It then connects to the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.Pacific Ocean
Where is the San Francisco Bay?
November 2014 photo by Doc Searls. San Francisco Bay is a shallow estuary in the US state of California. It is surrounded by a contiguous region known as the San Francisco Bay Area (often simply "the Bay Area"), and is dominated by the large cities of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland.
How does the San Francisco Bay connect to the Pacific Ocean?
It then connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Golden Gate strait. However, this entire group of interconnected bays is often called the San Francisco Bay. The bay was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance on February 2, 2017.
What is Ocean Beach San Francisco?
Ocean Beach San Francisco is a wide expanse of sand and dunes that faces the Pacific Ocean, stretching for three miles along the entire western edge of San Francisco.
Where does San Francisco Bay get its water from?
San Francisco Bay drains water from approximately 40 percent of California. Water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and from the Sierra Nevada mountains, flow into Suisun Bay, which then travels through the Carquinez Strait to meet with the Napa River at the entrance to San Pablo Bay, which connects at its south end to San Francisco Bay.
Is the Bay Area an ocean?
After all, a vast amount of water flows through the Golden Gate at every tide. “The Bay is really part of the ocean,” Largier says.
Is the SF Bay freshwater or saltwater?
Reflecting this diversity, San Francisco Bay's watershed includes the largest urban salt water lake in the United States, Oakland's Lake Merritt, and the largest contiguous brackish marsh on the West Coast, Suisun Marsh.
What separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean?
Golden GateGolden Gate, strait, in California, western coastal U.S., connecting San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean and separating San Francisco from Marin County.
Is San Francisco Bay or coast?
San Francisco Bay and Estuary. The Bay's shoreline is approximately half the length of the California coastline. The Bay is approximately 550 square miles, which is larger than all but nine cities in the United States.
Can you swim in San Francisco Bay?
Aquatic Park, San Francisco This gorgeous cove is one of the most treasured swimming spots on the bay. It is largely protected from wind and currents by an elliptical-shaped harbor frontage that creates a semi-enclosed swimming area abutting a sandy beach. No motorized boat traffic is permitted inside.
Are sharks in San Francisco Bay?
Sharks of San Franscisco Bay Area Around 11 species of Sharks are found in the Bay itself - including Leopard Shark, Pacific Angel Shark, Brown Smoothhound, Broadnose Sevengill, Soupfin Shark. The Leopard Shark is the most common in the Bay. Small Spiny Dogfish are found swimming on the bottom of the Bay.
Is San Francisco surrounded by water?
San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides. But even in these dry days, it's also oozing water from within. Dozens of springs and streams are hidden within the city, and a new map plots these freshwater sources, many of which lie buried underneath the city's streets.
What is at the bottom of the San Francisco Bay?
The City of Chester also lies at the bottom of the bay. The City of Chester was a passenger steamship that left San Francisco and collided in dense fog with the RMS Oceanic arriving from Asia.
What is the water under the Golden Gate Bridge?
San Francisco Bay in Northern California is one of the largest and most altered estuaries within the United States. The sea floor within the bay as well as at its entrance is constantly changing due to strong tidal currents, aggregate mining, dredge disposal, and the creation of new land using artificial fill.
What ocean borders the bay?
Hudson BayOcean/sea sourcesArctic Ocean, North Atlantic OceanCatchment area3,861,400 km2 (1,490,900 sq mi)Basin countriesCanada and the United StatesMax. length1,370 km (850 mi)14 more rows
What coast is San Francisco?
West CoastSan Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries.
What type of water is in San Francisco Bay?
San Francisco Bay is an estuary, where salt water and fresh water mix to form a rich and unique ecosystem that benefits fish, wildlife and people. Fresh water sustains the Bay ecosystem.
How does upwelling help San Francisco?
By bringing cold water up to the surface, upwelling helps create conditions for the fog that often blankets San Francisco. And it also acts like fog’s underwater equivalent, Largier says. Just as the fog flows into the city as a dense, low-lying layer of cloud, ocean upwelling can lead to “cold ocean water pushing in like a wedge underneath ...
Is the Golden Gate part of the ocean?
After all, a vast amount of water flows through the Golden Gate at every tide. “The Bay is really part of the ocean,” Largier says.
Is there an increase in algal levels in San Francisco Bay?
“We haven’t been too worried about nutrient overgrowing in the San Francisco Bay because it hasn’t shown signs of it,” he says, “but recently there’s been an increase in the algal levels [in the Bay]. State regulators are desperate to figure out where all the nutrients are coming from.”
Does upwelling water enter the Bay of San Francisco?
