Since 1993, researchers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners conducted a series of field experiments in the Monterey Submarine Canyon, California, to study the hydrodynamics and sediment transport of modern day turbidity currents. For the first time ever, highresolution velocity profiles and sediment properties within live turbidity currents were successfully recorded. The stateoftheart data and knowledge accumulated during the past 20 years contributed substantially to interpreting the mechanism of transporting sediments and other particles through submarine canyons, as well as to understanding the important roles of turbidity currents in sustaining the vibrant ecosystem in submarine canyons. None of these would have been possible without the technological advances in oceanographic and geological instrumentations.