Collecting data and samples from San Pablo Bay

At left, USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists Pete Dal Ferro, Jenny White, and Joanne Thede Ferreira deploy a platform at the Lower station, where the depth of the bay floor is 1 m below MLLW. Photograph taken February 2, 2011, by Jessie Lacy. At right, to supplement data collected by the instruments, MacVean made periodic trips to each site to collect sediment samples. Here she extracts a small core of sediment collected from the bay floor on March 9, 2011. Cores from all sites will be analyzed to identify differences in sediment characteristics—such as grain size and porosity—that affect susceptibility to erosion. This knowledge will help the scientists understand whether sediment at the different sites will respond differently to the forces of tides and wind. Photograph by Pete Dal Ferro.