San Francisco Bay geomorphology
Science Center Objects
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
The primary objective of this task is to develop tools for predicting the long-term geomorphic evolution of estuaries.
Sediment core and historical change analysis will be used in combination with interpretation of high-resolution seismic profiles to develop tools for predicting geomorphic evolution of estuaries. Historical change analysis will use hydrographic and lidar data. Longer-term data will be derived from sediment cores.
Locations of sediment samples collected by the USGS in winter 2008 within the San Francisco Bay study area, used to groundtruth acoustic data interpretations.
Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments
Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to...
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Date published: September 15, 2021Status: ActiveSediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Jessie Lacy -
Date published: September 15, 2021Status: ActiveDrag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport is part of the Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments project.
Contacts: Jessie Lacy -
Date published: July 8, 2021Status: ActiveSan Francisco Bay geomorphology
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Bruce Jaffe -
Date published: May 15, 2021Status: ActiveSediment transport in submarine canyons
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
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Date published: April 9, 2021Status: ActiveColumbia River estuary
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments.” We aim to support regional sediment management in the Columbia River littoral cell by:
• monitoring and modeling shoreline change
• modeling fate of disposed dredged material
• bedform morphologyContacts: Guy GelfenbaumAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: March 12, 2021Status: ActiveTransport of invasive microorganisms
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Mary McGann -
Date published: July 27, 2020Status: ActiveCoastal watershed and estuary restoration in the Monterey Bay area
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Contacts: Amy EastAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Shoreline retreat of the Corte Madera marshes, 1853 to 2016, Marin County, California
The greater San Francisco Bay estuary, prior to human intervention, encompassed about 2,200 km2 of tidal and salt marshes. Over time, these areas became increasingly diked, developed, and altered from their natural state. In addition, natural forces are always driving a continually shifting equilibrium.This study area, the Corte Madera marshes, is...
Carkin, Bradley A.; Kayen, Robert E.; Wong, Florence L.
Morphodynamic resilience of intertidal mudflats on a seasonal time scale
Intertidal mudflats are morphodynamic features present in many estuaries worldwide. Often located between vegetated shores and deep channels they comprise valuable ecosystems and serve to protect the hinterland by attenuating waves. Although mudflats are persistently present on yearly to decadal time scales, little is known on their morphodynamic...
Van der Wegen, Mick; Roelvink, Dano; Jaffe, Bruce E. A revised continuous surface elevation model for modeling
A digital elevation model (DEM) is an essential component of any hydrodynamic model. The Delta Modeling Section (Section) has maintained a database of bathymetry soundings and levee surveys for decades and published a 10-meter (10m) DEM for the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) (California Department of Water Resources...
Wang, Rueen-Fang; Ateljevich, Eli; Fregoso, Theresa A.; Jaffe, Bruce E. Slough evolution and legacy mercury remobilization induced by wetland restoration in South San Francisco Bay
Coastal wetlands have a long history of degradation and destruction due to human development. Now recognized as one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, substantial efforts are being made to restore this critical habitat. While wetland restoration efforts are generally viewed as beneficial in terms of providing wildlife habitat and...
Foxgrover, Amy C.; Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark C.; Jaffe, Bruce E.; Fregoso, Theresa A. Modeling morphodynamic development in the Alviso Slough system, South San Francisco Bay, California
Alviso Slough area, South San Francisco Bay, California, is the site of an ongoing effort to restore former salt production ponds to intertidal habitat. As restoration proceeds and the levees surrounding the former salt production ponds are breached, the increase in tidal prism and associated sediment scour in the sloughs will remobilize legacy...
Van der Wegen, Mick; Reyes, Johan; Jaffe, Bruce; Foxgrover, Amy How can climate change and engineered water conveyance affect sediment dynamics in the San Francisco Bay-Delta system?
Suspended sediment concentration is an important estuarine health indicator. Estuarine ecosystems rely on the maintenance of habitat conditions, which are changing due to direct human impact and climate change. This study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change relative to engineering measures on estuarine fine sediment dynamics and sediment...
Achete, Fernanda; Van der Wegen, Mick; Roelvink, Jan Adriaan; Jaffe, Bruce E.
Description of gravity cores from San Pablo Bay and Carquinez Strait, San Francisco Bay, California
Seventy-two gravity cores were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1990, 1991, and 2000 from San Pablo Bay and Carquinez Strait, California. The gravity cores collected within San Pablo Bay contain bioturbated laminated silts and sandy clays, whole and broken bivalve shells (mostly mussels), fossil tube structures, and fine-grained plant or...
Woodrow, Donald L.; John L. Chin; Wong, Florence L.; Fregoso, Theresa A.; Jaffe, Bruce E.
