HATHLITH71: Lithologic Descriptions from the Continental Margin Program

Metadata also available as: OUTLINE - TEXT

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title:
    HATHLITH71: Lithologic Descriptions from the Continental Margin Program
    Abstract:
    This data set contains lithologic information on bottom sediments from the Continental Margin Program. The program was a joint collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution during the 1960s to conduct a geological reconnaissance investigation of the continental shelf and slope off the Atlantic coast of the United States. Only those records without complete size analyses and only those stations from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and southeastern New England shelf and slope are included in this data set. Other stations where detailed textural analyses are available or are from other areas have been excluded. Furthermore, dredges were used to collect most of the bottom samples, resulting in winnowing that has resulted in lithologic descriptions that are texturally coarser than actually present. Care should be taken when using this dataset.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Poppe, Lawrence J. , 2003, HATHLITH71: Lithologic Descriptions from the Continental Margin Program:, 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: -71.900000
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -63.533330
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 46.086670
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 39.236670

  3. What does it look like?

    hathlith71.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: 1971
    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 (899)

    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?

    hathlith71.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.

    FIELDID
    Name assigned to a sampling station (Source: Scientist)

    Character and numeric names assigned to identify a station

    CRUISEID
    Name assigned to identify a cruise (Source: Scientist)

    Character and numeric names assigned to identify a ship and leg

    AREA
    Geographic area where the station is located (Source: Scientist)

    Geographic area where a station is located

    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:39.23667
    Maximum:46.08667
    Units:Decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.00001

    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-71.90000
    Maximum:-63.53333
    Units:Decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.00001

    DEPTH_M
    Water depth in meters (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:5
    Maximum:3423
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1

    DEVICE
    Equipment used to collect a sample (Source: Scientist)

    Name of equipment used to collect a sample

    DATE
    Year sample was collected (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1955
    Maximum:1970
    Units:year
    Resolution:1

    LITHOLOGY
    Description of the sediment (Source: Scientist)

    Verbal description of the sediments character

    COMMENTS
    Notes on sampling and bottom character (Source: Scientist)

    Notes on sampling and bottom character

    CLASSIFICA
    Textural description of the sediment. Most samples collected by dredge have been excluded (Source: Compiler)

    Verbal descriptions of the sediment and(or) bottom

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Navigation, lithologic description, and station identifiers for samples from a subset of those collected as part of the Continental Margin Program.

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 Hathaway (1971), and Larry Poppe for creating the 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 digital subset of the Hathaway data set. This subset contains information for those samples with lithologic descriptions, but no raw grain size data, and which are located in/on the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and southeastern New England continental shelf.

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

    (source 1 of 1)
    Hathaway, J.C., 1971, Data File: Continental Margin Program Atlantic Coast of the United States: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Reference Number 71-15, v. 2, 496 p., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper

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

    Date: 08-Oct-2002 (process 1 of 1)
    Continental Margin Program data comprised of lithologic descriptions from Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and the continental shelf and slope off southeastern New England were clipped from the whole dataset of the Continental Margin Program 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:
    • hathlith71.txt

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • hathlith71.shp
    • hathlith71.dbf
    • hathlith71.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 RADAR, Loran A, and line of sight. Navigational accuracy is unknown.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    Navigation, lithologic descriptions, and identifiers are provided for 899 stations from the Continental Margin Program

  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, hathlith71.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 11:57:06 2003

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