Scientists collaborating in this project possess the breadth of knowledge needed to examine processes over these relevant ranges in a multidisciplinary fashion. One element of our research strategy is to exploit these differences within the larger San Francisco Bay system to pursue general questions about the input, transport, transformation, and biological effect of toxic substances in estuarine systems. The Delta has a complex flow pattern highly influenced by riverine flows and export pumping of freshwater. Chronic contamination exceeds that in the Delta and is diluted from the head of Suisun Bay into San Pablo Bay. Superimposed on this chronic contamination are periodic inputs of pesticides and trace elements from the Delta, making exposures to toxic substances complex in both time and space.
North Bay has extensive shallows, but wind-driven resuspension is important only during the summer.
As with most urbanized estuaries, dredging is on-going and more is proposed. The shallow regions provide an important nursery for Chinook salmon and striped bass. North Bay therefore represents an ideal focus for studies on long-term transport of sediment and toxic substances associated with those sediments and the resulting biological response. South Bay has longer water residence times than North Bay during the dry summers and drought years, and the predominant physical influences are tides and winds. It has extensive shallow areas where suspended sediment fluxes are significantly influenced by wind events.