Marine sedimentological data for the Washington continental shelf

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Marine sedimentological data for the Washington continental shelf
Abstract:
The data presented in this report are the results of granulometric analyses, conducted in the Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, of the marine sediment samples from the continental shelf, and the upper part of the continental slope, off the Washington coast. In addition, the report contains data from the Columbia River Estuary, Willapa Bay, and Grays Harbor.
Supplemental_Information:
The results of granulometric analyses of those samples from the report area that have been published by the Institute of Oceanography, University of British Columbia (1962, 1963) have also been included. Duplicate data at some sites are due to collection by multicorer. Data digitized for inclusion into usSEABED. Some data may overlap other University of Washington sources held in usSEABED.
  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Roberts, Richard W. , 1974, Marine sedimentological data for the Washington continental shelf: Special Report No. 57, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Department of Oceanography National Science Foundation Grant GA 28367 A#2 Reference: M74-75

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -126.33333
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.75500
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 48.99833
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 45.91667

  3. What does it look like?

    SpecRep57 (JPG)
    Screen grab of GIS-produced sample distribution, with bathymetry and land for reference.

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

    Beginning_Date: 1954
    Ending_Date: 1972
    Currentness_Reference: Publication date

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

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: paper

  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):

      • Point (2450)

    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 0.00167. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.00167. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Point
    SDTS point (Source: Source report)

    Sample number
    Sample number (Source: University of Washington)

    Alpha numeric number based on cruise and core information

    XID
    Extra identification codes and sampling devices (Source: Source report)

    ValueDefinition
    DAADredge
    WAAGrab sampler
    GAAGravity corer
    PAAPiston corer
    HAACollected by hand
    MAAMultiple gravity corer

    Sample recovery length
    Sample recovery length (Source: Source report)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.45
    Maximum:16
    Units:Meters
    Resolution:0.01

    Water depth
    Water depth of sample (Source: Source report)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:1036
    Units:Meters
    Resolution:1.0

    Gravel
    Amount of gravel in sample (Source: Wentworth, 1938)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:97.87
    Units:Percent of gravel
    Resolution:0.01

    Sand
    Amount of sand in sample (Source: Wentworth, 1938)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.45
    Maximum:99.99
    Units:Percent
    Resolution:0.01

    Silt
    Amount of silt in sample (Source: Wentworth, 1938)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:96.30
    Units:Percent
    Resolution:0.01

    Clay
    Amount of clay in sample (Source: Wentworth, 1938)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:82.84
    Units:Percent
    Resolution:0.01

    Mean
    First moment (mean grain size) (Source: Source report)

    Range of values
    Minimum:3.12
    Maximum:9.17
    Units:Phi
    Resolution:0.001

    Standard deviation
    Second moment (standard deviation) of grain size distribution (sorting) (Source: Source report)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.26
    Maximum:19.95
    Units:Phi
    Resolution:0.01

    Skewness
    Moment measure (third) (Source: Source report)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-2.04
    Maximum:8.79
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Kurtosis
    Moment measure (fourth) of grain size distribution (Source: Unknown)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1.042
    Maximum:93.00
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Mean
    Mean grain size (Source: Inman, 1952)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-3.28
    Maximum:8.39
    Units:Phi
    Resolution:0.01

    Standard deviation
    Standard deviation of grain size distribution (sorting) (Source: Inman, 1952)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.01
    Maximum:4.68
    Units:Phi
    Resolution:0.01

    Skewness
    Graphic skewness (first) of grain size distribution (Source: Inman, 1952)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-0.87
    Maximum:1.45
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Kurtosis
    Kurtosis of grain size distribution (Source: Inman)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-3.91
    Maximum:16.14
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Kurtosis
    Graphic kurtosis of grain size distribution (Source: Folk and Ward, 1957)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.49
    Maximum:8.92
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Kurtosis
    Inclusive graphic kurtosis (Source: Folk and Ward, 1957)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.08
    Maximum:3.95
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Skewness
    Inclusive graphic skewness (Source: Folk and Ward, 1957)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-0.83
    Maximum:0.84
    Units:Unitless
    Resolution:0.01

    Mean
    Graphic mean (Source: Folk and Ward, 1957)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-3.7
    Maximum:6.08
    Units:Phi
    Resolution:0.01

    Size class
    Grainsize values per phi size class (Source: Krumbein and Pettijohn, 1938)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-3
    Maximum:12
    Units:Phi
    Resolution:0.01

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?

