Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by 

the U.S. Government

This map was printed on an electronic plotter directly from digital files. Dimensional calibration may vary between electronic 

plotters and between X and Y directions on the same plotter, and paper may change size due to atmospheric conditions; 

therefore, scale and proportions may not be true on plots of this map.

For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services, Box 25286, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, 1–888–ASK–USGS

Digital files available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3225/

Suggested Citation: Ritchie, A.C., and Johnson, S.Y., 2012, Detailed geology and geomorphology, Hueneme Canyon, California, 

sheet 11 in Johnson, S.Y., Dartnell, P., Cochrane, G.R., Golden, N.E., Phillips, E.L., Ritchie, A.C., Kvitek, R.G., Greene, H.G., Krigsman, 

L.M., Endris, C.A., Clahan, K.B., Sliter, R.W., Wong, F.L., Yoklavich, M.M., and Normark, W.R. (S.Y. Johnson, ed.), California State 

Waters Map Series—Hueneme Canyon and vicinity, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3225, 

pamphlet 41 p., 12 sheets, available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3225/.

120° 119°40' 119°20' 119°

34°

34°20'

Kilometers 0 5 10

0 4 8 Nautical Miles

Santa Barbara Channel

Santa Barbara

Ventura

CALIF.

MAP LOCATION

Limit of California’s

 State Waters

Santa Cruz Island Santa Rosa Island

Area of

 Map

Anacapa

 Island

Map C. Curvature map of Hueneme Canyon, also showing locations of cross sections depicted in figure 2. Curvature values (in 

1/100 m) are second-derivative values of elevation surface (in other words, slope of slope, calculated using methods of 

Zeverbergen and Thorne, 1987): positive (red) values are convex; zero (yellow) values are flat; negative (blue) values are concave. 

Note that ranges of curvature values represented by each color decreases as values (positive or negative) approach zero. Total 

curvature values (as shown here), in addition to plan and profile curvature values, were used to help distinguish units on 

ONE MILE = 0.869 NAUTICAL MILES geology-geomorphology map (Map A; see also, sheet 10). Dashed blue lines indicate traces of inferred former marine shorelines.

.5 0 .5 KILOMETER

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 FEET

1/2 0 1/2 MILE

SCALE 1:18 000

CURVATURE (1/100 M)

< -8

-8 – -4

-4 – -2

-2 – -1

-1 – -0.5

-0.5 – -0.25

-0.25 – -0.1

-0.1 – 0.1

0.1 – 0.25

0.25 – 0.5

0.5 – 1

1 – 2

2 – 4

4 – 8

> 8

No data

C

C’

D

D’

E

E’

A

A’ B

B’

119°14'

119°14'

34°8'

34°6'

34°4'

34°8'

34°6'

34°4'

Map C – Curvature

Map B. Slope map of Hueneme Canyon. Note that ranges of slope values (in degrees) represented by each discrete 

color increases with increasing slope: colors represent 0.5° intervals between 0° and 4° slope; 1° intervals, between 

4° and 6° slope; and 3° intervals, between 6° and 45° slope. Slope values were used to help distinguish units on 

geology-geomorphology map (Map A; see also, sheet 10). Black line in canyon shows trace of axial-channel profile 

depicted in figure 1; red line in canyon indicates location of detailed profile shown in figure 1. Dashed blue lines 

indicate traces of inferred former marine shorelines. ONE MILE = 0.869 NAUTICAL MILES

.5 0 .5 KILOMETER

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 FEET

1/2 0 1/2 MILE

SCALE 1:18 000

SLOPE (DEGREES)

0 – 0.5

0.5 – 1

1 – 1.5

1.5 – 2

2 – 2.5

2.5 – 3

3 – 3.5

3.5 – 4

4 – 5

5 – 6

6 – 9

9 – 12

12 – 15

15 – 18

18 – 21

21 – 24

24 – 27

27 – 30

30 – 33

33 – 36

36 – 39

39 – 42

42 – 45

> 45

No data

119°14'

