Recent marine sediments of Carmel Bay, California

Abstract

Fifty-six sediment samples were collected within Carmel Bay for textural analysis to determine their statistical properties. The sediments found within the Carmel Submarine Canyon consist, for the most part, of poorly to very poorly sorted very fine sand and coarse silt. The shelf area surrounding the canyon is primarily comprised of moderately to very poorly sorted sand, with a small area of very poorly sorted gravel in the northeastern section of the Bay. Consideration of textural parameters such as mean size, standard deviation, and skewness suggest that the sediments of the Bay are under the influence of a dynamic sediment transport mechanism. The Bay appears to be a sedimentary system primarily isolated from adjacent coastal sediment sources, with the major sources of sedimentary deposits being terrigeneous debris from the Carmel River, erosion and weathering of the local coastline and offshore rocks by wave and weather, and the shells and tests of numerous calcareous marine organisms. Movement of sediments by slumping and gravity sliding down the Carmel Submarine Canyon appears to be the only form of sediment removal within the Bay.