|
NSF Award(s)
OCE-9982105
,
OCE-0620276
(View
all sites)
The Santa Barbara Coastal LTER is located in the coastal zone of southern California near Santa Barbara. It is bounded by the steep east-west trending Santa Ynez Mountains and coastal plain to the north and the unique Northern Channel Islands archipelago to the south. Point Conception, where the coast of California returns to a north to south orientation, lies at the western boundary, and the Santa Clara River marks its eastern edge.The site lies on the active boundary of the Pacific Oceanic Plate and the North American Continental Plate. High levels of tectonic activity have created dramatic elevation gradients in both the terrestrial and the underwater landscapes of the site. The Santa Barbara Channel includes some of the deepest ocean basins known on the continental shelf along with remarkable submarine canyons and escarpments.
Read
full description
| Contact Information |
|
| Address: |
Marine Science Institute
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 |
| Phone: 805-893-2071 |
| Email: sbc_help@lternet.edu |
|
| View contact info
for all sites |
| Site History |
The SBC LTER was established in April 2000. The kelp forests, coastal ocean and watersheds of this area have been studied independently for many years.
|
| Research Topics |
Effects of land use and ocean forcing on the processing and transport of nutrients and carbon to giant kelp forests.
Role of climate change/variability and disturbance on nearshore population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem processes.
Controls on reef food webs.
Read
complete research topics
|
| Institutional Affiliations
|
Research Sites |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Santa Barbara Coastal LTER Headlines |
|
| |
| Site Coordinates |
|
| |
| Climate Info. |
| Annual |
High |
Mean |
Low |
| Temperature |
75.4 c |
59.1c |
40.1c |
| Precipitation |
1196 mm/year |
463 mm/year |
114 mm/year |
|
|
