July 20, 2006 4:46 PM PDT
Newly released images show an enormous field of underwater sand dunes (called sand waves) hidden beneath the ocean at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay.
The U.S. Geological Survey and California State University, Monterey Bay, jointly conducted research on the area and have made public a set of striking images that bring the seafloor to life in never-before-seen detail.
The maps, which are based on data collected in 2004 and 2005, show a field of 40 individual sand waves that cover an area of roughly two square miles and sits just west of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Photo by U.S. Geological Survey
