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What's New for 1995 - 1996 |
San Francisco Bay: The Ecosystem
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In 1994, the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science presented a symposium on San Francisco Bay. With leadership from James T. Hollibaugh of the Tiburon Center, San Francisco State University, a volume including most of the papers from the symposium and some additional chapters written since has now been published by AAAS. Many are by USGS authors. Through the courtesy of AAAS, we are pleased to present a series of abstracts from this work. |
Transport of Particulate Matter in San Francisco Bay
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The resuspension and flux of particles within the San Francisco Bay's waters largely determine water quality, the movement and deposition of contaminants, and the eventual sites of accumulation of silt and clay within harbors. USGS has developed an instrumented bottom tripod called GEOPROBE for obtaining measurements of these important sedimentary processes. First developed for the continental shelf, GEOPROBE is now being used in San Francisco Bay to investigate the transport of particulate matter. Water depth, bottom currents, waves, suspended-sediment concentrations, temperature and conductivity are sampled and recorded using an on-board microcomputer.
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San Francisco Bay has lost most of its freshwater wetlands and salt marshes through dikes, fill, and sedimentation. An ambitious project to restore some of those wetlands is taking place at Sonoma Baylands. USGS is supporting the effort by investigating the occurence, fate, and accumulation of organic contaminants in sediments and biota. Some preliminary results and conclusions are now available.
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San Francisco Bay estuary is the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of the United States. The estuary has been significantly modified by a population explosion, hydraulic mining debris, land reclamation, and reduced fresh water in-flows. This poster session takes you on a tour of the historic and recent impacts of municipal, industrial, and agricultural activities on the contamination of the water, sediments, and biota in the bay, with specific emphasis on the marked decline in the population of striped bass.
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Sailing? Sailboarding? How are the winds blowing? Find out using this new service provided by a collaboration among USGS, San Jose State University, SRI International, and the National Weather Service. Hourly wind observations are relayed to USGS where a current wind pattern map is calculated using a computer model Results are used by USGS and other scientists studying bay currents.
Here's the wind pattern at 8 am January 24, 1996 during a light rain storm. The winds are mostly from the south. Strongest winds are through the Golden Gate at between 20 and 25 knots. |
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The Bay Area Regional Database is now open for your business. And the price is right! Visit us and a wealth of DLGs, DEMs, DRGs, and DOQs could soon be winging their way to your disk to provide the fuel you need for your GIS applications.
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2005 - 2004 - 2002-03 - 2001 - 2000 - 1999 - 1998 - 1997 - 1995-96 |
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