A new seamless, high-resolution digital elevation model of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, California
Climate change, sea-level rise, and human development have contributed to the changing geomorphology of the San Francisco Bay - Delta (Bay-Delta) Estuary system. The need to predict scenarios of change led to the development of a new seamless, high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the Bay – Delta that can be used by modelers attempting...
Fregoso, Theresa A.; Wang, Rueen-Fang; Ateljevich, Eli; Jaffe, Bruce E. Is “morphodynamic equilibrium” an oxymoron?
Morphodynamic equilibrium is a widely adopted yet elusive concept in the field of geomorphology of coasts, rivers and estuaries. Based on the Exner equation, an expression of mass conservation of sediment, we distinguish three types of equilibrium defined as static and dynamic, of which two different types exist. Other expressions such as...
Zhou, Zeng; Coco, Giovanni; Townend, Ian; Olabarrieta, Maitane; van der Wegen, Mick; Gong, Zheng; D'Alpaos, Andrea; Gao, Shu; Jaffe, Bruce E.; Gelfenbaum, Guy R.; He, Qing; Wang, Yaping; Lanzoni, Stefano; Wang, Zhengbing; Winterwerp, Han; Zhang, Changkuan Mudflat morphodynamics and the impact of sea level rise in South San Francisco Bay
Estuarine tidal mudflats form unique habitats and maintain valuable ecosystems. Historic measurements of a mudflat in San Fancsico Bay over the past 150 years suggest the development of a rather stable mudflat profile. This raises questions on its origin and governing processes as well as on the mudflats’ fate under scenarios of sea level...
Van der Wegen, Mick; Jaffe, Bruce E.; Foxgrover, Amy C.; Roelvink, Dano
Bathymetric survey and digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a bathymetric survey in Little Holland Tract, a flooded agricultural tract, in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the “Delta”) during the summer of 2015. The new bathymetric data were combined with existing data to generate a digital elevation model (DEM) at 1-meter resolution. Little...
Snyder, Alexander G.; Lacy, Jessica R.; Stevens, Andrew W.; Carlson, Emily M. A 2-D process-based model for suspended sediment dynamics: A first step towards ecological modeling
In estuaries suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is one of the most important contributors to turbidity, which influences habitat conditions and ecological functions of the system. Sediment dynamics differs depending on sediment supply and hydrodynamic forcing conditions that vary over space and over time. A robust sediment transport model is a...
Achete, F. M.; van der Wegen, M.; Roelvink, D.; Jaffe, B.-
Date published: July 8, 2021High-resolution (1 m) digital elevation model (DEM) of San Francisco Bay, California, created using bathymetry data collected between 1999 and 2020 (ver. 2.0, July 2021)
A 1-m resolution bathymetric digital elevation model of San Francisco Bay was constructed from bathymetric surveys collected from 1999 to 2020. The DEM has been divided into northern, central, and southern sections due to file size, and is available in both MLLW and NAVD88 versions. Background: In 2014 and 2015 the California Ocean Protection Council contracted the collection of bathymetric...
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Date published: December 31, 2020Pilot study on bathymetric change analyses in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
This pilot study explores historic bathymetric change in the Delta. The earliest comprehensive surveys that covered a large portion of the Delta were conducted in the 1930s. These historic surveys are compared to recent surveys to document how sedimentation and erosion have changed the Delta. We selected regions for the pilot study based on availability of data, critical habitats, and...
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Date published: February 24, 2020Bathymetry, topography, and acoustic backscatter data, and a digital elevation model (DEM) of the Cache Slough Complex and Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
This data release presents bathymetric and topographic data from surveys performed between 2017 and 2018 in the Cache Slough Complex and the Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC), northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. The shallow, highly vegetated aquatic habitats of this region necessitated a variety of survey platforms and techniques. In the deeper channels, swath...
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Date published: June 7, 2017Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data of the Sacramento River, from the Feather River to Knights Landing, California in February, 2011
On February 1, 2011, the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center team carried out a project using interferometric sidescan sonar to characterize the riverbed and channel banks of a 12 mile reach of the Sacramento River near the town of Knights Landing, California (River Mile 79 through River Mile 91). The project was developed in coordination with the US Army Corps of Engineers as part...
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Date published: January 1, 2017Gravity cores from San Pablo Bay and Carquinez Strait, San Francisco Bay, California
This data release contains information on gravity cores that were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in the area of San Pablo Bay and Carquinez Strait, California in 1990, 1991, and 2000. Ten (10) pdf files describe gravity cores that were split, photographed, and imaged by X-rays, and another pdf file contains a core-log legend. In addition, a shapefile provides sample col
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Date published: January 1, 2016Digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, 2015
This product is a digital elevation model (DEM) for the Little Holland Tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California based on U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-collected elevation data, merged with existing topographic and bathymetric elevation data. The USGS collected topographic and bathymetric elevation data in 2015, using a combination of methods. Topographic and shall