Geology: CINMS

Overview

The Channel Islands are located within a unique geological region off the southern California coast. Over millions of years, large plates of the earth’s crust moved along fault lines, pushing against the coastline of Mexico and California and creating the coastal geography that is seen today.

South side of Santa Cruz Island. Photo by Robert Schwemmer, NOAA ONMS.
South side of Santa Cruz Island. Photo by Robert Schwemmer, NOAA ONMS.

During this shifting, part of the southern California coast was rotated, resulting in the unusual east-west axis of the California coast just south of Point Conception, termed the Transverse Ranges, and the formation of the Channel Island chain along this coast. The Continental Borderland is the offshore section of the underwater geology that forms a wide continental shelf (Norris and Webb 1990). Unlike most wide continental shelves that consist of gently sloping platforms interrupted by low banks and occasional canyons, the Continental Borderland is a region of basins and elevated ridges (Norris and Webb 1990) (Fig 1). The Channel Islands are the portions of the ridges that rise above sea level.

Parallel to and situated between the California coast and the Channel Islands is the 1,950-foot deep Santa Barbara Basin. The seaward edge of the Continental Borderland (known as the Patton Escarpment) descends 13,200 feet to the deep ocean floor (Norris and Webb 1990). The highest point in the Channel Islands is the 2,450 foot Picacho Diablo on Santa Cruz Island and the deepest point within sanctuary boundaries is 5570 feet on the south side of Santa Cruz Island.

R/V Shearwater anchored next to Anacapa Island arch. Photo by Robert Schwemmer, NOAA ONMS.
R/V Shearwater anchored next to Anacapa Island arch. Photo by Robert Schwemmer, NOAA ONMS.

Oil and Natural Gas

More than 20 oil fields and several natural gas fields lie beneath the Santa Barbara Channel. Most are close to the mainland and several are accessed from offshore oil and gas platforms (Norris and Webb 1990). There are more than 40 naturally occurring oil and gas seeps in the Santa Barbara Channel (Norris and Webb 1990). The area is known to have one of the highest natural oil seepage rates in the world. Seeps at Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara are estimated to discharge approximately 150-170 barrels (6,300-7,140 gallons) of oil per day (Hornafius et al. 1999).

Bathymetric features of Southern CA
Fig 1. Bathymetric features of Southern California.
Map: CINMS

Photos

No photos are currently available for this section.

Maps

Projects

Ongoing

Channel Islands Naturalist Corps

Channel Islands Naturalist Corps volunteers are trained by CINMS and CINP to educate the public on board local marine excursion vessels conducting whale watch tours, natural history tours, and island trips. Channel Islands Naturalist Corps volunteers are trained to conduct citizen science on marine mammal field identification and general research. Research objectives of the program include the development of a comprehensive database of incidental marine mammal sightings and reports collected in the Santa Barbara Channel, CINMS and CINP.

Ongoing

Investigation of submerged shorelines in the Channel Islands and California Borderland

The Ocean Exploration Trust used scuba diving, high resolution autonomous surface vessel and ship-based mapping, and remotely operated vehicles to locate and characterize submarine shoreline terraces in the Channel Islands. Our 2017 team will continue their efforts in 2018 and will focus on: (1) locating sea caves at the 103-meter, 110-meter, and 120-meter paleo-shorelines on other submerged banks in the Borderland where the E/V Nautilus has subsequently collected bathymetric and backscatter maps since the 2017 cruise; (2) mapping the interior of several of the caves using a diver guided 3D imaging system; (3) using the ASV to locate possible cave entrances along deeper paleo-shorelines, (4) following that effort with a visual inspection of any new caves using the ROVs, and finally; (5) collecting water and/or sediment samples within selected caves to better understand the fish populations living within the caves through eDNA analysis. 

