United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California. Chief Scientist: Guy Cochrane. Geophysical data (Kleinsidescan, 4khz) of field activity B-2-99-SC in Off Vandenberg AFB, California from 10/13/1999 to 10/29/1999
Location
California
Comments
Associated cruises in southern California: B-1-98-SC B-1-99-SC B-2-99-SC M-1-99-SC M-1-00-SC J-1-02-SC M-1-02-SC M-1-03-SC S-5-04-SC The October Ballena cruise objective was to sidescan the NMFS study area which encompasses the proposed Calif. State fish reserve off Vandenberg AFB. Guy Cochrane and Fred Payne (Elec. Tech.) were the USGS crew. The NOAA crew consisted of Marcus Lebek (Capt.), Adam Petusky, and Sarah Fangman. The Ballena was mobilized with the Klein 2000 system on Oct. 13. Data was collected off Pt. Arguello from Oct. 16-18. and Oct. 20-21. Use of the Vandenberg AFB pier for a night anchorage was not possible because the sand has filled in the embayment; we anchored off Government Point. We were able to acquire about 200 trackline km of data which will produce about 70 square km of coverage, 60% of the data required to map benthic habitat in the NMFS study area. There was evidence of recent oil seepage on the sea surface in an area where pock marks were observed on the seafloor. We were driven out of the area by high swells and had to spend the remainder of the cruise filling in data gaps in the areas southeast of Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands, and southwest of Anacapa Island. The data were collected with 275 m line spacing and 200 m range. The 4KHz subbottom profiler was used throughout. The R/V Ballena was demobilized Oct. 29. Our next mapping cruise will be off the R/V MacArthur in May/June in conjunction with year two Sustainable Seas operations.
Staff information imported from InfoBank
Guy Cochrane (USGS Western Region) - Chief Scientist
Fred Payne (USGS Western Region) - Electrical Technician
Larry Kooker (USGS Western Region) - Electrical Technician
Marcus Lebek (Contractee) - Captain
Adam Petusky (NOAA) - Mate
Sarah Fangman (NOAA) - Science Coordinator
The sidescan sonar image of the nearshore seafloor (0 to 100 m water depths) of the Big Sycamore reserve area was mosaicked from data collected in 1998. The resolution of the processed data mosaics is 0.2 m. The data are presented here at a resolution of 1 m. This is one of a collection of digital files of a geographic information system of spatially referenced data related to the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program Nearshore Benthic Habitat Mapping Project. See <http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/nearshorehab> for more information.
