Scripps Canyon

Scripps Canyon, located near Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), a major oceanographic research institution, and as a result is one of the best-studied underwater canyons.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Shepard |first1=Francis P. |title=TERRESTRIAL TOPOGRAPHY OF SUBMARINE CANYONS REVEALED BY DIVING |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |date=1949 |volume=60 |issue=10 |pages=1597 |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1949)60[1597:TTOSCR]2.0.CO;2}}

The first measurements at Scripps Canyon were in 1937 by lead-line soundings collected by Francis Shepard in a rowboat by Scripps Pier.{{Cite book |last=Noble Shor |first=Elizabeth |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt109nc2cj;chunk.id=pt04;doc.view=print |title=Scripps Institution of Oceanography: Probing the Oceans 1936 to 1976. |publisher=Tofua Press |year=1978 |isbn=091448818X |language=English}}

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 {{convert|5-10|fathom|m}} from 1956 to 1973.

Scripps Canyon was the site of the SEALAB II project in 1965, where divers dwelled in a submersible habitat at {{convert|205|ft|m|abbr=on}} for 15 days at a time.{{cite journal |last1=Karafantis |first1=Layne |title=Sealab II and Skylab |journal=Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences |date=1 November 2013 |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=551–588 |doi=10.1525/hsns.2013.43.5.551}}{{cite journal |last1=Bowen |first1=Hugh M. |last2=Andersen |first2=Birger |last3=Promisel |first3=David |title=Studies of Divers' Performance During the SEALAB II Project |journal=Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society |date=June 1966 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=183–199 |doi=10.1177/001872086600800301}}{{cite web |last1=Gavidor |first1=Leorah |title=50th anniversary of Sealab II |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/oct/12/waterfront-50th-anniversary-sealab-ii/ |website=www.sandiegoreader.com |publisher=San Diego Reader |access-date=28 September 2024 |language=en}}

The canyon was a site of physical oceanography research in the 1970s and 1980s to look at water-sediment interactions such as turbidity currents, canyon erosion, and sediment resuspension.{{cite journal |last1=Inman |first1=D L |last2=Nordstrom |first2=C E |last3=Flick |first3=R E |title=Currents in Submarine Canyons: An Air-Sea-Land Interaction |journal=Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics |date=January 1976 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=275–310 |doi=10.1146/annurev.fl.08.010176.001423}}{{cite journal |last1=Fukushima |first1=Yusuke |last2=Parker |first2=Gary |last3=Pantin |first3=H.M. |title=Prediction of ignitive turbidity currents in Scripps Submarine Canyon |journal=Marine Geology |date=September 1985 |volume=67 |issue=1-2 |pages=55–81 |doi=10.1016/0025-3227(85)90148-3}}

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, eel grass, blacksmith, 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.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Joshua G. |last2=Lindholm |first2=James |title=Vertical stratification in the distribution of demersal fishes along the walls of the La Jolla and Scripps submarine canyons, California, USA |journal=Continental Shelf Research |date=15 August 2016 |volume=125 |pages=61–70 |doi=10.1016/j.csr.2016.07.001}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Jacobs |first1=Jules |title=Tuna crabs, neither tuna nor crabs, are swarming near San Diego |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/tuna-crabs-neither-tuna-nor-crabs-are-swarming-near-san-diego/ |work=The Seattle Times |date=11 May 2024}} 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.{{cite news |title=Patterns of Glowing Sharks get Clearer with Depth |url=https://www.amnh.org/about/press-center/patterns-of-glowing-sharks-get-clearer-with-depth |publisher=American Museum of Natural History}}

{{Reflist}}

• Brueggeman, P. [http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/uw/CanyonBibliography.pdf La Jolla Canyon and Scripps Canyon Bibliography.] Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library. 2009.

Category:Canyons and gorges of California

Category:Submarine canyons of the Pacific Ocean

Category:Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Category:Underwater diving sites

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