Paleoshorelines--Monterey Canyon and Vicinity Map Area, California

This part of DS 781 presents data for the paleoshorelines for the geologic and geomorphic map of Monterey Canyon and Vicinity, California. The vector data file is included in "Paleoshorelines_MontereyCanyon.zip," which is accessible from http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161072.

Sea level has risen about 125 to 130 m over about the last 21,000 years (see, for example, Stanford and others, 2011), leading to broadening of the continental shelf, progressive eastward migration of the shoreline, and associated transgressive erosion and deposition. Sea-level rise was apparently not steady, leading to development of pairs of shoreline angles and adjacent submerged wave-cut platforms (Kern, 1977) during pulses of relative stability. Latest Pleistocene paleoshorelines are best preserved along the flanks of Soquel Canyon, where three sets of wave-cut platforms and paired risers are bounded by shoreline angles at water depths of about 120 to 125 m, about 108 m, and about 96 to 100 m, respectively.
Paleoshorelines were primarily mapped by interpretation of bathymetry and backscatter data. The bathymetry and backscatter data were collected between 2006 and 2009.

References Cited

Kern, J.P., 1977, Origin and history of upper Pleistocene marine terraces, San Diego, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 88, p. 1,553–1,566.

Stanford, J.D., Hemingway, R., Rohling, E.J., Challenor, P.G., Medina-Elizalde, M., and Lester, A.J., 2011, Sea-level probability for the last deglaciation—A statistical analysis of far-field records: Global and Planetary Change, v. 79, p. 193–203, doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.11.002.