U.S. Geological Survey Oceanographic Time-Series Data Collection

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Description: The Palos Verdes shelf near Los Angeles is contaminated with DDT and PCBs discharged through the White Point ocean outfalls, mostly prior to 1971. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated Superfund remediation activities, including a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS). As part of the RI/FS, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with assistance from the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD), conducted an oceanographic measurement program on the Palos Verdes shelf from December 2007 to April 2008. The objectives of the program were to measure currents, temperature, and salinity throughout the water column at high sampling rates; measure near-bottom current speeds, wave-orbital motions, and suspended-sediment concentrations; and use the data collected to determine the quantity and direction of sediment erosion and transport on the shelf. This page provides links to the data obtained during the winter 2007 field program.

For more information about the original measurements made and samples collected for this experiment, see the description on the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's site.

Duration: December 2007 - April 2008

Lead USGS Scientists: Marlene Noble and Chris Sherwood

Collaborators: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Los Angeles County Sanitation District (LACSD)

Publications:

Rosenberger, K., Noble, M., Sherwood,C.R., Martini, M., Ferreira, J.T., Montgomery, E.T., 2010, Palos Verdes Shelf Oceanographies Study: Data report for Observations December 2007 - April 2008. USGS Open File Report 2010-1240.

Wiberg, Patricia L., and Sherwood, Christopher R., 2008, Calculating wave-generated bottom orbital velocities from surface-wave parameters: Computers and Geosciences, v. 34, no. 10: p. 1243-1262. (Also available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2008.02.010)

Noble, Marlene A.; Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Xu, Jingping; Signell, Richard P.; Steele, Alex, 2008. Connections Among the Spatial and Temporal Structures in Tidal Currents, Internal Bores, and Surficial Sediment Distributions Over the Shelf off Palos Verdes, California. U.S. GS Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5094.

Field Activity Reports: 2007-040-FA, 2008-013-FA, 2008-014-FA

Revision History:

• 2012 original publication

Please use the following citation when referencing this dataset:

Rosenburger, K.J., Sherwood, C.R., Noble, M.A. Martini, M.A., Montgomery, E.T.,Ferriera, J.T., Oceanographic Measurements-- Palos Verdes Shelf, California, 2007: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/pv_shelf07.html.