The seawater, when it wells up, slips into the Bay underneath the less dense freshwater flowing into the ocean from the Bay’s watershed, so it often escapes researchers’ notice. It also doesn’t happen very often. To enter the Bay, the water needs to upwell high enough to flow over the shallow San Francisco bar just outside the Golden Gate. “Some days it gets over the bar and into the Bay and some days it doesn’t,” Largier says. But scientists don’t know when that happens or what controls it.
How many bays are there in San Francisco?
San Francisco Bay consists of three main bays—San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun—and several smaller bays. Together with the Delta, the Bay Delta covers some 1,600 square miles and flows more than 70 miles from the coast to the center of the California. At the eastern edge of Suisun Bay, the waters also form Suisun Marsh, ...
How much of San Francisco Bay has been filled in?
Since the 1850s, roughly 40 percent of San Francisco Bay has been filled in and more than 80 percent of the original tidal wetlands converted to other uses. Looking ahead, the changing climate and along with it the likelihood of more extreme weather events present challenges that are being assessed.
What happens to the X2 point in San Francisco?
In a wet year, more fresh water flowing out of the Delta pushes salty water further back into San Francisco Bay. In a dry year, salty water can move further up into the Delta and potentially damage crops. With this in mind, the State Water Project ’s Salinity Control Gates in Suisun Bay modify tidal flow to limit movement of saline water upstream.
How far is the estuary from the Carquinez Strait?
The estuary contains salt water for more than 30 miles inland to the Carquinez Strait. From the other direction, fresh water from the Central Valley flows through the Delta to the sea, meeting salt water at a shifting point just past Carquinez.
What is the largest salt water lake in the US?
Reflecting this diversity, San Francisco Bay’s watershed includes the largest urban salt water lake in the United States, Oakland’s Lake Merritt, and the largest contiguous brackish marsh on the West Coast, Suisun Marsh . San Francisco Bay also contains 90 percent of California’s coastal wetlands and its upper watershed drains 40 percent ...
How is the estuary shaped?
The estuary is shaped by water flows from two directions. Ocean water flows into the estuary at the Golden Gate in San Francisco. Miles inland, fresh water from the Central Valley and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers converges at the Delta and makes its way to the ocean. [See also Bay Model ]
What are the challenges of San Francisco Bay?
Along the way, the estuary has experienced a number of challenges to its vitality. These challenges include: Urban and industrial pollution. Agricultural run off from the Central Valley.
What are the subregions of the Bay Area?
Among locals, the nine-county Bay Area can be further divided into five sub-regions: the East Bay, North Bay, South Bay, Peninsula, and the city of San Francisco. Although geographically located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, the city of San Francisco is not considered part of the "Peninsula" subregion, but as a separate entity.
Why is the San Francisco Bay Area so dry?
The same location during the summer months. Because rain is rare in the San Francisco Bay Area during this time, the surrounding hills quickly become dry and golden-hued in grassy areas.
How many times have the Bay Area voted for a Republican?
In U.S. Presidential elections since 1960, the nine-county Bay Area voted for Republican candidates only two times, in both cases voting for a Californian: in 1972 for Richard Nixon and again in 1980 for Ronald Reagan. The last county to vote for a Republican presidential candidate was Napa county in 1988 for George H. W. Bush. Since then, all nine Bay Area counties have voted consistently for the Democratic candidate. Currently, both of California's U.S. Senators are Democrats, and all twelve U.S. congressional districts located wholly or partially in the Bay Area are represented by a Democratic representative. Additionally, every Bay Area member of the California State Senate and the California State Assembly is a registered Democrat.
What is the East Bay?
The " East Bay " is the densest region of the Bay Area outside of San Francisco and includes cities and towns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, centered around Oakland. As one of the larger subregions, the East Bay includes a variety of enclaves, including the suburban Tri-Valley area and the highly urban western part of the subregion that runs alongside the bay. The " Peninsula " subregion includes the cities and towns on the San Francisco Peninsula, excluding the titular city of San Francisco. Its eastern half, which runs alongside the Bay, is highly populated, while its less populated western coast traces the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and is known for its open space and hiking trails. Roughly coinciding with the borders of San Mateo county, it also includes the northwestern Santa Clara county cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos. The "South Bay" includes all of the rest of the cities in Santa Clara county, centered around San Jose, the largest city in Northern California. It is roughly synonymous with Silicon Valley due to its high concentration of tech companies, although the industry also has a significant presence in the rest of the Bay Area. The " North Bay " includes Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano counties, and is the largest and least populated subregion. The western counties of Marin and Sonoma are encased by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the bay on the east and are characterized by its mountainous and woody terrain. Sonoma and Napa counties are known internationally for their grape vineyards and wineries, and Solano county to the east, centered around Vallejo, is the fastest growing region in the Bay Area.
