ISOPACH - Holocene sediment thickness on the shelf of the Monterey Bay area from Point Ano Nuevo to Monterey, California

Frequently-anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

Title:

ISOPACH - Holocene sediment thickness on the shelf of the Monterey Bay area from Point Ano Nuevo to Monterey, California

Abstract:

ISOPACH consists of Holocene sediment isopachs at 2-meter intervals to a maximum of 32 meters in the shelf areas of the greater Monterey Bay area. These isopachs were derived from the work of Chin and others (1988), Greene (1977), and Mullins and others (1985).

This is one of a collection of digital files of a geographic information system of spatially referenced data related to the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program "Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Project" <http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/mbms>. The data were collected and analyzed between 1994 and 2000.

1. How should this data set be cited?

   Wong, Florence L. , and Lee, Wilson C. , 2001, ISOPACH - Holocene sediment thickness on the shelf of the Monterey Bay area from Point Ano Nuevo to Monterey, California:.

   Online Links:

   • <http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of01-179>

   This is part of the following larger work.

   Wong, F.L., and Eittreim, S.E., 2001, Continental Shelf GIS for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 01-179, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of01-179/>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -122.39520939

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -121.78358087

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 37.09378523

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 36.68799001

3. What does it look like?

   <http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of01-179/images/geoisopach.gif> (GIF)

   location map of isopach

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

   Calendar_Date: 1999

   Currentness_Reference: Ground Condition

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

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map

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):

      • String (236)

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

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

      UTM_Zone_Number: 10

      Transverse_Mercator:

      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996

      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -123.00000

      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.00000

      False_Easting: 500000.00

      False_Northing: 0.00

      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 5.407997419411
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 5.407997419411
      Planar coordinates are specified in Meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is GRS1980.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

   The isopachs or sediment thickness contours are recorded as strings of vectors and are described in the arc attribute table ISOPACH.AAT.

   
   ISOPACH.AAT: arc attribute table
   
    THICK_M    thickness of Holocene sediment, in meters,
               range 0 to 32 m
    SOURCE     publication reference for data source; keyed to
               source lookup table ISOPACH.SRC
   
   --------------------------------------
   ISOPACH.SRC: publication source lookup table
   
    SOURCE    publication reference from ISOPACH.AAT
              1  Chin, Clifton, Mullins, 1988
              2  Greene, 1977
              3  Mullins, Nagel, Doming., 1985
    REF1, REF2, REF3, REF4, REF5  full publication reference
              entered 60 characters per item
   

   Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: none

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • Florence L. Wong
   • Wilson C. Lee

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

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

   Florence L. Wong
   United States Geological Survey (USGS)
   Geologist, GIS Coordinator
   USGS, MailStop 999, 345 Middlefield Road
   Menlo Park, CA 94025-3561
   USA
   

   (650) 329-5327 (voice)
   (650 329-5190 (FAX)
   fwong@usgs.gov
   

These data are intended for science researchers, students, policy makers, and the general public. The data can be used with geographic information systems (GIS) software to display geologic and oceanographic information about the shallower areas of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   Greene (1977) (source 1 of 3)

   Greene, H.G., 1977, Geology of the Monterey Bay region: U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report OF 77-718, 347 p..

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: contours from figure

   Mullins and others (1985) (source 2 of 3)

   Mullins, H.T., Nagel, D.K., and Dominguez, L.L., 1985, Tectonic and eustatic controls of late Quaternary sedimentation along the central California (Santa Cruz) continental margin: high-resolution seismic stratigraphic evidence.: Sedimentary Geology v. 45, p. 327-347.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: contours from figure

   Chin and others (1988) (source 3 of 3)

   Chin, J.L., Clifton, H.E., and Mullins, H.T., 1988, Seismic stratigraphy and late Quaternary shelf history, south-central Monterey Bay, California: Marine Geology v. 81, p. 137-157.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: contours from figure

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

   Date: 1999 (process 1 of 2)

   W.C. Lee digitized isopachs and built line coverages from Greene (1977, 7.5-m interval), Mullins and others (1985, 2-m interval), and Chin and others (1988, 4-m interval). F.L. Wong applied TOPOGRID to create a 100-m grid, then LATTICECONTOUR to extract 2-m isopachs.

   Date: 13-Feb-2001 (process 2 of 2)

   First draft of metadata created by F.L. Wong using a modified version of FGDCMETA.AML on ARC/INFO data set ISOPACH

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

1. How well have the observations been checked?

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   Limited by digital scanning of maps from publications.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

   No attempt was made to smooth the boundary between the data sets of Mullins and others (1985) and Greene (1977).

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

   Chain-node topology present.

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

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.

Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data.

The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of this data, software, or related materials.

This information is not intended for navigational purposes.

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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

   United States Geological Survey (USGS)
   Geologist, GIS Coordinator
   USGS, MailStop 999, 345 Middlefield Road
   Menlo Park, CA 94025-3561
   USA
   

   (650) 329-5327 (voice)
   (650) 329-5190 (FAX)
   fwong@usgs.gov
   

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

   USGS Open-File Report 01-179

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   Please recognize the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the source of this information.

   Although these data have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data.

   Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

   The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of this data, software, or related materials.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	isopach lines with attributes in format ArcInfo Export (.e00) (version 8.0.2) Size: 0.7 megabytes
     Network links:	<http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of01-179/>

   • Cost to order the data: none

Dates:

Last modified: 13-Feb-2001
Last Reviewed: May-2001

Metadata author:

United States Geological Survey (USGS)
c/o Florence L. Wong
Geologist, GIS Coordinator
USGS, MailStop 999, 345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3561
USA

(650) 329-5327 (voice)
(650) 329-5190 (FAX)
fwong@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata ("CSDGM version 2") (FGDC-STD-001-1998)