Pollution and Waste Disposal

High priority survey areas are estuaries and offshore regions near densely populated urban areas, and sensitive ecosystems experiencing environmental degradation:

• San Francisco Bay, California
• Farallon Islands, California
• Prince William Sound, Alaska
• Honolulu, Hawaii
• Southern California
• Arctic Ocean

The objectives of these programs are to:

1. Identify and map the extent of sediment deposits and associated contaminants on the sea floor.
2. Understand the processes by which pollutants and waste material interact with and accumulate in sedimentary deposits.
3. Improve our knowledge of transport of sedimentary particles and associated pollutants.
4. Increase our understanding of the processes by which pollutants migrate through subsurface deposits and are reintroduced to the seabed and water column.