How many major league teams are there in the Bay Area?
The Bay Area is home to six professional major league sports franchises: The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) in American football, the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS).
How many counties are there in the Bay Area?
A map of the locally accepted nine-county definition of the Bay Area. Also displayed are the five subregions of the Bay Area, which are divided along county lines except for the northwestern portion of Santa Clara county.
What is the area code of San Francisco?
Area codes. 408 / 669, 415 / 628, 510 / 341, 650, 707, 925. The San Francisco Bay Area, popularly referred to as the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. Although the exact boundaries of the region are variously defined, the Bay Area is defined by ...
What is the ocean in San Francisco?
Ocean Beach San Francisco is a wide expanse of sand and dunes that faces the Pacific Ocean, stretching for three miles along the entire western edge of San Francisco.
Which beach in San Francisco has the most rip currents?
Of all the beaches in San Francisco, Ocean Beach is the most dangerous. This beach has some monster rip currents because of its size and location, and the huge quantity of sand on the continental shelf here. Storms and currents mold the sand into the sand bars and channels that create the rip currents.
What street runs out to the beach?
Taraval Street is another one of the city streets that runs out to the beach. It connects with the beach more towards the southern end of Ocean Beach.
Why is it dangerous to swim at Ocean Beach?
Most Important! Swimming is really out of the question at Ocean Beach because of the dangerous rip currents. Also, the water is so cold you would be numb in seconds! Before you go, please read these safety tips. The water temperature is 53 to 57 degrees F (12 to 14 C) year round, so if you're surfing, you'll need a wetsuit.
When are dogs allowed off the beach in San Francisco?
Specifically, dogs are allowed off-leash all year between the Cliff House at the northern end of the beach and Stairwell #21 (just south of the Beach Chalet restaurant, near the Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park). South of the Beach Chalet, dogs are only allowed off-leash from May 16 to June 30, when the Snowy Plovers are not wintering at Ocean Beach. I believe the current fine is $50. (Off-leash Heaven is at Fort Funston, the next San Francisco beach down the coast. Baker Beach is mostly off-leash as well; very popular with the doggos.)
How many ships were wrecked on Ocean Beach?
Between 1850 and 1926, 20 ships were wrecked along Ocean Beach; at very low tides, you can occasionally see the hull of the unfortunate ship, King Philip, which ran aground in 1878, off the beach at the foot of Ortega Street. Return to top.
Where to walk in San Francisco in the fog?
Sunny days are gorgeous, but Ocean Beach San Francisco is a also great place to walk when the fog is rolling in (which is most of May, June and July, our foggy months in the Avenues). When the surf's up, dozens of surfers pull on their wetsuits and paddle out to wait for that perfect wave.
What is San Francisco Bay?
The bay, an estuary marked by complex movements of fresh and salt water, has long been a muddy mystery below the surface, shaped and reshaped by 150 years of human activity and by tons of sediment flushed in from ...
How much of California is in the San Francisco Bay?
All told, the estuary known as San Francisco Bay and the adjoining Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta system cover 1,600 square miles and drain about 40 percent of California. The report focuses on the marks left on the bay floor in the modern era of population growth and industrial activity.
Why did the salt ponds in the South Bay sink?
Meanwhile, the vast salt ponds of the South Bay, among other wetland areas, have sunk after being walled off so long from the tides. Their future depends on being built back up, presumably by redepositing tons of sediment scooped up from somewhere else. So the mud has suddenly become a valued commodity.
Why was the bay mud dumped off Alcatraz?
The bay mud was dumped off Alcatraz, under the assumption that the tides would carry it out past the Golden Gate. Out of sight, out of mind, was about as sophisticated as the environmental planning got.
Who is the executive director of Save the Bay?
Even so, David Lewis, executive director of the Oakland environmental group Save the Bay, called it "the most detailed picture I've seen of what's beneath the bay.". It reveals in startling clarity "a highly altered environment," he said, "just like the parts of the bay and shoreline we can see are highly altered.".
Who is the geologist who mapped the bay beneath the waves?
They are part of a 30- page report by geologist John Chin and colleagues documenting how nature and humans have transformed the floor of the central bay.
Where is the Golden Gate?
It covers only the west-central bay, a small area bounded roughly by the Golden Gate to just west of Treasure Island and the Richmond shoreline, extending from the top of San Francisco up and around Angel Island to the Tiburon peninsula.