119°14'

34°8'

34°6'

34°4'

34°8'

34°6'

34°4'

Map B – Slope

Figure 2. Shore-perpendicular bathymetric cross sections of outer shelf and shelfbreak just east of Hueneme Canyon (see 

Map C for locations), showing paleoshorelines at depths of about 80 m (sections A–A', B–B'), 100 m (sections C–C', D–D', 

E–E'), and 120 m (sections C–C', E–E'). Submerged paleoshorelines develop and are preserved during periods of relative 

sea-level stability and (or) rapid drowning, controlled primarily by eustasy and, to lesser degree, tectonics. Deepest 

paleoshoreline (about 120 m deep) corresponds approximately to sea level during final phases of last sea-level lowstand 

about 21,000 years ago; most shallow paleoshoreline (about 80 m deep) is compatible with pulse of rapid sea-level rise 

during meltwater pulse 1a, about 14,000 years ago (Peltier, 2005; Gornitz, 2009).

Distance (meters)

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 

100

80

60

40

A

0 250 500 750 1,000 1,250 1,500 

150

100

50

riser

shoreline angle

platform

(5x vertical exaggeration)

(5x vertical exaggeration)

Depth (meters) Depth (meters)

NE SW

A’

B B’

C C’

D D’

E E’

Figure 1. Axial-channel profile and detailed axial-channel profile of Hueneme Canyon (see Map B for locations). Detailed 

profile illustrates "step-pool" nature of main canyon channel: note that upstream sides of many steps are convex, possibly 

reflecting presence of upcanyon-migrating bedforms (sediment waves) between nick-point scour pools (Kostic and others, 

2010). In this scenario, sediment-rich turbidity currents accelerate until flow becomes supercritical over a step, forming a 

hydraulic jump and inducing scour at downstream base of step, where energy is lost and deposition occurs.

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000

Detailed axial-channel profile distance (meters)

Canyon axial-channel depth (meters)

Detailed axial-channel depth ( meters)

Canyon axial-channel profile distance (meters)

Canyon axial-channel profile

Detailed axial-channel profile

2,000 2,200 2,400 2,600 2,800 3,000 3,200 3,400

330

320

310

300

290

280

270

260

250

240

230

220

210

200

190

180

Detailed Geology and Geomorphology, Hueneme Canyon, California

By

Andrew C. Ritchie and Samuel Y. Johnson

2012

Qcfa

Qcfl

Qcft

Qlss

Qls1

Qls2

Qls3

Qcwo1

Qcwo2

Qcwi

Qccw

Qccb

Qccf

Qcch

Qwpr1

Qwp1

Qwpr2

Qwp2

Qwpr3

Qwp3

Tbu

Qmr

Qmp

Qmsl

Qms

af

LIST OF MAP UNITS

[See Description of Map Units (chapter 8, in pamphlet) for complete map-unit descriptions]

NEARSHORE, SHELF, AND SLOPE

Artificial fill (Holocene)—Rock, sand, and mud; placed and (or) dredged. Also includes seafloor 

significantly modified by human activity

Marine shelf deposits (Holocene)—Predominantly sand; ripple marks common

Marine slope deposits (Holocene)—Sand and mud

Marine pockmarks (Holocene)—Sand and mud

Marine rill (Holocene)—Probably sand and mud

Bedrock, undivided (Pliocene? and Miocene)

PALEOSHORELINES

Submerged wave-cut platform, about 75 to 85 m deep (latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be sand 

and gravel

Submerged wave-cut platform riser, base about 75 to 85 m deep (latest Pleistocene)—Inferred 

to be sand and gravel

Submerged wave-cut platform, about 95 to 100 m deep (latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be 

sand and gravel

Submerged wave-cut platform riser, base about 95 to 100 m deep (latest Pleistocene)—

Inferred to be sand and gravel

Submerged wave-cut platform, about 120 to 125 m deep (latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be 

sand and gravel

Submerged wave-cut platform riser, base about 120 to 125 m deep (latest Pleistocene)—

Inferred to be sand and gravel

SUBMARINE CANYON

CHANNELS

Submarine-canyon channel-head deposits (Holocene)—Probably sand and gravel(?)