Ongoing

Leveraging Drones and Autonomous Boats for Mapping and Monitoring of Shallow-Water Environments in the Channel Islands

Repeat mapping of shallow-water environments is essential for monitoring damage and recovery from episodic events (e.g., major storms), as well as chronic coastal erosion and habitat degradation. Bathymetric data covering the shallowest areas (<5 m water depth) can be challenging to collect, yet is critically needed for benthic habitat mapping. These data are also of interest to NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey (OCS), in areas such as the Channel Islands, where offshore breakers can prohibit vessels from surveying to the navigation area limit lime (NALL).  Topobathymetric lidar from conventional (manned) aircraft is often an effective technology, but it can be too expensive for repeat monitoring at high temporal frequencies. Furthermore, the mobilization times can be prohibitive when data are needed immediately after a storm or other disaster.

 

Ongoing

Return to the Northern Channel Islands to Monitor Change Over Time, Inside and Outside of Marine Protected Areas

Marine Applied Research and Exploration (MARE) returned to complete ROV surveys around the northern Channel Islands MPAs 5 years after creating its deepwater baseline. The same 10 historical sites, both inside and outside of select MPAs, have been filmed and post-processed annually 2005-2009, with return surveys completed in 2014 and 2015.
Ongoing

Southern California Seafloor Mapping Initiative

Place-based fisheries and coastal zone managers depend on fine scale bathymetry and habitat maps for an array of critical decisions including: navigational safety, disaster response, endangered species and fisheries management, conservation, research, energy development, and marine planning. Yet, in southern California nearly 90% of U.S. waters remain unmapped at an appropriate resolution. As of 2014, the unmapped area within NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) was over 50% with the majority being characterized by single beam and lead line data from the 1930s. To address this critical information gap, offices across the NOAA family, together with other state and federal partners are uniting and filling the void.

Links

Big Sur Region Earth Sciences Bibliography

A compilation of citations pertaining to Earth sciences studies performed in the Big Sur region of central coastal California.
http://www.ventanawild.org/news/fe02/geobib.html

California Coastal Commission - 1995 ReCAP Pilot Project, Monterey Bay Region: Coastal Hazards

This chapter summarizes ReCAP's investigation of shoreline hazard response -- protection of upland development by armoring, the permitting associated with existing armoring, the impacts from armoring, the policies which address shoreline protection, and the likely changes which will happen to the shoreline in the future assuming existing trends and policies continue.
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/recap/chap3.html

California Coastal Mapping Project

The California Coastal Mapping Program is a comprehensive effort to combine seafloor mapping data with shoreline data to create seamless onshore-offshore maps of California's coastline.
http://www.opc.ca.gov/2010/01/mapping-californias-coastal-areas/

California Geological Survey - An index to online geologic field trips, including coastal Central California

The California Geotour is an interactive index of Web pages of geologic field trip guides and related Web sites compiled by the California Geological Survey (CGS) for the benefit of all who have wondered about California's geologic features.
http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/Pages/Geotours.aspx

Central Coast Watershed Studies (CCoWS)

The Central Coast Watershed Studies (CCoWS) team is part of the Watershed Institute, in the Division of Science and Environmental Policy at California State University Monterey Bay. They conduct research on watersheds that feed into the MBNMS.
http://ccows.csumb.edu/home/

CSUMB Seafloor Mapping Lab

At California State University Monterey Bay, students get hands-on research experience with mapping the seafloor. Find out more!
http://seafloor.csumb.edu/index.html

Elkhorn Slough Tidal Wetland Plan

The purpose of this collaborative planning process is to conserve, enhance, and restore tidal habitats in the Elkhorn Slough watershed by developing strategies to address hydrological management issues.
http://elkhornslough.org/tidalwetlandplan.htm

Investigating Earth Systems

A new, standards-based, Earth Science curriculum for the middle grades developed by the American Geological Institute in association with It's About Time Publishing.
http://www.agiweb.org/ies/

MBARI - Current Research Projects

Learn about current research projects conducted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).
http://www.mbari.org/rd/projects/current_projects.html

MBARI - Mapping the Monterey Canyon

See how the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is involved in mapping the seafloor of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
http://www.mbari.org/canyon/Mapping_Sections.htm

