look at the origin of the Coast Range Ophiolite and implications for the Mount Diablo Ophiolite.

GEOLOGIC EXCURSIONS IN NORTHER CALIFORNIA; San Francisco to the Sierra Nevada, Special Publication 109; California Division of Mines and Geology; editors Doris Sloan and David Wagner (1991)
Field trip guide for the area.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF MIDDLE CALIFORNIA; Arthur Howard (1979)
One of the University of California Press science series. Good overview of the evolution of central California. For general science oriented reader.

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF MOUNT DIABLO; Special Report 80, California Division of Mines and Geology; (1963). Earl Pampeyan
Basic reference for general overview of the geology and mining history. Pre-subduction and stratigraphy out of date although rock descriptions are useful.

THE GEOLOGY OF BLACK DIAMOND MINES REGIONAL PRESERVE; Northern California Geological Society Guidebook, 1994. Raymond Sullivan and John Waters.
Review of stratigraphy and thinking on depositional environments to the north of Mt. Diablo.

GEOLOGY OF THE MOUNT DIABLO REGION; Ron Crane and Craig Lyon, a Field Trip Guide published by the Northern California Geological Society, 1995
Technical review of the structure, history and stratigraphy on and around Mt. Diablo.

GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA MOUNT DIABLO REGION, Northern California Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May 2002; Ron Crane and Craig Lyon
Numerous cross-sections across the Mt. Diablo anticline. This is an update of guide above with some reference to that publication.

GEOLOGY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION by Doris Sloan (2006)
Gives a thorough nontechnical explanation of complex topics including plate tectonics and the Bay Area's fault systems. Covers the eight bay area counties and contains commentary on Mount Diablo. One of the University of California Press science series.

GEOLOGY OF SAN FRANCISCO AND VICINITY, Field Trip Guidebook T105; editors Clyde Wahrhaftig and Doris Sloan, AGU Publication (1989).
Summary of the geological history of the Bay Area.  Selected field trip guides.

HISTORY OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRY IN THE MOUNT DIABLO REGION; William B. Clark in Sacramento Geological Society Mt. Diablo Field Trip Guide (1984).

MASTODONS IN OUR MIDST: The East Bay’s Miocene Menagerie
By Joe Eaton.  Bay Nature Magazine (July-September 2001)
A description of Contra Costa County in the Clarendonian age of the Miocene epoch, 9 to 10 million years ago, future site of the Blackhawk Ranch fossil quarry—the Bay Area’s richest lode of vertebrate fossils. Excellent illustrations by Carl Buell. Preview article.

MT. DIABLO OPHIOLITE, Kathleen Williams, San Jose State University Masters Thesis (1983). Original work and a thorough review of the Mt. Diablo Ophiolite.

MULTI-STAGE ORIGIN OF THE COAST RANGE OPHIOLITE, CALIFORNIA (pdf):
John Shervais, et al, International Geology Review, Vol.46, p. 289-315, 2004
A look at the origin of the Coast Range Ophiolite and implications for the Mount Diablo Ophiolite.

NEOGENE EVOLUTION OF THE LIVERMORE BASIN WITHIN THE CALIFORNIA COAST RANGES by David Andersen, Kathleen Isaacson and Vincent Barlock; in SEPM Publication, May 1995
Includes stratigraphic correlation chart within the Contra Costa basin.

NEOGENE PALEOGEOGRAPHIES IN THE GREATER SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA; Guidebook for Northern California Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May 1996; editor: Anna V. Buising

NEOGENE TRANSPRESSIVE EVOLUTION OF THE CALIFORNIA COAST RANGES in TECTONICS, vol. 13 no. 2 (June, 1994) - David Jones et al
Technical treatment of structural development in the California Coast Ranges during the latter half of the Tertiary. Only a small amount devoted to Mt. Diablo.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY - VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS
There are several publications  relating to Mount Diablo  and vicinity.

PALEONTOLOGIC RESOURCES INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS; University of California Museum of Paleontology (Berkeley), December 2002, by Sarah Rieboldt
A detailed inventory of the fauna and flora fossil resources in Mt. Diablo State Park.

STRATIGRAPHY, FACIES, AND DEPOSITIONAL PROVINCES OF THE MIDDLE EOCEN DOMENGINE FORMATION, Southern Sacramento Basin; Victor Cherven - GEOLOGY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE SOUTHWESTERN SACRAMENTO BASIN AND EAST BAY HILLS; editors Graham and Cherven; SEPM publication (1983)
Discussion of Tertiary formations on north side of mountain and Miocene history in the East Bay Hills. 

TECTONIC HISTORY OF MOUNT DIABLO; Stanford University Ph.D. thesis (1961); I.R. Colburn

USE OF TEPHROCHRONOLOGY IN CORRELATION AND DATING OF SOME LATE NEOGENE SEDIMENTARY SECTIONS, EAST SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki and James P. Walker, Field Trip Guide, Northern California Geological Society, 1999.

GEOLOGIC MAPS

Thomas Dibblee, Jr. - numerous Open-File Quadrangle maps in Mt. Diablo area. Frequently the starting point for new mapping. (early 1960's).

Earl Brabb, et al -"Preliminary Geologic Map of the Mt. Diablo - Byron Area"; (1971) Frequently cited map.

R.W. Graymer, D.L. Jones, and E.E. Brabb - Preliminary Geologic Map of the Bedrock Formations in Contra Costa County, California; Open File 94-622 with descriptive text, (1994).
This is a map release on a digital database.

Geologic Map of the San Francisco-San Jose Quadrangle, California Division of Mine and Geology; compiled by D.L Wagner, E.J. Bortugno and R.D. McJunkin (1991).
This map summarizes past mapping on a small scale and provides a fairly standardized stratigraphic organization.

Geologic Map of Mount Diablo State Park
This is an expanded section of the "Preliminary Geologic Map of the Bedrock Formations in Contra Costa County, California" listed above and covering the State Park region only. The presentation has been simplified with minor modification by Roi Peers and Craig Lyon (1997).