BIGELOW: Sediment Data Produced by the Bigelow Laboratory

Metadata also available as: OUTLINE - TEXT

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title: BIGELOW: Sediment Data Produced by the Bigelow Laboratory
    Abstract:
    The data in this layer are from a number of published and unpublished sets produced by the Bigelow Laboratory. The source projects were conducted primarily to examine contaminant (e.g. trace metals, PAHs) distributions, but also produced sediment textural data. The data were originally converted into digital for inclusion in the Gulf of Maine Contaminated Sediments Database.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Larsen, Peter, Hastings, Polly, and Poppe, Lawrence, 2003, BIGELOW: Sediment Data Produced by the Bigelow Laboratory: U. S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Poppe, L.J., Paskevich, V.F., Williams, S.J., Hastings, M.E., Kelley, J.T., Belknap, D.F., Ward, L.G., FitzGerald, D.M., and Larsen, P.F., 2003, Surficial Sediment Data from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and vicinity: a GIS Compilation: Open-File Report 03-001, U. S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Data is released via CD-ROM media. This digital publication may also be available via the web at pubs.usgs.gov

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.296670
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -65.673330
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 44.466670
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.976670

  3. What does it look like?

    bigelow.gif (GIF)
    Image map showing extent and distribution of data layer coverage.

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Calendar_Date: 1983
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • Entity point (537)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.00001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.00001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.
      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.400000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.978698.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    bigelow.dbf
    Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: ESRI)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    SEQ
    Sequential number identifying each record (Source: Compilers)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:450
    Units:integer count
    Resolution:1

    LOCAL_ID
    Unique identifier used to distinguish samples and replicates (Source: Scientist)

    Characters and numerics used to distinguish records

    SOURCEID
    Author and year of publication for records (Source: Compiler)

    Abbreviated citations for each project

    PROJECTID
    Short title of the project during which the data were generated (Source: Scientist)

    Abbreviated project titles

    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:41.97667
    Maximum:44.46667
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.00001

    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-70.29667
    Maximum:-65.67333
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.00001

    SOUNDING_M
    Water depth in meters (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:603.5
    Units:meters
    Resolution:0.1

    YEAR_ANAL
    Year the samples were analyzed (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1980
    Maximum:1991
    Units:years
    Resolution:1

    GRAVEL
    Percentage of gravel in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:0
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    SAND
    Percentage of sand in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.28
    Maximum:89.5
    Units:percent
    Resolution:0.01

    SILT
    Percentage of silt in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:5.01
    Maximum:69.7
    Units:percent
    Resolution:0.01

    CLAY
    Percentage of clay in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.3
    Maximum:83.51
    Units:percent
    Resolution:0.01

    FINES
    Percentage of fines (silt plus clay) (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.9
    Maximum:100.0
    Units:percent
    Resolution:0.01

    LITHOLOGY
    Verbal description of sediment (Source: Scientist)

    Character String; Lithologic descriptions

    CLASS_SYS
    System used to generate statistics (Source: Scientist)

    ValueDefinition
    FOLKFolk's classification scheme

    MEAN_PHI
    Mean of the grain size distribution (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-0.305
    Maximum:15.7393
    Units:phi
    Resolution:0.0001

    STDDEV
    Standard Deviation (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.2036
    Maximum:7.2576
    Units:phi
    Resolution:0.0001

    SKEWNESS
    Skewness of the size distribution (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-0.9525
    Maximum:2.8358
    Units:none
    Resolution:0.0001

    KURTOSIS
    Kurtosis of the size distribution

    Range of values
    Minimum:-0.3818
    Maximum:2.2506
    Units:none
    Resolution:0.0001

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

    Please review the cross reference information for the original data set credits, and Larry Poppe for creating this ArcView shapefile.

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Lawrence J. Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    lpoppe@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?
The purpose of this data layer is to make available a subset of a data set produced by the Bigelow Laboratory of Boothbay Harbor, Maine. This subset contains information for those samples with sediment grain-size data, and which are located on the inner continental shelf from the northwestern Gulf of Maine.

How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    (source 1 of 1)
    Larsen, Peter, Unpublished Material, Gulf of Maine Sediment Data Produced by the Bigelow Laboratory: Bigelow Laboratory, Boothbay Harbor, ME.

    Type_of_Source_Media: disc

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 31-Oct-2002 (process 1 of 1)
    Textural and lithologic data from the northwestern Gulf of Maine were manually entered into Excel and exported to an ASCII file. Stations and sediment data were imported from the ASCII text file to an ArcView table. The table was later converted to an event theme and saved as the final shapefile.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Lawrence J. Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    lpoppe@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • bigelow.txt

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • bigelow.shp
    • bigelow.shx
    • bigelow.dbf

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    All attributes were checked by the compilers in a consistent manner.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Data from the 1980s was navigated primarily by LORAN C with an accuracy of 100 m; data from the 1990s was navigated primarily by DGPS with an accuracy of 10 m.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    Identifiers, navigation, grain-size data, statistics and lithology are provided for 518 stations.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on the data

How can someone get a copy of the data set?
Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints: None

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Lawrence J. Poppe
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
    USA

    508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    lpoppe@usgs.gov

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Regional Mapping of Surficial Sediments: Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, Aggregates and Habitats Projects, bigelow.shp

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although this data set has been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data or related materials.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

  5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

    The data is available in ArcView shapefile format. The user must have ArcView 3.0 or greater software to read and process the data file. In lieu of ArcView, the user may utilize another GIS application package capable of importing data.

Who wrote the metadata?
Dates:
Last modified: 16-Feb-2003

Metadata author:
Lawrence J. Poppe
U.S. Geological Survey
Geologist
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598
USA

508-548-8700 x2314 (voice)
508-457-2310 (FAX)
lpoppe@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
Generated by mp version 2.7.3 on Sun Feb 16 12:12:08 2003

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