Zeolites found in the Neogene sediments in north-ern Japan show a vertical zonal arrangement. The zeolite zones are formed primarily by maximum temperature during burial diagenesis. The effect of geological reaction time on transformation temperature to progress in the zeolitization was studied at eight deeply drilled wells in oil-producing areas of Japan. The strata in these wells have continuously deposited under marine environments until recent time and reach geologically maximum burial depth.