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MBARI's Continental Margin Processes Team, led by Senior Scientist Charlie Paull, investigates how the morphology of the continental margin -- where the continental shelf transitions to the abyssal plain -- is sculpted and changed over time.

For the past six years, MBARI's Continental Margin Processes Team has been working to understand the origins of the pockmark formations, establish whether they are geologically active, and determine if they are areas of special biological significance.

These pockmarks are located on the continental margin, a dynamic section of the seafloor that connects the relatively shallow continental shelf to the deep sea.

The seafloor offshore of this remote stretch of the Central California coastline has historically been one of the least-studied regions of the continental margin off the west coast of North America.

The Continental Margin Processes Team conducted 30 dives with two of MBARI's ROVs to get a closer look at 21 pockmarks within the field.