Submarine-canyon channel-floor deposits (Holocene)—Inferred to be sand and gravel

Submarine-canyon channel-flanking bar deposits (Holocene)—Inferred to be sand, mud, and 

gravel

Submarine-canyon channel-wall deposits (Holocene)—Inferred to be sand, mud, and gravel

WALLS

Inner submarine-canyon-wall deposits (Holocene and latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be sand, 

mud, and gravel; slopes mostly more than 12° and commonly more than 20°

Outer submarine-canyon-wall deposits (Holocene and latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be sand, 

mud, and gravel; slopes mostly more than 30°; erosional and deeply incised

Outer submarine-canyon-wall deposits (Holocene and latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be sand, 

mud, and gravel; slopes generally more than 18° but rarely more than 30°; smooth and 

commonly sediment draped

LANDSLIDES

Landslide deposits, third generation (Holocene)—Inferred to be sand and gravel

Landslide deposits, second generation (Holocene and latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be sand 

and gravel

Landslide deposits, first generation (Holocene and latest Pleistocene)—Inferred to be sand and 

gravel

Slump deposits on canyon walls (Holocene and latest Pleistocene)—probably sand

FILL

Tributary-submarine-canyon fill (Holocene)—Inferred to be sand and gravel

Lateral-submarine-canyon fill (Holocene)—Inferred to be mud, sand, and gravel

Axial-submarine-canyon fill (Holocene)—Inferred to be sand and gravel

EXPLANATION OF MAP SYMBOLS

Contact—Approximately located

Inferred former marine shoreline

No data—Area not mapped owing to insufficient high-resolution seafloor-mapping data

DISCUSSION

This map sheet shows a larger scale (1:12,000) version (Map A – Geology and Geomorphology), 

centered on Hueneme Canyon, of the geologic map (1:24,000) shown on sheet 10. The purpose is to focus 

more intensively on the canyon by showing geologic and geomorphic relations in more detail. Additional 

maps show two parameters, slope (Map B) and curvature (Map C), that inform the geologic-geomorphic 

mapping. Discussion of geologic units and relations not described below is included on sheet 10 and in 

pamphlet.

Hueneme Canyon extends about 15 km offshore from its nearshore canyon head. The canyon is relatively 

deep (about 150 m deep at the California’s State Waters limit) and steep (canyon walls as steep as 25° to 30°). 

Hueneme Canyon is the westernmost of several submarine canyons in the eastern Santa Barbara Channel, and 

it is the first that intersects the littoral supply of sediment derived from the Santa Ynez Mountains and other 

mountains of the Transverse Ranges geologic province (Normark and others, 2009). The canyon is thought to 

have been connected to the Santa Clara River during sea-level lowstand about 21,000 years ago and then 

maintained its connection with the shoreline by headward erosion during rising sea level. 

Geologic-geomorphic mapping in Hueneme Canyon is based on recognition of distinct units that are 

present either on canyon walls or as channel, landslide, or canyon-fill deposits. The outer walls of Hueneme 

Canyon extend upward to the shelf edge and vary from smooth (sediment draped) (unit Qcwo1) to deeply 

incised (unit Qcwo2). Inner canyon walls (unit Qcwi) occupy an intermediate position between the shelf edge 

and canyon floor. Both outer and inner canyon walls were formed primarily by landsliding. Three different 

landslide-deposit units are mapped in Hueneme Canyon on the basis of their morphology and relative age, 

inferred from crosscutting and (or) draping relations: unit Qls1 (oldest), unit Qls2, and unit Qls3 (youngest). 

