sea floor. Studies of the source area and the transport of 

 sedimentary particles therefore lead to a better understanding 

 of the sea floor. Also a knowledge of the surface and subsurface 

 geologic structures on land is helpful when attempting to decipher 

 the structure, physiography, and history of the shelf area. 



The literature dealing with Santa Monica Bay can be divided 

 into several categories s 



A. Offshore area (including the shelf, but excluding the 

 nearshore zone) covering the subjects of submarine topo- 

 graphy, bottom materials, geologic history, paleogeography, 

 and structure. 



B. Nearshore zone (including beaches and sand dunes) 

 covering the subjects of beach and nearshore processes, 

 and sediments. 



C. Land geology. 



In the following literature summary, an attempt has been 

 made to indicate the most important articles for each particular 

 phase of the marine geology of Santa Monica Bay. Additional 

 pertinent references are in the bibliography at the end of this 

 report and in the annotated bibliography. 



Offshore Area 



Blake (1856), although not describing Santa Monica Bay 

 specifically, made one of the earliest studies of the submjirine 

 topography off the southern California coast. George Davidson 

 (1887, 1897) while associated with the U. S. Coast Survey (later 

 called the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) gave the earliest 

 description of submarine canyons off the California coast. 

 W. S. T. Smith (1902) discussed California's submarine canyons, 

 but after this date little was written until F. P. Shepard became 



