San Pablo Bay study area

The USGS Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments. During each deployment, time series of current velocity, water depth, and turbidity were collected at several stations in the shallows, and one station in the channel. Velocity and depth (pressure) were collected at high frequency (10 Hz) to allow calculation of wave parameters and turbulence statistics.

The purpose of these deployments was to investigate sediment dynamics in very shallow water, including the intertidal region, in San Francisco Bay. We are interested in what controls turbidity in shallow and intertidal regions because they serve as an important source of sediment to marshes. In addition, shallows tend to be the most turbid part of the estuary, because of wave-driven resuspension, so sediment dynamics in the shallows are an important part of the sediment budget of the estuary. These data sets provide calibration data for sediment transport models of San Francisco Bay.