BARNHARDT: Maine Inner Continental Shelf Sediment Data

Metadata also available as: OUTLINE - TEXT

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title: BARNHARDT: Maine Inner Continental Shelf Sediment Data
    Abstract:
    Surficial geologic maps play and important role in understanding the present sea floor and the processes that shape it. Between 1984 and 1991, over 1,700 bottom sample stations were occupied in the northwestern Gulf of Maine. Although the data were originally collected for a variety of research projects, contracts, and graduate student theses, they were eventually compiled as part of a Maine Geological Survey and University of Maine program to map the inner continental shelf of this region.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Poppe, Lawrence J. , and Hastings, Mary E. , 2003, BARNHARDT: Maine Inner Continental Shelf Sediment Data: 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: -70.812833
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -67.129700
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 44.578314
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.833833

  3. What does it look like?

    barnhardt.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: 1998
    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 (1739)

    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 0.00000001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.00000001. 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?

    barnhardt.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.

    SITE
    Unique number assigned to each sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:1902
    Units:stations
    Resolution:1

    SAMPLE
    Name used to identify samples (Source: Scentist)

    Names of characters and munerics identifying samples

    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:42.833833
    Maximum:44.578314
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000001

    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-70.812833
    Maximum:-67.129300
    Units:decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.000001

    DEPTH_M
    Water depth in meters (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:211
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1

    C_CODE
    Classification code (Source: Scientist)

    Abbreviations of lithologic descriptions

    LITHOLOGY
    Lithologic/textural descriptions of the seafloor (Source: Scientist)

    Lithologic descriptions

    GRAVEL
    Percentage of gravel (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:100
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    SAND
    Percentage of sand in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:100
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    SILT
    Percentage of silt in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:74
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    CLAY
    Percentage of clay in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:85
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    MUD
    Percentage of mud (silt plus clay) in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:100
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

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

    Range of values
    Minimum:-4.9
    Maximum:11.6
    Units:phi
    Resolution:0.1

    STDDEV
    Standard deviation of the grain size distribution in phi units (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:7.6
    Units:phi
    Resolution:0.1

    BAY
    Bay or region where the sample was collected. (Source: Scientist)

    Names of bays and regions along the inner continental shelf

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 credit to Kelley and others (1998), 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 Maine Geological Survey and the University of Maine. This subset contains information for those samples with raw 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 2)
    Kelley, J.T., Barnhardt, W.A., Belknap, D.F., Dickson, S.M., and Kelley, A.R., 1998, The Seafloor Revealed: The Geology of the Northwestern Gulf of Maine Inner Continental Shelf: Maine Geological Survey Open-File 96-6, 55 p., Maine Geological Survey, Department of Conservation, Augusta, ME.

    Type_of_Source_Media: CD-ROM

    (source 2 of 2)
    Barnhadt, W.A., Kelley, J.T., Dickson, S.M., Belknap, D.F., and Kelley, A.R., 1996, Surficial Geology of the Maine Inner Continental Shelf: Maine Geological Survey Map Series scale 1:100,000, Maine Geological Survey, Augusta, ME.

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

    Date: 29-Oct-2002 (process 1 of 1)
    Textural and lithologic data from the northwestern Gulf of Maine were clipped from the whole Maine Geological Survey and University of Maine dataset from the Surficial Geology of the Maine Inner Continental Shelf map series in 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:
    • barnhardt.txt

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • barnhardt.shp
    • barnhardt.dbf
    • barnhardt.shx

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?

    Navigation was variously performed with Loran C (+/- 100 m accuracy) and dfferential GPS (+/- 10 m accuracy). No location-by-location differentiation is made between these navigational systems.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    Locations, grain-size data, textural classifications, and identifiers are provided for 1,739 samples.

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

    No additional checks for topological consistency were performed on this 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, barnhardt.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 12:13:17 2003

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