Wednesday, June 13, 2018

California has hole bigger than Grand Canyon

Johannes Van Meter, Crystal Quintero, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit

California topography banks and plunges to great depths (sanctuaries.noaa.gov)


San Francisco Bay under Golden Gate Bridge
Monterey Canyon is a submarine canyon in Monterey Bay, California, near San Francisco.

It has steep canyon walls measuring a full 1 mile in height from bottom to top. Its height and depth rivals that of the great Grand Canyon.

Wiki image conceals shore and size of canyon.
It is the largest such submarine canyon along the west coast of the North American continent. It i snot know how it was formed. The only theory allowed is insufficient to explain it, saying it was by a process known as turbidity current erosion.

Many questions remain unresolved regarding the nature of its origins. As such it is the subject of several ongoing geological and marine life studies being carried out by science.

Researchers studying it are stationed at the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and other oceanographic institutions.

California's rivers carving Monterey Submarine Canyon (mobileranger.com)
 
OUR MOOD: "That sinking feeling"
Monterey Canyon begins at Moss Landing, California, which is situated along the middle of the coast of Monterey Bay, and extends horizontally 95 miles (153 km) under the Pacific Ocean

It terminates at Monterey Canyon submarine fan, reaching depths of up to 11,800 feet (3,600 meters) below surface level at its downstream mouth.

It is a part of the greater Monterey Bay Canyon System, which consists of Monterey, Soquel, and Carmel Canyons.

Mazu, Chinese Goddess of the Sea
The canyon's depth and nutrient availability (due to the regular influx of nutrient-rich sediment) provide a habitat suitable for many marine life forms.
 
The Soquel Canyon State Marine Conservation Area protects a side-branch of the Monterey Submarine Canyon. Like an underwater park, this marine protected area helps conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. More

Depths of beginning of California's Monterey Submarine Canyon (mbari.org)

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