HOUGH42: Sediments of Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts

Metadata also available as: OUTLINE - TEXT

Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title: HOUGH42: Sediments of Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts
    Abstract:
    Cape Cod Bay, lying on the Massachusetts coast partly enclosed by Cape Cod, is in a glaciated region of low relief. Coarse sediments generally occur in areas exposed to wave and current action as in shallow water near shore or on shoals, and in the deep channel north of the tip of Cape Cod, which is swept by tidal currents. Fine sediments are restricted to the deeper water in the central portion of the Bay, and to the small well-protected embayments of the shore. Although Hough (1942) is available as part of the NGDC Deck 41 Database, additional data from the original report were manually entered and, therefore, this file is unque.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Poppe, Lawrence J. , 2003, HOUGH42: Sediments of Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts:, 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: -70.605000
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -70.102000
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 42.158000
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 41.752000

  3. What does it look like?

    hough42.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: 1942
    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 (156)

    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 0.001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.001. 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?

    hough42.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 this data set for identification purposes (Source: Compiler)

    ValueDefinition
    HOUGH42Scientist and year of publication

    SHIP
    Vessel used to perform field work (Source: Scientist)

    ValueDefinition
    ASTERIASName of research vessel

    STATION
    Numeric identifier assigned to each sample site (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:1
    Maximum:156
    Units:station
    Resolution:1

    DATE
    Year samples were collected (Source: Scientist)

    ValueDefinition
    1935Year

    LATITUDE
    Latitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:41.752
    Maximum:42.158
    Units:Decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.001

    LONGITUDE
    Longitude coordinate of sample location (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:-70.605
    Maximum:-70.102
    Units:Decimal degrees
    Resolution:0.001

    DEPTH_M
    Water depth in meters (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:2
    Maximum:58
    Units:meters
    Resolution:1

    DOMINANT_L
    Most common lithologic component (Source: Scientist)

    Verbal description of lithology

    SECOND_LIT
    Less common lithologic component (Source: Scientist)

    Verbal description of lithology

    MEDIAN_MM
    Median grain size in mm (Source: Scientist)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0.0195
    Maximum:5.5
    Units:millimeters
    Resolution:0.0001

    ANALYSIS
    Analytical method (Source: Scientist)

    Verbal description of methodology

    LITHOLOGY
    Textural description of the sediment (Source: Compiler)

    Verbal description of the sediment

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 Hough (1942), and Larry Poppe for entering data from the source report and 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 release a digital vrsion of the data published by Hough (1942).

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

    (source 1 of 1)
    Hough, J.L., Sediments of Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts: Journal of Sedimentary Petrology v. 12, no. 1, p. 10-30..

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper

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

    Date: 16-Sep-2002 (process 1 of 1)
    Some of the source information was taken from NGDC's Deck41 database (e.g. identifiers and lithologic descriptions); some information was manually entered into digital form (e.g. median). This file 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:
    • hough42.txt

    Data sources produced in this process:

    • hough42.shp
    • hough42.dbf
    • hough,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 in a consistent manner.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    Navigation was by 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?

    Sample locations, lithologic descriptions, grain-size data, navigation, and identifiers are provided for 156 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, hough42.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 11:53:17 2003

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