Los Angeles Margin


[Los Angeles Index Map]


 [Shaded Relief]  False sun illumination of bathymetry and landDTM [Backscatter]  Backscatter from multibeam and land DTM. [Movie]  Fly-by Quicktime movie flying over Santa MonicaBay. [Oblique View]  Shaded relief oblique view of LosAngeles Margin bathymetry and land DTM lookingtowards the north east. [Stereo Relief]  3-D stereo image of Santa Monica Bay (use 3-Dglasses). [Data Download] Download Arc/Info Export (.e00) files and full resolutionTIFF images.


In 1996 the Pacific Seafloor Mapping Project surveyed the shelf and slopeoffshore Los Angeles, CA (between the 20 to 800-m isobaths) from Pt. Dumeto the Paloes Verdes. In 1998 the project continued mapping to the southand surveyed the outer shelf, slope, and proximal basin off Long Beach andNewport. The two datasets were merged and regridded into a single database.

These two surveys were conducted to support a USGS project studying marinepollution and geohazards along the Los Angeles Margin, southern California..

The data show, for the first time, the details of the continental marginof this region. The major elements include:

  • the sediment-stripped Santa Monica Plateau
  • the steep and eroded continental slope off Malibu
  • the gullied clastic wedge created by the Los Angeles River
  • the steep and eroded continental slope off the Palos Verdes Peninsula
  • the sinuous Dume, Santa Monica, and Redondo Submarine Canyons
  • the meandering and braided San Gabriel and Newport Canyons


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