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
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