Scripps Canyon is a narrow submarine canyon in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, off the coast of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, United States. The canyon is approximately long and joins La Jolla Canyon offshore. Scripps Canyon is a popular site for

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

recreational diving Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

due to its vertical walls and high density of marine life.

Geography and characteristics

Scripps Canyon, located near

Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma. Founded in 1903 and incorpo ...

(SIO), a major

oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

research institution, and as a result is one of the best-studied underwater canyons. The canyon lies within the bounds of the San Diego-Scripps Coastal Marine Conservation Area (formerly the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park). Two branches extend from Scripps Canyon pointing east towards the coastline, known in literature as the Sumner and South branches.

History

The first measurements at Scripps Canyon were in 1937 by lead-line soundings collected by

Francis Shepard Francis Parker Shepard (10 May 1897 – 25 April 1985) was an American sedimentologist most associated with his studies of submarine canyons and seafloor currents around continental shelves and slopes. Early life and education Shepard was ...

in a rowboat by Scripps Pier. Scripps Canyon was first extensively explored by Frank Haymaker in October of 1946 using a helmet-and-airhose setup to collect samples for Shepard. When the aqualung arrived at SIO in the 1950s, surface-supplied dives were replaced by SCUBA. Focusing on the sand plain between the heads of the La Jolla and Scripps canyons, SIO's Dr. Edward Fager continued to collect samples at depths of from 1956 to 1973. Scripps Canyon was the site of the SEALAB II project in 1965, where divers dwelled in a submersible habitat at for 15 days at a time. The canyon was a site of

physical oceanography Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is div ...

research in the 1970s and 1980s to look at water-sediment interactions such as turbidity currents, canyon

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, and sediment resuspension.

Biology

Early exploration of the canyon by Haymaker in the late 1940s revealed a number of organisms through underwater photography. ''Gorgonia'' corals, bivalve pholad borings,

kelp Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...

, eel grass,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, sea cucumbers, sand dollars, and California rockfish were photographed within the canyon. A 2016 study of the canyon found differences in the distribution of demersal fishes. The canyon is dominated throughout by rockfish, particularly the species of halfbanded (''Sebastes semicinctus'') and ''Sebastomus''. Other common fish include poacher, sole, and lizardfish. In April 2024, droves of tuna crabs were spotted in Scripps Canyon. Due to the cold waters of the canyon, mass dying of the crabs led to many washing up on beaches. Scripps Canyon is considered a native habitat of swellsharks.

References

External links

*Brueggeman, P
La Jolla Canyon and Scripps Canyon Bibliography.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library. 2009. Canyons and gorges of California Submarine canyons of the Pacific Ocean Scripps Institution of Oceanography {{SanDiegoCountyCA-geo-stub