The landslide map units commonly include steep erosional scarps paired with hummocky landslide deposits; 

this genetic pairing (scarps and landslide deposits) distinguishes the internal scarps within landslide units from 

the head scarps within canyon-wall units. Lower relief, sediment-draped, deep-seated slumps are mapped as a 

fourth landslide-deposit unit (Qlss). 

Channel-head deposits at the mouth of Hueneme Canyon (unit Qcch) are delineated on the basis of their 

incision into the nearshore, as well as their relatively steep gradients and their V-shaped profiles. These 

channel heads merge into lower gradient and more flat-bottomed canyon-floor channel deposits (unit Qccf). 

The Hueneme Canyon channel floor is a zone of active sediment transport characterized by large, asymmetric 

bedforms (fig. 1) bounded by steep channel walls (unit Qccw). Narrow, elongate channel-flanking bars (unit 

Qccb) are elevated above, and are morphologically distinct from, the channel floors and, thus, are broken out 

as separate map units. 

In addition to landslide and canyon-channel deposits, three additional canyon-fill map units are recognized. Axial-submarine-canyon-fill deposits (unit Qcfa), which form elevated surfaces 20 to 50 m above the 

floors of Hueneme Canyon and the smaller submarine canyons and which dip gently downcanyon, are 

composed of well-stratified sediment (sand, mud, gravel?), recognized on the basis of its seismic-reflection 

data (see sheet 8; high frequency, moderate amplitude, and parallel reflections). Lateral-submarine-canyon-fill 

deposits (unit Qcfl), located on the east flank of Hueneme Canyon near its head, consist of west-dipping, 

stratified sediment (recognized on the basis of its seismic-reflection facies; see sheet 8) that probably formed 

as distributed fluvial input into the canyon in the middle to late Holocene. Tributary-submarine-canyon-fill 

deposits (unit Qcft) are inferred to have formed as direct fluvial entrants into the canyons in the middle to late 

Holocene and, subsequently, were partly filled by nearshore and shelf sediment during sea-level rise. 

Outside Hueneme Canyon at the shelfbreak, the geology, slope, and curvature maps also highlight 

submerged paleoshorelines. Sea-level rise (controlled by both eustasy and tectonic land-level change) was not 

steady during ongoing sea-level rise, leading to development of shorelines during periods of relative sea-level 

stability that can be preserved by pulses of rapid drowning. These paleoshorelines, characterized by shoreline 

angles and adjacent submerged wave-cut platforms and risers (Kern, 1977), commonly are buried by shelf 

sediment. However, their original morphology is at least partly preserved on the outer shelf and upper slope 

on the east flank of Hueneme Canyon. Three wave-cut platforms (units Qwp1, Qwp2, Qwp3) and risers 

(units Qwpr1, Qwpr2, Qwpr3) are mapped here, separated by shoreline angles at depths of approximately 75 

to 85 m, 95 to 100 m, and 120 to 125 m, respectively (fig. 2).

REFERENCES CITED

Gornitz, V., 2009, Sea level change, post-glacial, in Gornitz, V., ed., Encyclopedia of paleoclimatology and 

ancient environments: New York, Springer, p. 887–893.

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.

Kostic, S., Sequeiros, O., Spinewine, B., and Parker, G., 2010, Cyclic steps—A phenomenon of supercritical 

shallow flow from the high mountains to the bottom of the ocean: Journal of Hydro-environment 

Research, v. 3, p. 167–172.

Normark, W.R., Piper, D.J.W., Romans, B.W., Covault, J.A., Dartnell, P., and Sliter, R.W., 2009, Submarine 

canyon and fan systems of the California Continental Borderland, in Lee, H.J., and Normark, W.R., eds., 

Earth science in the urban ocean—The Southern California Continental Borderland: Geological Society 

of America Special Paper 454, p. 141–168.

Peltier, W.R., 2005, On the hemispheric origins of meltwater pulse 1a: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 24, p. 