Overview
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the large cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from approximately 40 percent of California. Water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and from the Sierra Nevada mountains, …
Size
The bay covers somewhere between 400 and 1,600 square miles (1,000–4,000 km ), depending on which sub-bays (such as San Pablo Bay), estuaries, wetlands, and so on are included in the measurement. The main part of the bay measures three to twelve miles (5–19 km) wide east-to-west and somewhere between 48 miles (77 km) and 60 miles (97 km) north-to-south. It is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas.
Geology
San Francisco Bay is thought to represent a down-warping of the Earth's crust between the San Andreas Fault to the west and the Hayward Fault to the east, though the precise nature of this remains under study. About 560,000 years ago, a tectonic shift caused the large inland Lake Corcoran to spill out the central valley and through the Carquinez Strait, carving out sediment and forming canyons i…
History
The indigenous inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay are Ohlone. The first European to see San Francisco Bay is likely N. de Morena who was left at New Albion at Drakes Bay in Marin County, California, by Sir Francis Drake in 1579 and then walked to Mexico.
The first recorded European discovery of San Francisco Bay was on Novembe…
Ecology
Despite its urban and industrial character, San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta remain perhaps California's most important ecological habitats. California's Dungeness crab, California halibut, and Pacific salmon fisheries rely on the bay as a nursery. The few remaining salt marshes now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh, supporting …
Pollution
Industrial, mining, and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution in the bay, with uptake in the bay's phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish. In January 1971, two Standard Oil tankers collided in the bay, creating an 800,000-U.S.-gallon (3,000,000-liter) oil spill disaster, which spurred environmental protection of the bay. In November 2007, a ship named COSCO …
Bay fill and depth profile
San Francisco Bay's profile changed dramatically in the late 19th century and again with the initiation of dredging by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 20th century. Before about 1860, most bay shores (with the exception of rocky shores, such as those in Carquinez Strait; along Marin shoreline; Point Richmond; Golden Gate area) contained extensive wetlands that graded nearl…
Transportation
San Francisco Bay was traversed by watercraft before the arrival of Europeans. Indigenous peoples used canoes to fish and clam along the shoreline. Sailing ships enabled transportation between the Bay and other parts of the world—and served as ferries and freighters within the Bay and between the Bay and inland ports, such as Sacramento and Stockton. These were gradually replaced by st…
Overview
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Governments to include the nine counties that border the aforementioned estuaries: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Sant…
Boundaries
The borders of the San Francisco Bay Area are not officially delineated, and the unique development patterns influenced by the region's topography, as well as unusual commute patterns caused by the presence of three central cities and employment centers located in various suburban locales, has led to considerable disagreement between local and federal definitions of the area. …
History
The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation of the Bay Area dates to around 10,000 B.C. (Coyote Hills Shell Mound) along the shores of the bay, with evidence pointing to even earlier settlement in Point Reyes in Marin County. The Miwokan and Costanoan Ohlone people, who were living in the Bay Area at the time of first European contact, were possibly descended from Siberian tribe…
Geography
The Bay Area is located in the warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen Csb) that is a characteristic of California's coast, featuring mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall, and warm to hot, dry summers. It is largely influenced by the cold California Current, which penetrates the natural mountainous barrier along the coast by traveling through various gaps. In term…
Demographics
According to the 2010 United States Census, the population of the nine-county Bay Area was 7.15 million, with 49.6% male and 50.4% female. Of these, approximately 2.3 million (32%) are foreign born. In 2010 the racial makeup of the nine-county Bay Area was 52.5% White (42.4% were non-Hispanic and 10.1% were Hispanic), 23.3% Asian, 6.7% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.7% Native …
Economy
The three principal cities of the Bay Area represent different employment clusters and are dominated by different, but commingled, industries. San Francisco is home to the region's financial industry, tourism, and is host to numerous conventions. The East Bay, centered around Oakland, is home to heavy industry, metalworking, oil, and shipping, while San Jose is the heart of …
Housing
The Bay Area is the most expensive place to live in the United States. Strong economic growth has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, but coupled with severe restrictions on building new housing units, has resulted in an extreme housing shortage. For example, from 2012 to 2017, the San Francisco metropolitan area added 400,000 new jobs, but only 60,000 new housing units…
Education
The Bay Area is home to a large number of colleges and universities. The three most notable universities are Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San Francisco, all considered among the most prestigious universities in the world. The first institution of higher education in the Bay Area, Santa Clara University, was founded by Jesuits in 18…