HOLLISTER69: Sediments on the Shelf South of Martha's Vineyard

Metadata also available as: OUTLINE - TEXT

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title: HOLLISTER69: Sediments on the Shelf South of Martha's Vineyard
    Abstract:
    An unusual accumulation of incohesive fine-grained sediment (silt and clay) occurs in the midst of the sand-covered continental shelf south of artha's Vineyard. This 4000 square mile deposit of soft material is assumed to overlie relict Pleistocene sands. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution, thickness, and engineering properties of this fine grained deposit.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Poppe, Lawrence J. , 2003, HOLLISTER69: Sediments on the Shelf South of Martha's Vineyard:, 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 are 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: -71.716700
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.258300
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.700000
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 39.941700

  3. What does it look like?

    hollister69 (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: 1969
    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 (53)

    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 0.0001. 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?

    hollister69.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.

    PROJECTID
    Name assigned to the dataset for future identification (Source: Compiler)

    ValueDefinition
    HOLLISTER1969Chief scientist and year of publication

    STATION
    Number assigned to distinguish stations (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:55
    Units:station
    Resolution:1

    DATE
    Date sample was collected (Source: Scientist)

    Year, month, and day when sample was collected.

    TIME
    Time of day when sample was collected (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:50
    Maximum:2332
    Units:minute
    Resolution:1

    DEVICE
    Equipment used to collect samples (Source: Scientist)

    ValueDefinition
    VAN VEENgrab sampler

    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:39.9417
    Maximum:40.7000
    Units:Deciaml degrees
    Resolution:0.0001

    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-71.7167
    Maximum:-70.2583
    Units:Deciaml degrees
    Resolution:0.0001

    DEPTH_M
    Water depth in meters (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.5
    Maximum:176.1
    Units:meters
    Resolution:0.1

    SAND
    Percentage of sand in sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:5
    Maximum:91
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    SILT
    Percentage of silt in a sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:4
    Maximum:70
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    CLAY
    Percentage of clay in a sample (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:4
    Maximum:27
    Units:percent
    Resolution:1

    SHEPARD_CL
    Textural classification based on a scheme devised by Shepard (1954) (Source: Compiler)

    Verbal descriptions of sediment texture

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    Navigation, grain-size data, textural descriptions, and sample identifiers are provided.

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 Hollister and Korites (1969). Polly Hastings for entering the data and Larry Poppe for creating the 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 release a digital version of the sediment contained in Hollister and Korites (1969).

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

    (source 1 of 1)
    Hollister, C.D., and Korites, B.J., 1969, Distribution, Thickness, and Mechanical Properties of an Accumulation of Fine-Grained Sediment on the Continental Shelf South of Martha's Vineyard: Report Report to the Amercian Telephone and Telegraph Company, 18 p., Woods Hole Oceanographic Intsituion, Woods Hole, MA.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper

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

    Date: 13-Sep-2002 (process 1 of 1)
    The source sediment data was manually entered into digital form and was imported from an ASCII text file to an ArcView table. The table was later converted to an event theme in ArcView 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:
    • hollister69.txt

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • hollister69.shp
    • hollister69.dbf
    • hollister69.shx

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?

    No navigation methods are provided with the original report (probably Loran A). Navigational accuracy is unknown.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

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

    Navigation, grain-size data, and textural descriptions are provided for 55 grab sample stations.

  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, hollister69

  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 11:55:55 2003

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