MBNMS Teacher Curriculum - The Land-Sea Connection

Teacher activity "The Land-Sea Connection": Conducting a Transect Along the Seafloor of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, takes students in for a close look at the Sanctuary's benthic region. After becoming familiar with a bathymetric/topographic map of the area, students select a transect along the seafloor to study some of the geological, biological, and physical features that are present. Available in both Spanish and English.
http://montereybay.nos.noaa.gov/educate/teachercurriculum/investigation2.html

Monterey Bay Aquarium - Student and Teacher Resources and Activities

The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers teacher and student resources including: species and habitat-specific information, live cams, classroom activities, and interactive online games.
http://www.mbayaq.org/lc/

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Site Characterization - Geology

This site characterization of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) summarizes available information about MBNMS geology.
http://montereybay.noaa.gov/sitechar/geol.html

NOAA - Ocean Exploration Lesson Plans

Students of all ages can learn about the oceans with near real-time access to a series of multidisciplinary deep ocean explorations. The site offers a set of over 100 hands-on and standards-based lesson plans for student exploration and discovery. Using new technological "eyes" to see, sense, measure, image, and describe a little known ocean world, these lessons bring the excitement of late-breaking ocean discoveries into classrooms.
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06davidson/background/edu/lessonplans.html

Oceanography Resources- Educational resources

This includes links to online courses about oceanography, museum and university exhibitions, sites dealing with significant oceanographic field programs and experiments, technical reports, glossaries and various other documents pertaining to oceanography and related areas.
http://stommel.tamu.edu/%7Ebaum/ocean_education.html

Smithsonian Education - Ocean Planet Lesson Plan

Part of a set of multidisciplinary lesson plans from the Smithsonian, this lesson plan focuses on the ocean bottom features such as the continental shelf, deep ocean plain, and mid-ocean ridges, and includes downloadable student activities. Grades 3-8.
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/ocean/secrets/essay.html

Teach the Earth - Education Tools and Information for the Geosciences

The Science Education Resource Center's portal for Geoscience Faculty, providing information and resources to undergraduate educators. Much of the information is useful for high school teachers as well.
http://serc.carleton.edu/

The Bridge - Ocean Sciences Teacher Resource Center

Materials and curricula related to many areas of study in the Monterey Bay. Be sure to check the data tip of the month archives. (Supported by the National Sea Grant Office, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, and the National Marine Educators Association.)
http://www.vims.edu/bridge/

USGS - Geology and Coastal Hazards in the Northern Monterey Bay, California, A Field Trip Guidebook

The purpose of this field trip is to explore the relationships between local geology, coastal hazards, and human influences in the northern Monterey Bay, which is a tectonically active, high wave energy coastal environment.
http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of00-438/

USGS - Geology and Coastal Hazards in the Northern Monterey Bay, California, A Field Trip Guidebook

The purpose of this field trip is to explore the relationships between local geology, coastal hazards, and human influences in the northern Monterey Bay, which is a tectonically active, high wave energy coastal environment.
http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of00-438/

USGS - Monterey Bay Internet Map Server

Continental Shelf GIS for the Monterey Bay Area - selected data layers for the USGS seafloor for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Project from USGS published reports and other sources.
http://coastalmap.marine.usgs.gov/ArcIMS/website/usa/westcoast/cencal/montereybay/viewer.htm

USGS - Photo Tour from Año Nuevo to Santa Cruz, California

A digital photographic survey documenting the coastal morphology and stratigraphy between Point Año Nuevo and Santa Cruz, California, with precision-navigated overlapping images.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-61/

USGS - Science Education

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides scientific information intended to help educate the public about natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and issues that affect our quality of life. This website provides links to selected online resources to support education (K-12) and college inquiry and research.
http://education.usgs.gov/

USGS Pacific Coastal & Marine Science Center

Homepage of USGS Division that conducts multidisciplinary scientific research in the coastal and offshore areas of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and other US Pacific Islands; and in other waterways of the United States.
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov

USGS Western Region Coastal and Marine Geology - Education and Outreach Activities

Online education and outreach activities highlight geologic information helpful for the public, educators, students, scientists, businesses, and government agencies.
http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/pubinfo/