CERCTP 76_2: USACE ICONS Cores, Long Island South Shore

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title: CERCTP 76_2: USACE ICONS Cores, Long Island South Shore
    Abstract:
    About 800 square miles of the Atlantic Inner Continental Shelf off Long Island, New York, were studied by CERC to obtain information on the sea floor morphology, sediment distribution, and shallow subbottom stratigraphy and structure. This information is used for delineating sand and gravel resources and deciphering shelf geologic history. Basic survey data by CERC consist of 735 miles of high-resolution continuous seismic profiles and 70 vibratory cores; additional data were available from 82 sediment cores and 225 miles of seismic records. Data coverage extends from Atlantic Beach east to Montauk and Gardiners Bay; and from the shoreface seaward about 10 miles to water depths of 105 feet. Three primary acoustic horizons are evident on the seismic profiles and have been identified by correlation with cores, land borings, and surface exposures of the reflectors. Granitic bedrock is the oldest and deepest horizon underlying Long Island, but its recognition on the seismic records, due to limited subbotom penetration, is confined to northern Gardiners Bay. The bedrock surface slopes southeast and exhibits considerable relief where glacial ice has enlarged pre-Pleistocene drainage channels. Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary semiconsolidated clastic sediments overlie the bedrock and dip and thicken to the southeast. The surfaces of these strata, which are present throughout the study area and project north under Long Island, are the second major horizon. The third seismic horizon is a Pleistocene erosion surface cut by fluvial and glacial agents into the older rock units. Depth of this surface varies from -50 to -300 feet MSL off the western and eastern Long Island Shelf to sea floor outcropping in parts of the central Long Island inner shelf. Pleistocene detritus consists primarily of blanketlike deposits of outwash sand and gravel; however, radiocarbon dates show that Holocene - age barrier - lagoonal sequences and estuarine sediments cover parts of the Long Island Shelf. Surficial sediments on the inner shelf are primarily fine to medium quartz sand with secondary occurrences of coarse sand and pea gravel on the Atlantic shelf and silt-clay mixtures in the Gardiners Bay region. The granular facies are relict outwash detritus, carried onto the shelf by ancient rivers and washed and sorted by marine processes since the Holocene rise of sea level. Fine-grained sediments on the shelf originated in early Holocene back-barrier or lacustrine environments; however, those in Gardiners Bay are estuarine or lacustrine deposits from Pleistocene lakes which occupied that region. Glauconitic sands, restricted to a zone off Fire Island Inlet, appear to be residual from the underlying Monmouth Group which, along with other Cretaceous strata, form a cuesta where strata are truncated by the sea floor. Numerous major buried ancestral drainage channels transect Long Island mainland in a north-shore orientation and continue south across the shelf. Thalweg depths of the channels range from -100 to -550 feet MSL and channel widths are often several miles. Many channels on the north shore of Long Island underlie reentrant bays and most were significantly enlarged by Pleistocene glacial ice and later filled with sediment. Much of the surficial sand on the inner shelf is suitable as fill for beach restoration, except for that of the shoreface region (0 to -30 feet MSL) which contains fine sand and that of major parts of Gardiners Bay which contain organic-rich silt and clay. Topographic highs on the sea floor in the form of linear shoals, and broad deltalike platforms in eastern Long Island appear most suitable for sand recovery. The sea floor in most potential borrow areas is flat and sand occurs as blanket deposits. Potential sand reserves within about 12 feet of the sea floor in the region are estimated to be more than 8 billion cubic yards.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Reid, Jamey M. , 2005, CERCTP 76_2: USACE ICONS Cores, Long Island South Shore: Data Series, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Science Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.660630
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.845000
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.167850
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.440410

  3. What does it look like?

    tp762.jpg (JPEG)
    Image map showing extent and distribution of data layer coverage

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

    Calendar_Date: 1976
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

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

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: document

  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 (131)

    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 0.0001. 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?

    tp76_2.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.

    REFERENCE_

    LATITUDE

    LONGITUDE

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Sample identifiers, navigation, core descriptions, and grain size statistics from the USACOE ICONS program project off the south shore of Long Island.

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?

    Pleae review the cross reference information for the original data set credit to Williams (1976). Jamey Reid for entering the data for the source report.

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

    Jeff Williams
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

    (508) 548-8700 x2383 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jwilliams@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?
The purpose of this datalyer is to release a digital version of the coring data from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) Inner Continental Shelf (ICONS) program project off Long Island, New York

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

    USACOE Technical Paper 76-2 (source 1 of 1)
    Williams, S. Jeffress , 1976, Geomorphology, Shallow Subbottom Structure, and Sediments of the Atlantic Inner Continental Shelf off Long Island, New York: Technical Paper No. 76-2, USACOE Coastal Engineering and Research Center, Fort Belvoir, VA.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution:
    Sample identifiers, navigation, core descriptions, and grain-size statistics were hand-entered from report TP76-2 to create an Excel spreadsheet file.

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

    Date: 18-Jun-2002 (process 1 of 2)
    The source information was entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Additional fields were added for project identification purposes. The table information was exported and saved as an ASCII text file.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Jamey Reid
    U.S. Geological Survey
    IT Specialist (Data Management)
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

    (508) 548-8700 x2204 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jreid@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • tp76_2.xls

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • tp76_2.txt

    Date: 28-Jun-2002 (process 2 of 2)
    Digital data were hand formatted into dbSEABED data entry structure, then filtered and data-mined through dbSEABED software (version: db9_MNEs.bas)

    Person who carried out this activity:

    Jamey Reid
    U.S. Geological Survey
    IT Specialist (Data Management)
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

    (508) 548-8700 x2204 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jreid@usgs.gov

    Data sources used in this process:
    • tp76_2.txt

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

    Williams, S. Jeffress , 1976, Geomorphology, shallow subbottom structure, and sediments of the Atlantic inner continental shelf off Long Island, New York: Technical Paper No. 76_2, USACOE, Coastal Engineering and Research Center, Fort Belvoir, VA.

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

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

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Navigation was by LORAN C. Typical nonrepetitive accuracy off Long Island is about +/- 200 meters.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

    Tides are less than 2 meters.

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

    Core locations and descriptions are provided for 152 vibracores with unique field ids; grain size statistics are provided for 267 analyses.

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

    No additional check for topological consistency were performed on this data set.

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)

    Jamey Reid
    U.S. Geological Survey
    IT Specialist (Data Management)
    384 Woods Hole Rd.
    Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

    (508) 548-8700 x2204 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jreid@usgs.gov

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

    Marine Aggregates Resources and Processes: tp76_2.shp

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although this data set has been used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 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. Trade, firm, or product names and other references to non-USGS products and services are provided for information only and do not constitute endorsement or warranty, express or implied, by the USGS, USDOI, or U.S. Government, as to their suitability, content, usefulness, functioning, completeness, or accuracy

  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 original data is available in ASCII text format

Who wrote the metadata?
Dates:
Last modified: 20-Apr-2005
Last Reviewed: 03-May-2005

Metadata author:
Jamey Reid
U.S. Geological Survey
IT Specialist (Data Management)
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

(508) 548-8700 x2204 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
jreid@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.7.33 on Wed May 25 13:37:11 2005