San Pedro Bay (California)
| San Pedro Bay | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Land mass | North America | |
| Geographical location | 33 ° 43 ′ N , 118 ° 10 ′ W | |
|
||
| width | approx. 20 km | |
| Islands | Mormon Island , Terminal Island | |
| Tributaries | San Gabriel River | |
The San Pedro Bay is a small bay on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California in the United States . It is located at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which together form the fifth largest port in the world (after the ports of Shanghai , Singapore , Hong Kong and Shenzhen ), as well as the largest in the western hemisphere .
Seabed
Most of the bay is between ten and twenty meters deep. The ocean floor near Long Beach has experienced significant subsidence due to oil production in the Wilmington Oil Field since the 1950s. Ironically, that helped the Port of Long Beach outperform the Port of Los Angeles as the largest port in the United States. In the 1980s and 1990s, since the deepening of the seabed, Long Beach intended to adapt the fairway so that ships with more draft could also reach the port. The dredging for a gigantic new marine terminal in the port of Los Angeles took place on both sides of the bay to facilitate access for the largest container ships in existence .
Islands
Natural islands in San Pedro Bay are Terminal Island (currently rising mudflats ) at the site of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and Mormon Island at the site of an unsuccessful settlement attempt by the Mormon pioneers from San Bernardino in the 1950s . Los Angeles land reclamation has significantly enlarged Terminal Island, just as they have connected Mormon Island to the mainland. The former Deadman's Island was in the southern bay but was removed in 1928 as part of the port expansion.
Four small artificial islands contain oil wells and are spread around the bay at Long Beach. The oil drilling rigs themselves are "hidden" behind a light-colored wall. These islands called Oil Iceland Freeman, Oil Iceland Grissom, Oil Iceland White and Chaffee were Oil Iceland after the unfortunate NASA - Astronaut Theodore Freeman , Virgil Grissom , Edward White and Chaffee Roger B. named.
Breakwater
A 13.6 km long breakwater stretches across the bay. It has two openings that ships can pass through to reach the port behind it. The initial western section of the breakwater, called the San Pedro Breakwater, was built between 1899 and 1911; the middle section was ready in the next 25 years and the Long Beach breakwater was ready after World War II. The Long Beach breakwater is the subject of a small local controversy: some environmental groups, including the Surfrider Foundation, suggested modifying or removing the breakwater to improve water flow and leave the coast more environmentally friendly. This distance is in contrast to waterfront owners who argue that the breakwater is needed to protect against storm damage.
literature
- Joe McKinzie: San Pedro Bay, California . Arcadia Publishing 2005, ISBN 0738530433