The occurrence of underflows or hyperpycnal currents originating from the mouth of the Salinas River should be no surprise, given the long-known riverine bathometric feature existing between the river and Monterey Canyon. The river has a high sediment load, so if these currents weren’t present, sediments from the Salinas River would settle on the continental shelf without creation or sustenance of the riverine bathometric feature that exists today.
Norman S. Braithwaite Redding, Calif.
These currents had been suspected but not observed or measured, until the new research.
–S. Perkins
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.