    Richard W. Roberts at the University of Washington for the collection and analysis of data. For inclusion into usSEABED: digitization: Mark Zimmermann (NMFS) and K. Halimeda Kilbourne (USGS); Formatting corrections: Jane Reid (USGS) and Chris Jenkins (University of Colorado)

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

    University of Washington
    P.O. Box 357940
    Seattle, WA 98195

    206-543-5060 (voice)

Why was the data set created?

No specific purpose is expressed in the report

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

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

    Date: Unknown (process 1 of 1)
    Generally, the gravel- and sand-size fractions were analyzed using standard sieving techniques and the silt- and clay-size fractions were analyzed using standard pipetting techniques (Krumbein and Pettijohn, 1938). However, the sand-size fraction for a number of samples in the Strait of Juan de Fuca was analyzed using a settling tube (Anderson, 1967). For the IOUBC samples, analysis of the coarse fraction was by sieving and of the fine fraction by the hydrometer method. For usSEABED, data from Technical Report 57, Special Report 39, and Special Report 40 were concatenated together to reduce data overlaps and present data from the same samples together.

    Person who carried out this activity:

    University of Washington
    P.O. Box 357940
    Seattle, WA 98195

    206-543-5060 (voice)

    Data sources used in this process:
    • Anderson, 1967
    • Krumbein and Pettijohn, 1938

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • SpecRep57

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

    Andrews, R.S., 1964, Modern sediments of Willapa Bay, Washington; A coastal plain estuary: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Department of Oceanography Masters thesis, 60p
    Ballard, R.L., 1964, Distribution of beach sediment near the Columbia River: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details: Masters thesis, 82p
    Ballard, R.L., 1964, Distribution of beach sediment near the Columbia River: Technical report No. 98, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Department of Oceanography Reference M64-16
    Burnett, T.L., 1968, Bottom sediment data from the continental shelf of Washington - Grays Harbor to Cape Flattery, 1964, Vols. I, II, III: Special report No. 39, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Department of Oceanography Reference M68-27
    Gross, M.G., McManus, D.A., and Creager, J.S., 1963, Preliminary report on the sediments and radioactivity in the vicinity of the Columbia River effluent.: Technical report No. 84, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Department of Oceanography Reference M63-2
    Gross, M.G., McManus, D.A., and Ling, H-Y, 1967, Continental shelf sediments: Northwestern United States: Journal of Sediment Petrology v. 37, no. 3, p. 790-795, SEPM, Boulder, CO.

    IOUBC, 1962, Sediment grain size analysis: Data Report No. 20, University of British Columbia, Find out, British Columbia.

    IOUBC, 1962, Sediment grain size analysis: Data Report No. 22, University of British Columbia, Find out, British Columbia.

    Kelley, J.C., and McManus, D.A., 1969, Optimizing sediment sampling plans: Marine Geology v. 7, p. 465-471, Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

    Kelley, J.C., and McManus, D.A., 1970, Hierarchial analysis of variance of shelf sediment texture: Journal of Sediment Petrology v. 40, p. 1335-1339, SEPM, Boulder, CO.

    Lie, U., and Kisker, D.S., 1970, Species composition and structure of benthic infauna communities off the coast of Washington: J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada v. 27, pp. 2273-2285, Unknown, Unknown.

    Milliman, J.D., 1963, Recent sediments in Grays Harbor, Washington: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    Department of Oceanography Masters Thesis, 172p

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    No estimate made for the accuracy of the data in the original report. Data digitized by the USGS and partners were visually compared to the source data, and corrected. Where appropriate, data were tested for completeness using MS Excel. Locations checked using GIS.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Navigational techniques not recorded in report; latitudes and longitudes given in degree minute tenths.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

    Water depth determination technique not noted in report. Water depths given in meters.

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

    Tables 4 (granulometric data) and 5 (size class weight data) completely digitized for usSEABED.

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

    Data fall within normal ranges for the given parameters.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints:
Report is available at some libraries and the University of Washington
Use_Constraints:
Cite Richard W. Roberts and the University of Washington as originators of the data.

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

    University of Washington
    P.O. Box 357940
    Seattle, WA 98195

    206-543-5060 (voice)

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

    University of Washington Department of Oceanography Special Report 57

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    Although this dataset has been used by the USGS, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data. Users of the data should be aware of limitations of the data due to possible imprecision due to navigational inaccuracies and limitations of the statistical data.

  4. How can I download or order the data?

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

    None

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 2005
Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o Jane A. Reid
Geologist
400 Natural Bridges Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

831-427-4727 (voice)
jareid@usgs.gov

Contact_Instructions: Email preferred
Metadata standard:
CSDGM Version 2 (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Generated by mp version 2.8.17 on Sat May 20 21:00:14 2006