1,655–1,671.

Zeverbergen, L.W., and Thorne, C.R., 1987, Quantitative analysis of land surface topography: Earth Surface 

Processes and Landforms, v. 12, p. 47–56.

Qcfl Qcfa

Qcft

Qlss

Qls1

Qls2

Qls3

Qcwo1

Qcwo2

Qcwi

Qccb Qccw

Qccf

Qcch

Tbu

Qwp1 Qwpr1

Qwp2 Qwpr2

Qwp3 Qwpr3

af Qms Qmsl Qmp Qmr

PALEOSHORELINES

CORRELATION OF MAP UNITS

NEARSHORE, SHELF, AND SLOPE SUBMARINE CANYON

CHANNELS WALLS LANDSLIDES FILL

QUATERNARY

Holocene

TERTIARY

Late

Pleistocene

Pliocene(?) 

and Miocene

.5 .25 0 .5 KILOMETER

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 FEET

SCALE 1:12 000

1/2 0 1/2 MILE

APPROXIMATE MEAN ONE MILE = 0.869 NAUTICAL MILES DECLINATION, 2012

13°

MAGNETIC NORTH

TRUE NORTH

Offshore shaded-relief bathymetry from map on sheet 2, 

this report

Universal Transverse Mercator projection, Zone 11N

NOT INTENDED FOR NAVIGATIONAL USE

Geology and geomorphology mapped by Andrew C. Ritchie 

and Samuel Y. Johnson, 2010-2011

GIS database and digital cartography by Andrew C. Ritchie 

and Eleyne L. Phillips

Edited by Taryn A. Lindquist

Manuscript approved for publication July 25, 2012

119°14'

119°14'

34°8'

34°6'

34°4'

34°8'

34°6'

34°4'

Qccf

Qcfa

Qcfa

Qls1

Qwp1

Qwp1

Qcfa

Qcfa

Qmr

Qmr

Qmr

Qlss

Qcwo1

Qcwo2

Qccw

Qcfa Qls3

Qls3

Qls2

Qls1

Qccw

Qcfa

Qcwi

Qls3

Qcwo2

Qls2

Qcwi

Qccw

Qcfa

Qcwo1

Qwpr2

Qwpr2

Qwpr1

Qwpr1

Qwpr1

Qmsl

Qmsl

Qwpr3

Qwpr2

Qwpr3

Qlss

Qcwo1

Qls1

Qcwo2

Qcfa

Qls3

Qccw

Qls3

Qcfl

Qccw

Qls1

Qls1

Qls2

Qmr

Qwp1

Qwpr2

Qmr

Qms

Qmp

Qmp

Qmr

Qmp

Qmp

Qccw

Qccw

Qcfa

Qls1

Qwp3

Qwp3

Qls3

Qcfl

Qls3

Qls3

Qls1

Qcwi

Qls3

Qcwo1

Qls1

Qls1

Qcch

Qccw

Qcfa

Qls1

Qcwo1

Qcch

Qcch

Qwpr2

Qwp2

Qwp3

Qcwi

Qcwi

Qcfl

Qcft

Qcft

Qccw

Qcwo1

Qcfa

Qcfa

Qcwi

Qccw

Qccb

Qccf

Qls2

Qmp

Qmr

Qmp

Qms

Qcfa

Qccf

Qcwo1

Qcwo1

Qccf

Qccb

Qccb

Qmr

Qls2

Qcwo1

Qcwo1

Tbu

Qmsl

Qcwo1

Qmp

Qmr

Qccw

Qls3

Qcwi

Qcww

Qcwi

Qccw

Qcfa

Qccb

Qcwo1 Qcch

Qcfa

Qmr Qmp

Qmp

Qmsl

Qmp

Qmp

Qmsl

Qmsl

Qmr

Qccw Map A – Geology and Geomorphology af

Scientific Investigations Map 3225

Sheet 11 of 12

Pamphlet accompanies map

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey