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OCEANO Contaminant Processes
 CABRILLO Home | Océano

Southern California Contaminant Processes

Océano addresses oceanographic and contaminant-related studies in southern California.

The Océano project is comprised of the following three topics:


The main study area for the Océano project extends from Pt. Arguello down to the California-Mexico border (Figure 1).
Map of Southern California, Pt. Arguello south to California-Mexico border
Figure 1
Human and environmental health are the overriding issues addressed in the Océano task. These issues are of critical importance in the coastal region of the Southern California Borderland (SCB), which borders the second largest urban-population center in the U.S. The SCB is unique among the continental margins of the U.S. Within the SCB, the abundance of natural contaminants may actually be as significant as anthropogenic sources. We presently do not fully know the quantitative contributions of contaminants from the various anthropogenic input sources, such as streams, surface runoff in urban areas, sewage outfalls, wind-blown debris, and natural input sources such as seepage along faults and organic matter-rich sediments. Quantifying the natural sources of contaminants is essential for determining the scope of the contaminants problem; the mass balance of contaminants; regional contaminant patterns; and the locations of hot-spots that may need attention in terms of analyzing biota for toxicants; those hot-spots may be regions of potential risk for human health through bio-accumulation and bio-magnification of toxicants in the food web.

Accomplishments and Current Work:

  • Cruises: Océano has completed numerous cruises throughout 2001-2003 to deploy and recover instruments, as well as take numerous sediment samples
  • Moorings/Tripods: Océano has successfully deployed and recovered over 24 oceanographic moorings and tripods, obtaining quality data of currents, waves, winds, temperature, salinity, water clarity, and sediments
  • Cores: Océano has collected over 200 sediment cores
  • Photographs: Océano has taken approximately 100 bottom photographs and performed about 70 hours of camera tows
  • Geophysics: Measurements of currents taken over the central portion of the San Pedro shelf and over the Palos Verdes peninsula will be shared by Océano in a data cooperative with a number of collaborators
  • Dating of Core Contaminants: Océano is using sediment cores to yield sediment budgets and estimates of sediment flux for both the late Holocene and the last 100 years.
  • Modeling: Océano is modeling sediment transport processes and helping to predict how sediment conditions will change with time as the influence of human activities changes. Also, a regional sediment transport model will be developed that will incorporate all sedimentological and oceanographic data and will allow planners to forecast future seabed conditions given variable input parameters.
  • Publications: A special issue of Continental Shelf Research has been printed that presents the results of Océano's stuidies on the Palos Verdes margin. Also, a dedicated issue of Marine Environmental Research has been produced that resents the results of our recently completed collaborative, multidisciplinary studies in Santa Monica Bay.

For more information on the Océano, Contaminant Processes Task, use the following links:
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For more information, please contact: 
Project coordinator: Homa J. Lee
Web coordinator: Carol Reiss
Web developer: Lori Hibbeler

URL: http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/cabrillo/oceano/
Site maintained by: Laura Zink Torresan
Modified: 2 February 2005 (lh)
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